Who is a teacher? A teacher imparts knowledge into another person’s life. The knowledge he or she transferred has the capability of moulding one who is being thought into a new being.
The qualities of a good teacher cannot be overemphasized. A good teacher does not only teach or practice teaching as a profession; he is also a good mentor. Some teachers teach just because they are trying to ensure job security, because of pay accrue to the job.
That is a different case from that of a good teacher. “How can I make meaningful impacts in the life of people?” is the question that most teachers have failed to direct to themselves.
You cannot teach carelessly and make a good teacher. Making a good teacher starts by careful understanding of your job description as a teacher and as well as developing a special love and passion for your job.
They are some teachers today who supposedly would have been good teachers and mentors but the mentorship they received before coming into the teaching profession has hampered their proficiency in the field. Destiny does not guarantee you a good teacher whose personal development is lacking.
The passion you have for teaching is what drives you to seek an avenue to become well developed in different skills as regards the teaching profession. Meanwhile, some teachers who lack those basic qualities of a good teacher and are desirous of being developed in them have frequently asked questions on how they can have these qualities.
If you had once wished to become a good teacher or you still desire to make a difference in the teaching profession, this is an article that you cannot afford to avoid. Everything that you have been searching for about making a hallmark in the field has been well detailed in this article.
In this article, I am going to show you some basic qualities that you are expected to possess and how you can develop them as an intending outstanding teacher of our generation. Make sure that you read this article to the end if becoming the best in your teaching career has been your goal.
Qualities of a Good Teacher
1. Smartness
Smartness in this respect is the attribute of being bright in everything. For one to become a luminary in the teaching profession, being smart plays one of the key roles there. A good teacher is expected to be very clever in every respect.
This is the bedrock on which such a person can stand while still building himself/herself in other qualities. This will help the teacher to know the best approach to take on any situation at every point in time as regards the teaching career.
Without the quality of being smart, the teacher would not be able to “think out of the box” to deliver qualitative teaching services.
2. Education
A good teacher must be educated. Being educated here connotes that such a person must have received both formal education and informal education.
Formal education helps a great deal in shaping the teacher’s attitude morally while informal education is an aspect where the teacher acquired the knowledge about what he or she is to teach others. Both work in tandem in building a great teacher of this generation.
This implies that lack of any could impede ones teaching career. Through education, experts are made and masteries are gained. There is no professional without in-depth knowledge about such a field; this comes through well-grounded education.
Remember that you can only teach what you have learned; you cannot give what you do not have.
3. Flexibility
Flexibility has to do with the attitude of adapting to changes. To make an outstanding teacher, it is pertinent that you condition yourself to align with any positive change that springs forth on the course of your teaching endeavour.
In the process of trying to make the best out of your teaching career, improved methods of teaching might be introduced.
The best way to take advantage of this method is to be flexible enough to adopt it, without that, your teaching measures could become so obsolete that nobody enjoys learning through you again in the nearest future.
In the case of negative alterations in the teaching profession, you should also apply the technique of being flexible. Here, you have to apply intelligence in the management of the circumstance so that its brutal forces will not weigh your efforts down.
Being flexible guarantees great growth in everything.
4. Enthusiasm
The good quality of any professional teacher is the love such a teacher has for the profession. In every life endeavour, the interest one shows for his or her job is what motivates the person to put extra effort.
The same applies to the teaching profession; once the teacher loves the teaching career; there is a likely tendency for such a teacher to always deliver the job efficiently regardless of the situations around.
When a teacher teaches with enthusiasm, he or she would be mindful of the do’s and don’ts of the profession and as such, indolence and every other impediment to the teaching profession would be exterminated.
A man who loves his job does not live by complaints about his job; he is always facedown looking for every approach to get his work done under the sun or in the rain.
That is what keeps a teacher growing better at all times. As you wish to be an exemplary teacher, you should also take note that it is the passion for the profession that will drive to excellence.
5. Ability to Impact
If you can transfer knowledge to at least one person or more successfully, it also implies that you can teach; that is the ability to impact. You must note that knowing what to teach is not the same as having the required teaching and having the ability to teach.
A teacher might have all the other things it takes to teach but a lack of a strategic plan to carry the audience along will crumble his teaching career. One of the outstanding qualities that a good teacher possesses is the attitude of carrying people along while teaching.
In addition to other qualities, as a teacher, you should also be able to transfer reasonable knowledge to others whom you are teaching.
6. Expertise
Expertise is the quality of having special skills that depict mastery in a particular field of study. For one to be a professional teacher in any field, it is required of you to undergo training that will give you the proficiency that you require to make a good teacher.
In the process of such; either formal or informal, you will be groomed in the knowledge that will sustain generations to come. Even as you are teaching, you are also transferring ideas that are still going to be transferred to other people.
Experts are built on continual training.
7. Resilience
Resilience is the attribute of remaining unbending no matter how had the situation around may hit you from different sides. It is the refusal to bow out so easily.
Being a good teacher does not guarantee you a stress-free living, but being resilient keeps a good teacher going through the hurdles and will surely come out successful. The stress in the teaching profession can only be managed by building oneself to being encouraged at every point in time however unfavourable conditions may be.
All potential professional teachers are advised to build themselves on this particular attribute.
8. Diligence
This is a special characteristic of a good teacher which keeps him mindful of the business he is called to do. It is putting all the required efforts and adoption of the necessary strategies to ensure that teaching is successful.
A diligent teacher inserts extra energy and applies special wisdom to his teaching career to ensure that anything that represents laziness is eradicated. This helps a teacher to be successful and outstanding in the profession. Without diligence, little or no job will be accomplished.
As a teacher who is expecting rapid growth and development in his career, you are not expected to fold your hands and do the teaching “as usual”; go the extra mile and work the way “ordinary teachers” do not work to hit your programmed target.
9. Right Temperament
There are four basic temperament types according to the proto-psychological theory. This opines that every individual has distinct characteristics based on their respective personalities.
This distinction between different individuals is a result of development that occurred during the early stages of life. The four temperament types came into existence by different developmental processes that took place in different individuals’ brain stem.
The four most popular temperament types include the following:
- Sanguine
- Phlegmatic
- Melancholy
- Choleric
The teaching profession requires individuals with accommodating and very sociable personalities. In the four temperament classification, the Sanguine and the Phlegmatic fall under these categories of personalities.
This implies that those who intend to do exploit in the teaching profession should ensure that they possess the right temperament for the job.
Note that every personality has a perfect job specification.
10. Good Researcher
A researcher is a person who is constantly into the exploration of new ideas through various means and methods about a particular subject matter. A researcher does not settle for limited information; he or she is always seeking rebranded and improved ideas.
Good works of researchers have made some ideas outdated today. Keeping all other attributes constant, a good researcher will make a good teacher. This is because he or she is always strategically delving deeper into the quest for new methods of teaching, new knowledge to teach and innovations to adopt into the teaching profession.
11. Good Mentor
A good teacher must possess the capacity to build a better generation by giving the right upbringing to the ones he is teaching. Such a teacher is expected to be someone who people would always look up as a good role model.
Any teacher who is lagging in this attribute deserves to be disqualified from the teaching profession, as that is the major aim of teaching; to nurture and develop younger generations.
Impliedly, one who has good mentorship skills would make an outstanding teacher.
12. Good Record Keeper
A good teacher must be able to keep good records of everything that he or she is doing. keeping records will enable the teacher to keep in check the progress in the teaching profession. It will also help the teacher to stay organised at every point in time.
Teachers must keep good records of things that he or she had thought, things that are yet to be thought and records of all the teaching materials; both the ones given by the institution and his or her materials. These tools will serve as a quick guide for referencing and assessment purposes.
Other Special Attributes of a Good Teacher
Among the aforementioned qualities, the following are the special characteristics that a professional teacher is expected to possess to ensure effective transmission of knowledge.
- A good teacher must be morally upright
- A good teacher must always dress very fine.
- He must be honest in everything he or she does.
- A good teacher must love the people that he or she is teaching.
- He must not be biased
- He must always maintain good morale
- He must be a good listener.
- A good teacher should be a good learner also.
- He must be a good reader as well.
- A good teacher must be confident in delivering the teaching services.
- A good teacher must always be patient in everything.
- A good teacher must not be hot-tempered.
In conclusion, I would like to also let you know that teachers are good learners. The reason why I have decided to publish this article here is for you to learn from it by developing yourself in the above-given qualities as a professional teacher or as one who is wishing to become a teacher in the nearest future.
I believe that this article will help you to become the best that you had always wished to become.
For any other questions on how you can become a good teacher, kindly make use of the comment section below.