What makes a good teacher.doc

What makes a good teacher? In an attempt to find out what we all think about teachers and teaching I recently asked a variety of people the question What makes a good teacher? I was especially interested to see what their instant response would be since that might throw some light upon deeply-held beliefs about this fundamental part of human experience. Many different people were asked the question, almost always with a tape machine there to record their answers. There were teachers of English in the UK, in Spain and from Finland. Some of the respondents were teacher trainers and methodologists. Last- but by no means least- I interviewed students of different nationalities studying at private language schools in Britain, and secondary school students studying at a Cambridge comprehensive school. The following answers are representative of the many that were given.l They should make their lessons interesting so you dont fall asleep in them.This was said by an adult student at a private language school in England.l A teacher must love her job. If she really enjoys her job thatll make the lessons more interesting.This was also said by an adult student in England. Teachers who look fed up or unhappy with what they are doing tent to have a negative effect on their students. When you observe good teachers you will notice that, even when/ if they are feeling terrible (outside the classroom), they put on a good teachers face when they enter the classroom.l I like the teacher who has his own personality and doesnt hide it from the students so that he is not only a teacher but a person as well- and it comes through the lessons.Students tend to be interested in their teachers- at least at first. The ones who share their personality with their classes often have better results than those who dont.l I like a teacher who has lots of knowledge, not only of his subject.The preoccupation with the teachers personality is reflected here too: teachers should not be afraid to bring their own interests and lives into the classroom (within reason, of course).l A good teacher is an entertainer and I mean that in a positive sense, not a negative sense.Students enjoy being entertained and amused. However, a balance has to be struck between entertainment (which often gives teachers enjoyable feedback) and teaching/ learning. Sometimes, the former can overwhelm the latter. Although, as we can see, the character and personality of the teacher is a crucial issue in the classroom, by far the greatest number of responses to the question What makes a good teacher? were not so much about teachers themselves, but rather about the relationship between the teacher and the students. This is borne out in the following responses. l Its important that you can talk to the teacher when you have problems and you dont get along with the subject.These are the words of an adult student. Teachers must be approachable.l A good teacher is somebody who has an affinity with the students that theyre teaching.Successful teachers are those people who can identify with the hopes, aspirations and difficulties of their students while they are teaching them.l A good teacher should try and draw out the quiet ones and control the more talkative ones.Experienced teachers can tell you of classes which are dominated by bright, witty, loud, extrovert students. As this EFL teacher implies, its easy to be captivated by such students. It takes more effort to ensure that the quiet, shyer students also get a chance. One of the secondary students I questioned said, A good teacher is someone who asks the people who dont always put their hands up.l He should be able to correct people without offending them.Explaining to students that they have made a mistake is one of the most perilous encounters in the classroom. It has to be done with tact. The teacher has to measure what is appropriate for a particular student in a particular situation.l A good teacher is someone who helps rather than shouts.Said by a secondary school student, this was one of the many comments about discipline. The people who resent bad behavior most are not teachers, but other students who feel their time is being wasted. Learning how to manage students and how to control boisterous classes is one of the fundamental skills of teaching.l A good teacher is someone who knows our names. Class management- the ability to control and inspire a class- is one of the fundamental skills of teaching. Teachers find it much easier if their students believe that they are genuinely interested in them and available for them. In a book of research called Making Sense of Teaching, the authors Sally Brown and Donald McIntyre selected a group of good teachers, chosen by their pupils. They wanted to find out how these good teachers did their job so they asked them about their teaching. This is what they found out.The most obvious common feature of the different teachers accounts was that in response to our question about their teaching they almost always talked about what their pupils were doing.A simple answer to the question What makes a good teacher? therefore, is that good teachers care more about their students learning than they do about their own teaching. Teachers can never be quite sure what their students think of them, however. The least predictable things can affect their pupils perception. One 13-year-old girl was adamant that The teacher needs to have dress sense- not always the same old boring suits and ties! The way that teachers talk to students- the manner in which they interact with them- is one of the crucial teacher skills, but it does not demand technical expertise. It does, however, require teachers to empathise with the people they are talking to. One group of people who seem to find it fairly natural to adapt their language to their audience are parents when they talk to their young children. Studies show that they use more exaggerated tones of voice, and speak with less complex grammatical structures than they would if they were talking to adults. Their vocabulary is generally more restricted too and the attempt to make eye contact (and other forms of physical contact) is greater. They generally do these things unconsciously.什么造就了优秀的老师？为了试图弄清人们普遍对教师和教学的看法，最近我问了一系列人一个同样的问题：什么造就了优秀的老师？我尤其想知道他们的第一反应会是什么，因为他们的反应可能阐明关于这个人类经验基础部分的根深蒂固的观念。我问了不同的人，用录音机录下他们的回答。这些人中有来自英国的英语老师，有教师职业培训师和方法学家。最后但同样重要的是，我采访了在英国私立语言学校学习的不同国籍的学生，以及剑桥综合中学的初中生。以下是一些比较具有代表性的回答。l 他们应该把课上得有趣，这样学生就不会在课上睡着。这是一个在英国私立语言学校学习的成年学生的回答。l 老师必须热爱工作。如果她真心喜爱她的工作，她会把课上得更加有趣。这也是一个英国成年学生的回答。老师如果对他们的工作表现出厌倦或不快，通常会对他们的学生产生负面影响。当你观察好老师的时候，你会注意到即使他们感觉很糟糕（在教室外），他们在进入课堂时也会换上愉悦的“教师面孔”。l 我喜欢有个性并且不会在学生面前掩饰的老师，这样他不仅是一个老师，也是一个活生生的人他的个性会融入整节课。学生通常会对他们的老师感兴趣至少在开始的时候是。比起那些掩饰个性的老师，把个性展露给班级学生的老师常常会收到更好的结果。l 我喜欢知识渊博的老师，不仅限于他教的学科知识。对老师性格的看法也反映在这里：老师不应该害怕把自己的兴趣和活力带入课堂（当然在合理范围内）。l 一个好老师应该是一个表演者，我指的是褒义而不是贬义的角度。学生喜欢感到愉快和有趣。然而，在娱乐（老师们通常也感到愉快）和教学之间必须保持平衡，因为有时娱乐占的比重会大大盖过教学。如我们所见，尽管老师的性格特征在课堂上十分重要，但到现在为止对于“什么造就了优秀的老师？”这个问题的回答最多的不是关于老师本身，而是关于师生之间的关系。以下回答证明了这种观点。l 当你有问题或者在学科学习上有困难，你能和你的老师谈心是非常重要的。这是一个成年学生的回答。老师必须平易近人。l 一个好老师与学生有密切的关系。成功的老师能够在教学生的同时，认同学生的希望、志向和困难。l 一个好老师应该试着鼓励比较安静的学生并且控制那些比较活跃的学生。经验丰富的老师会告诉你那些由活泼的、机智的、声音响亮的、外向的学生主导课堂的情景。正如这些英语老师暗示的那样，我们很容易被这样的学生吸引。我们需要