Great teachers cater for the needs of the learner at all times and make his or her lesson lively and interesting.
Several studies in the educational sector have previously shown that the paramount determinant of the quality of education in a nation solely rests on a teacher. For a learner to acquire quality education- enriched with necessary life skills, the teacher plays a pivotal role.
Considering the dynamic changing trends in the world’s technology, political and cultural setup teaching is for sure becoming too sophisticated.
The nation, therefore, requires teachers with great, substantial and outstanding knowledge and skills to enable them to be accommodative in the teaching and learning process.
How can a teacher become great? This is a commonly asked question in the current world. Every teacher yearns for greatness, but this is not enough. One must stand out to start the journey to greatness.
Despite the many professional skills acquired by a teacher during training, a teacher needs other skills to meet the needs of the students. Just think for a minute about teacher Tabichi, the winner of the 100 million dollars global award and teacher Ademba who got the Africa union award of sh. 1 million for their outstanding performance.
What do you think? Are they great teachers? And if yes, why? Every teacher wants to be associated with greatness. Although every teacher has their own special, unique style in teaching, as a professionally experienced teacher allow me to highlight to you the 9 top qualities and secrets that make a teacher great which you never knew before.
1. Great Teachers have Excellent Communication Skills.
At times most people think that the most important quality that every teacher possesses would be knowledge. But no matter how knowledgeable a teacher is, if he/she cannot transfer knowledge to others effectively in a way that is not only understandable but also engaging the audience, then knowledge itself stands useless.
A teacher’s communication skills both verbal, nonverbal, and visual are key in conveying knowledge to students for better understanding.
Good communication skills enable a teacher the organisation of ideas into understandable structures.
A teacher who communicates well is always able to know when the audience has understood the concept.
A good teacher is capable of noticing learners who have not understood and makes immediate follow up.
Communication also involves reading from students’ responses to tell when they have understood or not and then whether you are together or not.
2. Great teachers have Superior Listening Skills.
Being good a communicator is not enough; great teachers also happen to be excellent listeners.
As the Turkish proverb says, “If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” Of course, effective communication only happens when the speaker and the audience are actively involved in the teaching and learning process together. This can only be possible when a teacher listens to learners’ questions and responses.
3. Great Teachers have Deep Knowledge and Passion for the Subject Content
Teachers with inadequate knowledge in subject content transfer content to the students.
Passion in something is infectious. Love of a subject content inspires a teacher to learn more, explore further, and focus attention on it, so passion inspires constant research to acquire deeper knowledge on the subject matter.
The great teachers are those that passionately love their teaching subjects and transfer the passion to desire to learn more day in day out.
Deeper knowledge on subject matter not only enables the teacher to supply the right answer to a student’s question but can exposit the discussion with vivid and relevant examples, amusing illustrative anecdotes, and relevant facts to enrich the response.
Such a deeper understanding and expertise to draw on enriches the lesson, makes it interesting and at the end, the student is inspired and motivated.
4. Great Teachers have the Ability to Develop Strong and healthy Relationships with Learners.
It’s not enough for teachers to have Deep Knowledge of and Passion for the Subject Matter. A good teacher doesn’t only teach from the head but also teaches from the heart. Learning in the best classrooms involves hearts, as well.
To create a fruitful learning environment, great teachers need to have the potential to build caring relationships with their students. Great teachers care for their students and always create a good rapport with the learners.
The teacher-student relationship facilitates the exchange of information effectively. In addition to their jobs, the best teachers often care deeply, about every student they serve.
A teacher who cares about his or her students is inspired to reach out to all the learners to enable them to do better, communicate more, ask more, learn more, refine, and improve in their academic endeavours.
This is something that can’t be taught in class, not even in the best schools in the world; it has to come from an individual teacher.
5. Great teachers have the trait of Friendliness and Approachability.
Great teachers are ever friendly to all students and approachable by all. To enhance this, a teacher should create a good rapport with the students. This vividly encourages and motivates them to gather the courage to approach the teacher for any necessary academic assistance.
A friendly and approachable teacher gives the learners room to desire to learn more and develop positive attitudes on the subject.
Students may have questions that can’t be answered if the teacher isn’t friendly and easy to talk to. The best teachers are the most open-hearted, welcoming, and easy to approach.
6. Great teachers have good Preparation and Organization Skills.
No matter how good, knowledgeable and charming you are, if you attend your learners without an excellent lesson plan, you won’t succeed.
Great teachers spend the larger portion of their sweet time endless outside the classroom organizing, preparing, designing lessons, learning more, participating in professional development, and thinking of fresh and interesting ways to handle and reach the student.
Great teachers go to class well prepared for the lesson. They should own well-prepared lesson plans, excellent lesson notes, teaching methodologies, teaching aids and well-selected assignments which cater to the lesson objectives.
Their day, lessons, and units are structured in such a way to fosters maximal understanding and interest.
7. They Own Strong Work Ethic.
Teaching is not an easy task. The secret that keeps teachers going is the inspiration to become great.
A great teacher does everything possible to realise success in their students. They always make time, and they are always willing to help.
A teacher’s work is never done, but the best teachers never stop trying, they never quit.
8. The Ability to Build Community.
The best teachers understand the importance of creating supportive and collaborative environments.
Great teachers foster health and mutual relationships between the students.
They make their classrooms like little communities where each individual plays a part and feels at home.
9. Great Teachers Are Never Biased.
Great teachers are teachers who help both the high and low achievers to meet their dreams without bias.
To cater for all individual differences in a class, an effective teacher always prepares a lesson plan with clearly stated achievable objectives at the end of the lesson.
The best teachers have high expectations for all of their students according to their abilities. This doesn’t mean that they hold all students to the same high standard, but instead they know that learners have different potentials and each student is capable of individual strive to help themselves, and each other attain their personal best.
I may not exhaust all the qualities. Are you a professional teacher? Are you a great teacher? Share your thoughts.
