Characteristics of an Effective Teacher

Introduction:Teachers impact our learning, our development, and may even make a difference in what we become.

How does one become the kind of effective teacher that truly makes a difference in the lives of students? What is the effective teacher? What does the effective teacher do? What and how does the effective teacher think? These are the questions we as teachers often asked ourselves. According to Katz (1993), effectiveness as a teacher stems from a combination of knowledge, skills and personal characteristics. To be an effective teacher there are more than just teaching the syllabus to the students. An effective teacher is one who runs an effective classroom, and touches the lives of children.An efficient teacher is one who knows what they are doing and does the right thing consistently.

All of the developmental psychologists agree that effective teachers encourage through consistent use of positive words, actions and facial expressions teachers provide students the hope to keep striving to learn and grow. They also agree effective teachers ask probing questions to challenge accuracy and completeness of thinking in a way that moves students towards their ultimate goal.All of the developmental psychologists show that one of the most important intellectual traits of effective teachers is to be life-long learners and role models for learning. They are as much street smart, as they are book smart. These teachers have knowledge of their students, the school, and the community in which they are teaching, and use this knowledge to uniquely approach each student and head off, or solve problems, in the classroom. They spend time with students outside of the classroom in settings that enable them to learn about their students’ passions, their dreams, and what they face each day in order to get to school.

Their joy for learning is shown in their actions. Those teachers who model high expectations for themselves tend to get the same from their students. ContentThe ten (10) characteristics of an effective teacher.1. Resourceful In my point of view, first and foremost to become an effective teacher, one needs to be highly conscientious and resourceful in order to teach.

A teacher without sufficient knowledge can lead to disaster. He/ She should have vast knowledge on his/her field to be able to teach. A teacher should evolve with time to keep with the current trends of teaching. A teacher needs to be resourceful in order to keep up with the students’ needs. Effective teachers should have good command of their subject matter and a solid core of teaching skills.

I have always believed that if you’re not a good learner, you won’t be a good teacher. We grow and develop as persons through learning. Throughout my teaching career, I have attended conferences and workshops in an effort to keep my teaching current, interesting and relevant for my students and for myself. I believe I am a model for my students.

If I stop learning – so will they. That is one example I that I don’t want to set.Christine Bernardo – KusyjElementary-school teacher OntarioI agree with this teacher view. You have to be highly resourceful to be an effective teacher. By being resourceful, there will be little chance that you will not be able to face your students’ questions.

You can’t teach what you don’t know. All teachers need not be experts in their fields, but possessing knowledge is important. Teachers must continue building their understandings of their subjects throughout their careers.2. PositiveSecond characteristic that a teacher should have is positive expectation.

Positive expectations are essential to student success. When the teacher has high expectations, not high standards, the students will perform to your expectations. If you believe that all students are above average and that they all are capable learners, these expectations will transmit to the student, and the student will succeed. If these expectations are apparent toward all students it will benefit both the teacher and the students.

Your identity is the whole of you, a composite of many pieces. One’s of life most important tasks is to integrate the pieces into a meaningful and positive self – portrait. (Deux 1996, Novak & Purkey 2001)3. Able to communicate effectively When I asked the question, ‘what do you think makes a teacher an effective educator?’ to my colleagues in school, I received quite similar answers from them. They think that the most important factor is; effective communication.

It is an essential for effective education. This means that for students to learn, the teachers must have good communication skills for them to be able to understand what they are teaching and in order to pass the knowledge to their students. A teacher needs to communicate that they know what they are doing and why they are doing it.4. Good classroom managementThe fourth characteristic that I found out from the teachers is; a good classroom management. It is important for students’ success.

Many of them think that an effective teacher should have the skill to be very organized and consistent in everything. For the learning to be occurred, a teacher must have a control over the class. Therefore the students will understand and obey the instructions from teachers. The crucial part is at the first week of a year that will indicate how well the students will do for the rest of the year.

The teachers felt that teaching is a consistent and continuous process. Therefore class management is a very important factor. To have a controlled classroom then will the teachers able to incorporated the knowledge into the learning process and also able to provide a well-planned, organized classroom environment conducive to students’ spontaneous learning. An effective teacher can starts the year with rules for things like homework practicing them repetitively so that the students can master them.5.

CreativeThe fifth characteristic for an effective teacher should have is; creative. As William James (1842 – 1910) suggested, a teacher should start a lesson at a point just beyond the child’s level of knowledge and understanding in order to stretch the child’s mind. A creative teacher should be able to generate the children’s minds in many creative ways. A creative teacher also can make the learning process fun, interesting, useful and full of benefits to the children.

‘Traditional sensory stimulation theory has as its basic premise that effective learning occurs when the senses are stimulated (Laird, 1985). Laird quotes research that found that the vast majority of knowledge held by adults (75%) is learned through seeing. Hearing is the next most effective (about 13%) and the other senses - touch, smell and taste account for 12% of what we know. By stimulating the senses, especially the visual sense, learning can be enhanced. However, this theory says that if multi-senses are stimulated, greater learning takes place. Stimulation through the senses is achieved through a greater variety of colours, volume levels, strong statements, facts presented visually, use of a variety of techniques and media.

’ Creative teachers will create activities that will stimulate the senses to enhance the students’ ability in learning.6. Alert / SensitiveThe sixth characteristic is; sensitive to the students’ needs. It means having the patience and the know how to continue working with students when they feel like giving up. A teacher must help students to look inside and find their strengths, weaknesses, passions, dislikes, and their uniqueness. A teacher should be receptive of moral guidance and by becoming an active learner of moral issues, with the ability to bring them forth to students by communicating the importance of curiosity, sensitivity and self-examination.

By having this characteristic, students will be able to turn to the teachers when they have any problem hence the students will open up to the teachers and will readily accept the learning process. It will be a wonderful experience for the teachers and the students because there will be a rapport between them. The students also will respect the teachers more and care about what their teachers think.7.

RespectfulThe seventh characteristic is respect. Teachers should be respectful of themselves, parents and the students. Teachers should respect their students in order to have their students respect them. In a trusting and respectful classroom atmosphere, students’ are more ready to learn from the teachers. They should speak the language of respect in interactions with students, and by taking students’ thoughts and feelings seriously.

The students will feel that their opinions mattered and that make them feel they are important. They will strive to be better and that will generate their thinking skills and boost their self confidence. A teacher also should be an ethical mentor, providing guidance through discussion, storytelling, personal encouragement and feedback.8. PreparedThe eighth characteristic for an effective teacher should have is; be always prepared when entering a classroom.

The teachers should enters the classroom prepared, feeling that they want to be there, and with the attitude that we are all going to have a solid learning experience. He / She should be prepared for the lesson outcomes, the students’ questions or needs in order to make the learning lesson a success. Teachers should constantly diagnose each child’s emotional state, cognitive level and interest by carrying a theoretical framework in their heads. He / She should always learn about the human condition around the world to expose the students every day to people who are doing a variety of things to improve the lives of others and these people experience a deeper fulfillment than can ever be found in a bank account. The teachers also should know the stage of development of the student is in and as a result the capability of the student by early preparation. It is easier to spend dedicated time developing a social conscience by participating in activities that can make a difference when a teacher knows his students.

9. MotivatedThe ninth characteristic that an effective teacher should have is motivation. It is an essential characteristic to be an effective teacher. According to Burns (1995) motivation is an important characteristic be it in teaching or learning.

Burns considers that learning might not manifest itself in observable behaviour until some times after the educational program has taken place.’ Excellent teachers never lose enthusiasm for their profession. They might become temporarily burdened by administrative hassles or an isolated problem, but their underlying engagement with their work is unwavering. Students feel this energy, and teachers who project it are much more successful than those who do not.10. Dedicated and passionateThe tenth characteristics for effective teachers to have are; dedicated and passionate in teaching.

These factors are I think the most important. Without having the dedication and passion in teaching, one could not be an effective teacher. Teaching takes a lot of effort on the behalf of the teachers. Without having these qualities, the teachers will not be effective teachers but just ordinary teachers.ConclusionEducation scholar, Chris Kyriacou summarized effective teaching are three basic features; attentiveness, receptiveness and appropriateness. Nearly all theories of effective teaching have these three ingredients in common.

Attentiveness is preparing students to learn, making them excited about the process of learning. Receptiveness is making the actual content of learning interesting and close to their interests. Appropriateness is the nature of the material and its closeness to students' present abilities and cognitive capacity. An effective teacher is an energetic, dynamic person. He seems to enjoy teaching by conveying a love of the field. He has an aura of self-confidence and a thorough command of the field.

An effective teacher will be able to explain clearly, makes difficult topics easy to understand and is well prepared for each lesson. Above all, to be an effective teacher, one should first and foremost think of the students. An effective teacher will do everything in his power to make sure that his students will benefit as much as they can from his lesson. There are more than 10 traits of effective teacher to be applied to be one. But by having at least the ten traits or qualities, one should be able to be an effective teacher.