Teachers! Should You Really Be Teaching?
Teachers! Should You Really Be Teaching?
Teaching can be an exciting and rewarding experience. This however doesn’t mean it’s ever easy. While teaching can be exciting, it can also be frustrating at times. To be a successful educator, you will need to have the passion, commitment and drive to get through those rough patches. (www.destinationteaching.org/career/why.phtml). This is especially necessary in today’s world to conquer these difficult and challenging times of teaching. Thus the converse is true, once the a teacher gets easily frustrated, lacks passion and commitment in teaching then the question that needs to be asked is; should I be really teaching? A teacher who teaches an individual student may also be described as a personal tutor. The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out by way of occupation or profession at a school or other place of formal education (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacher). “Teaching is not about imparting information. Teaching is about giving students room to learn how to think for themselves.” (Unauthored, 1994/2002).
GOOD TEACHERS PRODUCE GOOD TEACHING.
Have you ever wondered about the making of a good teacher or about what separates mediocre teaching from exceptional teaching? Many teachers are yet to find the answer to this question while many students have been able to answer this question several times. Students study their teachers well. They know the mediocre or the exceptional teacher. Students also know what they should be “getting” from any content area and they evaluate the effectiveness of any content area delivery independently, with their peers and with their parents. Good teachers are those who want to be good teachers, who take risks, who have a positive attitude, who never have enough time, who think of teaching as a form of parenting, who try to give students confidence at the same time that they push them off balance, who motivate by working within the students’ incentive systems, who do not trust student evaluations, and who listen to students (Reis, .2009). The trouble with exciting teachers is that they are almost always mavericks, trotting blithely off into some distant sunset where no one can brand them (Reis 2009). The trouble with inspiring teachers is that they won’t stay put long enough to be measured, perhaps because they know that if they did they would be expiring teachers (Reis, 2009).
Good teaching is an act of generosity, a whim of the wanton muse, a craft that may grow with practice, and always risky business (Palmer, Undated). It is, to speak plainly, a maddening mystery (Palmer, Undated). Good teachers dwell in the mystery of good teaching until it dwells in them (Palmer, Undated). As they explore it alone and with others, the insight and energy of mystery begins to inform and animate their work (Palmer, Undated). They discover and develop methods of teaching that emerge from their own integrity–but they never reduce their teaching to technique (Palmer, Undated). To become a good teacher and to create a good class, the four core qualities are essential: knowledge, the skills to convey that knowledge, the ability to make the material you are teaching interesting and relevant, and a deep-seated respect for the student (Brain, 1998).
The number one quality of a good teacher should be: knowledge of the subject. You must be an expert in your field if you are going to be a good teacher at a university (Brain, 1998). This is a prerequisite (Brain, 1998). Good teachers possess the ability to communicate their knowledge and expertise to their students (Brain, 1998). Effective communication of the subject will facilitate easy learning of the subject by students. With a firm knowledge of the subject, it builds clarity and understanding designed to help students master the material. The best teachers then go one step further. Because good teachers are interested in the material being taught, they make the class interesting and relevant to the students (Brain, 1998).
Knowledge is worthless unless it is delivered to the students in a form they can understand (Brain, 1998). The effort, however, if expended in making the material understandable is wasted if the students are asleep when it is delivered, or if the students can see no point in learning the material. Finally, complementing these three is a fourth quality: good teachers have a deep-seated concern and respect for the students in the classroom (Brain, 1998). Being fair to all students, and giving them individual respect while showing concern are all important elements to creating and keeping mutual respect in