What's a good teacher?

Pop culture tends to imply there are only two types of teachers. The terrible Ben Stein-like lecturer, who leaves learning up to the students and the ultra-liberal, hippy type who is desperately trying to make sure everyone is happy. In my opinion, neither represents a good teacher. A good teacher is active in the classroom but also has firm rules that the class works with in.

When I think about a good teacher I’m immediately struck by the word engaged. I think a good teacher is one that’s engaged in their students’ learning, engaged with the rest of the faculty, and in engaged in their own professional development. I look at that engagement as an active process, not a passive one.

I cannot lock onto one mental picture of what a good teacher’s classroom looks like. I recognize that certain subject matters and student bodies require various amount of structure. I think a good teacher can recognize what is needed from them to be effective and can be flexible enough to provide it. I think that’s a part of being engaged with their class.

In terms of research, I think that that is engagement with your own professional development and the rest of the faculty. I think the process of looking at yourself and what you doing is being engaged with yourself.

In comparing my thoughts with the pictures shown in the Phillips and Carr book on page 8, I instantly notice that I didn’t think much about disposition as much as those pictures imply their authors did. All the pictures seem to prominently show a big smiling face. I do think that a good teacher is happy to be in the classroom, but I think that can be attributed to being a good teacher.

I don’t know if I’m looking too deep into the pictures, but all of the teachers are shown with arms open. It seems like a very welcoming and safe gesture. It almost looks like the beginning of a hug. I think it’s a good indication that teachers make their students feel safe and secure. Maybe it’s because I am thinking of high school teachers specifically, but the idea of providing safety and security doesn’t immediately jump to my mind.

Another couple commonalties between the pictures are the words passion and organized. I definitely understand the passion theme. Passion, to me, is just another way of showing that the teacher really cares about the students and cares about their education. The organized theme seems to point to the idea of preparedness. Again, I connect this theme and the passion theme back to engagement. A teacher that is fully engaged with his or hers classroom is going to be prepared and passionate about being in the classroom.