What makes you a good teacher?

In the conference today, professor Ahrens pointed out, "Not just technique, good teaching comes from the integrity of the teacher, the relation to subject and students, the capricious chemistry of it all as well as the courage to evoke, to cultivate, and to inspire someone," quoted from Palmer's "Good Teaching: A Matter of Living the Mystery".

While listening, I was also refecting my own teaching. As a matter of fact, not every teacher has exactly the same ways of teaching. The reason is that everyone has his/her own personality which might be integrated into their behavior in doing anything, including the way he/ her teaches, which is also called style. Besides style, the care and understanding of students as well as the subject matter are also of much importance. It is the students who take part in the learning process. Thus, listening to students' needs and accompanying or assisting them in the path of learning become necessary for each teacher to pay attention to. Of course, the combination of the previous two points will make teachers students' best friends while they are learning, especially while they encounter some problems. The final one is the most difficult one since teachers need to be a vital role in students' both minds and hearts. He/ she needs to be not only a role model for students, but a learner to learn from students about their thoughts, their intentions, and their worlds. Thus, during this stage, teachers might face the problem of how to deal with certain students with learning difficulty or with abnormal behavior. As an old saying goes that "teaching is learning", teachers must be aware of that and avoid stopping learning after the day they became teachers.


22:59 November 19, 2005.