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What Makes a Great Teacher

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Published: Sep 12, 2023

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Respect for students, creating a sense of community and belonging, providing a welcoming learning environment, commitment to ongoing learning and professional development, adaptability to diverse learners, challenges in teaching, opportunities for growth.

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Qualities of a Good Teacher: The 14 Qualities That Top Our List

When you think back on your own education, there’s probably a teacher who stands out as an exceptional source of encouragement and inspiration. Maybe it was a college professor who inspired you to change your career field — or, maybe it was a kindergarten teacher whose simple acts of kindness made a positive difference in your childhood. But no matter what grade you were in or what subject you were studying, chances are your favorite teacher possessed many of the skills and characteristics that are featured on this list, which breaks down the qualities of a good teacher in detail.

In This Article:

What makes a good teacher, the top 14 qualities that make a good teacher, a good teacher starts with a solid education, keeping your teaching skills fresh with professional development, 15 soft and hard skills important for teachers to develop, the journey to becoming a good teacher.

Read on as we explore the top character traits and teaching skills that educators need in 2032 and beyond. We’ve also included an overview of the credentials, degrees, and qualifications that are required to become a teacher, both in California and out of state. Whether it’s a skill you need to brush up on, a credential you need to earn, or maybe even a character trait you want to work on developing, this guide offers dozens of ideas for areas where you can start improving as an educator — and start improving your resume at the same time.

Whether they’re teaching advanced calculus or how to count to 10, effective teachers share certain universal traits in common. For example, all great educators have the ability to listen actively — not only to their students, but also to their colleagues, school administrators, and students’ family members. We’ll talk more about active listening and why it matters below, along with several other traits that teachers should try to exemplify.

According to Robert Lee, Ed.D., Dean of the Sanford College of Education , “A good teacher possesses qualities such as strong communication skills, empathy, and a passion for lifelong learning. These attributes not only foster a positive and engaging classroom environment but also enhance student success and inspire a love of learning. Good teachers also possess a deep understanding of their subject matter and can take that knowledge and make it culturally relevant for students as they develop engaging lessons. Good teachers inspire and motivate students to reach their full potential while creating an inclusive learning environment where each student is seen, valued, cared for, and respected.”

While some are less tangible than others — and potentially, more challenging to cultivate — all of them are equally worthwhile for teachers to actively develop and practice. Read on as we break down more than a dozen of the most important traits for educators, including:

• Active listening
• Adaptability
• Collaboration
• Focus on growth
• Lifelong learning
• Preparedness

You don’t need to have a specific personality type to be an inspiring and effective teacher. However, there are some useful traits you should work on developing or strengthening if your goal is to be a more engaging and successful educator.

1. Adaptability

Adaptability is a must for teachers, who need to continuously evaluate what’s working for their students — and even more importantly, what isn’t working. Being adaptable and flexible allows you to flow between different theories of learning and modes of teaching — something we’ll discuss momentarily — without becoming immobilized by stress or indecision.

Empathy is the ability to understand what another person is feeling or experiencing — put simply, putting yourself in another person’s shoes. As a teacher, it’s vital to practice empathy instead of making assumptions — for instance, making efforts to understand and address the root issue that’s causing a student to fall behind their peers, perform more poorly than they used to, or lash out in class.

3. Patience

Patience is important both to possess and to model for your students — who, as we discussed in our post on theories of learning, may view you as a role model and emulate your behavior. Having a reserve of patience will make it easier for you to work through each student’s unique struggles and challenges, which may be difficult or slow-going to overcome.

4. Engagement

Students are perceptive from an extremely young age and can easily tell when teachers are bored by or apathetic toward their own material. If you want to generate engagement and enthusiasm in your class, it’s imperative to exemplify those traits yourself, showing your students an infectious passion for learning — and all the exciting discoveries and hobbies that it can unlock for them!

5. Active Listening

Active listening is vital if you want to effectively diagnose and help overcome students’ unique obstacles and challenges. Seek feedback, encourage honesty, provide ways for students to contact you easily, and be attentive whenever you listen, always trying to read between the lines and assess body language while you’re communicating. Learn more about how and why you should improve your active listening skills .

6. Lifelong Learning

The best educators aren’t just interested in teaching — they also have a passion for lifelong learning, which is reflected in their enthusiasm and engagement as instructors. Continued learning and professional development deliver invaluable insight, keeping professionals “sharp” and reminding teachers of the real-world challenges that their students may be facing — creating a pathway for greater empathy. Discover more about the importance of lifelong learning and how different theories of learning could help you teach — or understand — new information.

7. Free of Bias

As an educator, you’ll be responsible for teaching an extraordinarily wide range of students. To combat inequality and discrimination and ensure fairness, you need to assess your students’ needs in a way that is free from bias — something that requires you to continuously check in with your own judgments and assumptions about others.

8. Respectful Attitude

Even in classrooms of adult learners, there’s still an inherent imbalance of power that exists between students and teachers. It’s imperative for educators to be mindful of this imbalance and ensure that students feel respected and heard for the people they are and what they contribute to the classroom.

9. Creativity

Creativity goes hand in hand with adaptability — another key trait we explored on this list. Whether you teach first graders or doctoral students, you’ll need the ability to innovate, think outside the box, and find novel solutions to challenges, which will empower you to meet a wider range of students’ needs. Being creative as an educator will also help you to foster creativity in your students — an essential skill they’ll need for countless career paths.

10. Collaborative

From parent-teacher conferences and department meetings to teaching dozens or hundreds of students every day, education is an intensely collaborative field by nature, involving a constant interplay between students, teachers, administrators, and family members. If your goal is to become an educator or transition into an educational leadership position, you’ll need strong collaborative skills to ensure you can work well with others consistently.

11. Preparation

In line with being flexible and adaptable, it’s important to be prepared for a wide range of scenarios and challenges in the classroom. You can increase your overall level of preparedness as an educator by learning about your students’ strengths and challenges, and ensuring that you consider how each of your students could be affected by your lesson plans.

12. Promote a Growth Mindset

In 2006, psychologist Carol Dweck introduced the concept of “growth mindsets” vs. “fixed mindsets” in her book Mindset: The Psychology of Success. According to Dweck, individuals with a fixed mindset perceive assets like intelligence as being determined early in life, which can cause obstacles or challenges to seem insurmountable or overwhelming. In contrast to a fixed mindset, individuals who have a growth mindset believe that traits like intelligence and creativity can be developed with practice.

13. Meet Students Where They Are

Your students will come to you from different backgrounds, skill sets, and challenges — and you need to be ready to meet them, whichever point they’ve reached in their learning. That means having the ability to accommodate students who learn at different paces, using different styles and methods, within the same classroom or group. This is another area where traits like adaptability, empathy, and patience come into play for educators.

14. Cross-Discipline Teaching

Drawing on multiple subjects and disciplines shows students how businesses operate — and how problem-solving works — in the real world, grounding their learning in practical real-life scenarios.

If you don’t possess all of these traits already, don’t panic — just be mindful that there may be some areas where you could benefit from a little practice. Whether your goal is to tune up weak skills, refine strong ones, or develop new abilities, a degree or credential program provides the perfect opportunity to acquire the qualifications and experience you need to go further in your chosen career path.

Here are just a few of the teaching credentials or degrees that graduate and undergraduate students can pursue at National University. Each option combines rigorous coursework and research with an academic seminar or field experience component, where the student has the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of — and ability to apply — the subject material they’ve covered throughout the program.

Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education (BAECE)

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education at National University is an NCATE-accredited degree program that may be completed online or on-campus. Coursework covers topics such as Early Cognition; Early Language and Literacy; Observing, Assessing, and Planning; Children with Special Needs; Designing Emergent Curriculum; and Nature, Numbers, and Technology. For additional details about the program, explore the BAECE program page or contact our admissions office to request more information.

Master of Arts in Education (MAE)

The Master of Arts in Education , or MAE, is an NCATE-accredited program with the option to conveniently complete coursework online. The MAE is designed for students who want to acquire field experience, conduct original research, and build on their undergraduate degree with a rigorous, high-level study of the historical, philosophical, psychological, and social foundations of today’s education industry. Program coursework includes topics such as Early Childhood Education Learning and Development; Foundations of Adult Learners; Community Development in Higher Education; Media Rich Instruction; Identity, Inclusion, and Equity; and Applied Critical Thinking. To learn more about the online or on-campus MAE program at National University, get in touch with our enrollment counselors today.

Inspired Teaching and Learning with a Preliminary Teaching Credential

National University offers both Single Subject and Multiple Subject Teaching Credentials , along with a wide variety of additional teaching credentials to help you reach your goals. The credential you need depends on the classes or grade levels you intend to teach and in what state, along with other factors. For example, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), you’ll need a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential to become an elementary school teacher, whereas anyone who “want[s] to teach in high school in California must earn a Single Subject Teaching Credential.” Finally, “Individuals who want to teach special education students in California must earn an Education Specialist Instruction Credential,” per CTC guidelines.

According to the online education resource Teaching-Certificate , “Although the…California Commission on Teacher Credentialing used to require 150 hours of professional growth to renew a clear credential, clear credentials may now be renewed without verifying any professional or continuing education requirements.” However, that doesn’t mean educators should overlook opportunities for continued learning. While no longer a CTC requirement, continuing education has several benefits for teachers and school administrators, like increasing your marketability, providing you with professional networking opportunities, and creating a path to learn and practice new skills — while keeping your old ones up-to-date.

Before we look at these skills in closer detail, it’s important to point out that the CTC requirements above are specific to California, and that the continuing education or professional development requirements for educators may differ in your state. For example, the state of Nevada requires educators to complete “15 hours each calendar year of professional development or the equivalent of in-service training.” Be sure to check with the credentialing organization in your state, like California’s Commission on Teaching Credentialing, to ensure you meet the criteria for maintaining and renewing your teaching license.

As an educator, you meet a new group of students every year — and every year, there are new developments around the science and psychology of learning. In short, students’ needs change over time, like the way that social media and mobile devices have become key learning tools among Gen Z students compared to previous generations. The student population is also becoming more diverse , not only in terms of race but also disability, along with international students and online students .

The bottom line for educators? In the face of a changing industry and student population, along with the growing importance of educational technology, teachers need to develop — and maintain — a wide range of skills to keep up. So what are the essential hard and soft skills of a teacher, and what sorts of credentials and qualifications does an educator need to obtain? Here are 15 examples, including seven hard skills and eight soft skills for teachers to master.

• Ability to practice varied teaching modes and methods
• Administrative skills
• Communication
• Classroom management skills
• Computer and technological skills
• Educational degrees and qualifications
• Emotional intelligence
• Leadership skills
• Knowledge of the curriculum
• Problem-solving skills
• Teaching certificates and credentials
• Time management skills
• Writing and grammar skills

8 Important Soft Skills for Teachers

Important soft skills for teachers include time management skills, leadership skills, having a strong work ethic, problem solving abilities, high emotional intelligence, and possessing the knowledge and adaptability needed to employ a variety of teaching modes and methods.

1. Communication — Verbal, nonverbal, and written communication are fundamental for any educator. Not only does clear communication enable you to learn about your students, how they learn, and what challenges or motivates them most — it also empowers you to dialogue with parents and families, share information with your colleagues and administrators more productively, and create a more inclusive environment for students from diverse backgrounds.

2. Time Management —You expect your students to complete their assignments on time — so it’s vital that you model the same skills. Effective time management, which you can read tips about here , will help you ensure that tasks like grading papers, composing quizzes, and meeting with students are completed in a timely fashion that aligns with your curriculum and lesson plan calendar.

3. Strong Work Ethic — Teachers can be expected to carry heavy workloads. It’s essential to possess a strong work ethic to help you manage the demands of the role.

4. Problem Solving — From unexpected technical issues to bullying and conflicts between students, teachers are frequently confronted with unplanned situations that need to be resolved so that learning can continue. You’ll need robust problem-solving skills to ensure that you’re prepared to address a wide range of impediments to learning.

5. Leadership — From the renowned scholar leading a master’s-level course, to the kindergarten teacher leading their class together in a singing exercise, teachers are leaders for their students. You’ll need strong leadership skills to keep your students organized, engaged, and on-task while demonstrating respectful attitudes toward their instructors and peers.

6. Variety of Teaching Methods — Teachers need the ability to employ a variety of teaching methods to meet students’ equally varied needs, ranging from teacher-directed (like lectures and worked examples) to student-directed (like collaborative and project-based learning). For example, it’s important to be familiar with traditional methods of learning vs. inquiry-based learning . You can learn more about teaching methods and how to implement them in our guide to theories of learning.

7. Variety of Teaching Modes — Educators should be familiar with — and develop teaching strategies that are adapted to — the various VARK “modalities of learning,” an acronym that refers to “Visual, Aural, Read/write, and Kinesthetic” modes of learning. You can read more about VARK modalities here .

8. Emotional Intelligence — Emotional intelligence is a broad term that describes a person’s ability to understand, analyze, and manage their own emotional responses. Emotional intelligence is critical for teachers, who need to maintain professionalism and demonstrate leadership even when placed under high-pressure, high-stress situations.

7 Important Hard Skills for Teachers

Examples of important hard skills for teachers to develop and hone include computer skills and technological competence, classroom management skills, administrative skills, writing and grammar skills, and thorough knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. Educators also need to obtain the appropriate certificates, credentials, degrees, and additional qualifications, which we’ll discuss briefly below.

1. Computer and Technology Skills — Computers and other technology play increasing roles in education, a topic we explored in our article on educational technology . Technological proficiency is vital for teachers in any subject, especially if you plan on teaching online or media-rich courses.

2. Classroom Management — Conveying information is only part of your job as an educator. You’re also responsible for managing your classroom and student behavior, particularly for educators who teach younger children. Classroom management skills are essential for maintaining an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment that supports learning for all of your students.

3. Administrative Skills — Administrative skills include skills such as strategic thinking, strong organization and time management, and the ability to lead effectively while communicating clearly. These types of skills are useful for both school administrators and educators, with several (like time management) receiving their own places on this list!

4. Writing and Grammar Skills — It isn’t just English or creative writing teachers who need a firm grasp of grammar and spelling. You’ll need strong writing skills for routine tasks like emailing parents and administrators, correcting students’ assignments, sharing demonstrations on the board, and possibly even requesting grants or other funding.

5. Certificates and Credentials — In addition to earning your degree, you’ll also need to earn certain certificates and credentials depending on factors like where and what you’d like to teach. For example, to quote the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), “Individuals who want to teach in high school in California must earn a Single Subject Teaching Credential .” For more detailed information on that subject, we recommend exploring our overview of multiple and single subject teacher education credentials available at National University.

6. Qualifications and Degrees — Most teaching positions require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, with certain types of teaching positions or academic employers requiring a master’s or even doctoral degree. National University offers a range of accredited online and on-campus degree programs in education to help prepare you for a career in teaching or school administration, like preparing you for professional exam requirements. Learn more about the process of becoming a teacher, or explore the state’s requirements for becoming a teacher in California.

7. Curricular Knowledge — It’s essential to have extensive and in-depth knowledge of your curriculum so that you can lead meaningful discussions and help your students connect larger ideas together. For example, you’ll need to be fluent in any foreign language that you intend to teach.

These are just a few of the many examples of good teacher qualities and skills to possess — no matter what subject you teach or at what grade level. Discover more about what it takes to become an educator by applying to a credential or degree program at National University today.

Teaching begins with learning. Do both at the same time by earning your teaching degree or credential from National University. Through the Sanford College of Education, we offer a wide range of teacher credentials, associate’s degree programs, bachelor’s degree programs, and master’s degree programs — all with regional accreditation, financial aid options for students, and the ability to complete coursework partially or 100% online.

Follow your passion while making an impact on young (or not-so-young) minds. Talk to our admissions counselors about applying to National University and enrolling in our BAECE, MAE, or other teaching credentials and degree programs.

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10 What Makes an Effective Teacher?

Jennifer Beasley and Myra Haulmark

Here’s a question:  Are you teaching if students are not learning?  Professionals have debated this idea for generations. A common definition of an effective teacher is one who impacts student learning.

If educators are tasked with helping children learn, it is important to define learning. Our brain was designed to question, explore and learn. We are born with billions of neurons just waiting to be connected.  Each experience we have, throughout our lifetime, creates connections or pathways between the neurons.   Learning begins at birth and continues throughout a lifetime.

In order for our brains to function effectively, it needs to have the following:  exercise, sleep, oxygen, hydration (water), and food.  We can have the best teacher in the world, but if the brain lacks any of these, the brain will not function at full capacity.  Think about students who do not receive enough of one or more of these.  They are at a disadvantage from the second they step into the classroom; before instruction even begins. There are many things that educators can do in schools to provide for some of these basic needs, but more importantly, it is important for educators to know their students well to determine a missing piece.

There are three definitions of learning that are important to know as you define effectiveness as a teacher.

• Learning is a change in the neuron patterns of the brain.
• Learning is the ability to use the information after a long period of disuse.
• Learning is the ability to use the information to problem solve, and/or use it in a different manner or circumstance from which it was learned.

Terry Doyle from Ferris State University says that “The one who does the work is the one who does the learning.”  Students have to put work and effort into learning the material that is presented to them.  It doesn’t just flow into the brain and stay.  The type of work and the amount of effort will vary among our students.  They will have to work harder in some areas than others; you probably already know that based on your own learning experiences.  As teachers, we have to help students discover what types of strategies will work for them.

Objectives and Key Terms

In this chapter, readers will…

• Define learning as it relates to effectiveness as an educator
• Identify the four domains of Danielson’s Frameworks for Teaching and how they relate to teacher effectiveness
• Describe what it meant by the teacher as a “reflective decision maker”

Key terms in the chapter are…

• Reflective teaching
• Scaffolding
• Zone of Proximal Development
• Classroom management

What do you think?

What words would you use to describe an effective teacher?

An Effective teacher is__________________.

An Effective Educator Understands Learning Theories

As the brain takes in information, it will look for patterns, look for similarities and differences, look for relationships and connect the new information to what is already known.  All of these will create new brain connections and can result in learning.  The information goes into the short term memory, but in order for learning to take place it has to make the transfer to long term memory.  Here is how the cycle works:

The teacher shares knowledge the students need to learn.

The student’s short term memory is activated and records information that is important.

Neurons fire creating networks that represent the new information

If the student does not use the information, or only uses it a few times, the neuron-networks that represent that new information will break apart and be lost.

If the information is used a great deal (reviewed, applied and practices), the neuron networks form strong connections and become part of long term memory and then…

LEARNING HAS TAKEN PLACE!

You can see that the student has to be actively involved in order for learning to take place.  Our responsibility is to help them develop strategies for making this transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory.

A very large factor in learning is repetition.  Students have to interact with the information over and over. Many of you do not sing your ABCs every day, but if you were asked to, you probably could. The reason is that you really did learn it several years ago.  The information made the transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory.  Just reading an assignment, or listening to a lecture, is not enough to learn the information.  We have to spend time interacting with the material and in a variety of ways.

First off, we have to be certain the information we are trying to learn is accurate.  Neurons in the brain fire for misinformation as well as accurate information.  If you don’t understand an idea, or have questions, be sure to ask them.  Do not assume.  If you do not ask, you run the risk of studying information that is not correct or of doing something incorrectly.  Always be sure the information you are studying is accurate, and that your students understand this idea as well.

Second, students need to take the time to reflect.  Ask how the new information connects to what you already know.  Search your experiences and see if there is one that connects to this idea.  You can use it to help assimilate the new information.  Look back over how this information was presented to you and see if there are any connections there that will help you remember.  Ponder how you might use this new information.  Some students find keeping a reflective journal an effective strategy for them to use when processing new information.  A journal is a tool that will allow them to “think about” and reflect on the information.  Keep in mind, this may not be effective for everyone.

Another tool for transferring information from the short-term memory to the long-term memory is review.  Our review has to begin immediately.  We have to look the information over and create strategies for studying.  These will vary greatly among our students.  We have to help them discover what learning tools work for them.  For example, let’s look at learning spelling words.  We have all had the list of spelling words we needed to learn.  We all had our own way of doing it, but most of us just kept spelling the words over and over.  Again, this doesn’t work for everyone.  Others find flashcards helpful or drawing graphs and diagrams, writing songs or poems with the concepts to be learned or creating games to play with study buddies.  Some students will highlight in their textbooks and write notes in the margins.  The bottom line is that students have to find a way to review the information that works for them.  In some cases, we have to teach our students how to learn.

One review tool is a concept map.  You may also know this as a graphic organizer or web.  All of these terms refer to basically the same thing.  It is a visual organization of material.   As they create, they are interacting with the material again (repetition) and then they have a tool to use when they review the information.

Re-coding is a very effective tool in learning.  Re-coding involves writing the information you receive in your own words.  Taking notes is one way to re-code, as long as you are not copying word for word from a text or PowerPoint.  Keeping a learning journal is another way to re-code information.  Re-coding allows the student to put the ideas in his/her own words and based on our own experiences with the information.  This improves learning.  Don’t memorize definitions; always read the definition and then write it out in your own words.  These are the words that you will remember and understand.  It will also help to make that transfer of information from the short term memory to the long term memory.  Once again, they are interacting with the material a second or third time and we know that repetition is a major key in learning.  These are the types of strategies you can teach your students.

Research is showing that movement is an important part of learning.  The more movement we can incorporate into a classroom, the more likely our students are to stay focused.  This is especially important for younger children who have very limited attention spans, and are naturally wired to move.  Students who appear active, or never seem to be able to sit still, are often moving to help keep themselves focused.  How many of you doodle while listening to someone talk, or click a pen or tap a foot?  This type of “fidgeting”, whether you realize it or not, is helping your brain to stay focused on the task.  For students who are high in bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, they need to move.   However, students are often punished in class for the very behaviors that will help them learn.  Technology has also robbed our children of opportunities to move, yet it is a necessary part of our development.

A child’s mental development is based in part on his/her early motor development.  The brain begins to wire up its ability to process information by wiring up the body’s systems of balance, coordination, vestibular, and motor development. What makes us move is also what makes us think.  As the brain and body begin to work together to process motor sequences and patterns such as rolling over, crawling, walking, and jumping, the brain creates the pathways used for processing sequences in reading and math.

Think about these things.  The basic movements we learn as children, rolling, crawling/walking, and jumping correspond with the way information travels in the brain:

• side to side across the corpus callosum
• back to front across the motor cortex
• up and down from the bottom to the top of the brain

Sometimes we have to “jump-start” the brain by doing the exercises I mentioned earlier.  You can see how those simple movements can help get the brain “talking to itself.”

We can support learning by incorporating movement into our classrooms.  Exercise balls have been shown to be very effective for children who have the need to move.  The balls are used in place of a chair.  The small movement that is needed to keep balanced on the ball is enough to meet the child’s need to move.  They can also move a bit on the ball within their defined space.  Allowing children to doodle or fidget also helps. Some students even benefit from a “fidget.”  This is some object that students can “play with” while they are listening, studying, and working.  For example, a cushy ball to squeeze, or a small ball to roll around in the hand.

You also want to think about activities you can put into place that will allow students to move.  Using a velcro dartboard with math facts is one way to get students moving.  They throw the velcro dart and have to solve the problem it lands on.  Labeling a beach ball with the elements of a story and tossing the ball around.  The elements their hands land on when catching it are the elements they have to explain or give examples of.  These types of things will increase the chances that this information will be transferred to long-term memory.

An Effective Educator Understands About Mindset

There is another significant factor in learning and that is an individual’s mindset.  Carol Dweck’s research identified two types of mindsets:  a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.  These mindsets influence how students view themselves as learners and influence the amount of effort they put into their studies.

Growth mindset individuals believe their brains are malleable and intelligence and abilities can be enhanced through hard work and practice. They believe only time will tell how “smart” they are.  Fixed mindset individuals see intelligence as fixed; some people are “smart” and others are not “smart.”  They believe that no amount of work or study will improve their abilities or increase their knowledge.  Both of these mindsets are reflected in the performance of students.  Let’s look at these ideas side by side.

You can see how the way in which you view yourself will impact your ideas about learning and thus your practices.  It’s vital that we help students develop a growth mindset if they are going to be successful.

Let’s look at the basic principle of learning.  In order to learn, we have to take a risk and in order to take that risk, we have to feel safe both physically and emotionally.  Most of our students feel physically safe in their classrooms (there are always those exceptions), but far fewer feel emotionally safe.  They don’t participate in discussions, answer questions, or sometimes even do their work out of the fear of being wrong.   Most of these students will have a fixed mindset.  They don’t see themselves as learners and they don’t believe that any amount of work will make a difference.  They often shut down and do nothing because it is emotionally safer that way.  It is safer to do nothing than to do something and be wrong, which means they then deal with the humiliation of failure.  They have often experienced a great deal of failure in the past and they have now “shut down.” If someone does not step in and help them experience success, they are doomed.  It’s never too late to help a student develop a growth mindset, but it will take time, patience, and dedication.

Watch the following video about Mindset to learn more:

If we have any hope of these students into productive students who participate in discussions, complete work, and make academic progress we have to first help them experience success.  This requires a one-on-one conversation to discover the reason why these things are happening.  We then have to work to resolve the issues the student has.  They may mean we provide extra help to the student individually, alter assignments for a period of time, work with study buddies, or do whatever it will take for the student to experience just a small amount of success.  With each new success comes more confidence.  We then continue to build on that success.  We have to continue to challenge them, but keep the support systems in place so they can continue to be successful.  Over time we will be able to remove some of those supports, but in the process, they will be gaining strategies and tools they can continue to use in their academic endeavors.  They will also have gained confidence and most of them will have changed their mindset to one that more closely resembles a growth mindset.  This will make all the difference in their learning!

Learning is a complex process and we have to understand what is involved, what works for our students, the challenges they face, the emotional baggage they enter our classrooms with, as well as understand them and find ways to help them be successful.  We have to be willing to go above and beyond, change the rules and expectations now and then, and get rid of the notion of punishment, and strive to teach!

An Effective Educator Understands How to Reflect

As a teacher learns about how children learn, he/she can reflect on how he/she is doing to help children learn.  Reflective teaching is one way that an educator can systematically reflect on data (test scores, assignments, informal questions) to determine if he/she was successful.  It is important to think about all that goes into teaching a lesson so that reflection can be centered on what might be going well and what might need adjustment.

Danielson’s Framework for Teaching

Dr. Charlotte Danielson (2011) worked with others and current research to define a framework to identify a teacher’s responsibilities. Although they are not the only possible description of practice, these responsibilities seek to define what teachers should know and be able to do in the exercise of their profession.

In this framework, the complex activity of teaching is divided into 22 components clustered into the following 4 domains of teaching responsibility:

• Domain 1: Planning and Preparation
• Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
• Domain 3: Instruction
• Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

Each component defines a distinct aspect of a domain; two to five elements describe a specific feature of a component. For example, Domain 2, The Classroom Environment, contains five components. Component 2a is Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport, which consists of two elements: “Teacher interaction with students” and “Student interactions with other students.” This component applies in some manner to all settings, as do all the other components. But although teachers at all levels and in all subjects establish rapport with and convey respect for their students, they do so in different ways.

Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (FfT) is one way that educators in many states have adopted a common language to talk about the responsibilities in the classroom.  States such as Arkansas and Louisiana have adopted Danielson’s work in order to evaluate a teacher’s success in the classroom.

Think about how you describe an effective teacher.  Would these four domains capture everything you are thinking about?

What Makes an Effective Teacher?

In this chapter, we reflected on three things that effective educators need to understand.  They need to understand how children learn and grow, they have to learn about the impact of mindset on learning, and finally, they need to know how to reflect on their own practice.  With these practices in place, educators will be on the road to teacher expertise.

The following resources are provided when “digging deeper” into the chapter.

Danielson, C. (2011). Frameworks for Teaching.  Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

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The Most Important Qualities That Make a Good Teacher

July 30, 2023

Teachers significantly impact the lives of their learners. They challenge their students to confidently think outside the box and counter new challenges. 

A good teacher will also support their learners when they take in new challenges and fail. They build their confidence to try again, inspire creativity, and encourage exploration and competition. 

Teaching is not a job but a calling. It is, therefore, crucial to acquire and perfect the required skills to efficiently inspire and grow students in their classrooms. 

Good teachers model behaviors of patience, empathy, communication, and understanding. Qualities that they can help grow in their learners. 

In this article, we discuss ten qualities of good teachers that should serve as motivation if you hope to impact the lives of your learners positively. 

The Value of a Teacher’s Role

A teacher’s role is essential not only in the education system but also later on in the lives of their students. 

You can make a difference in your student’s life by influencing everything, from educational goals to after-school success. 

Good teachers help their students reach more success, understand themselves better, and make well-thought decisions that will help them make the right choices to propel them to greater heights in life. 

To be good at your job as a teacher, you must love it. Passion is infectious; your students will feel passionate about the subject if you are passionate about it. 

Also, you can cultivate self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth in your learners in your daily interactions. 

Your interactions with your students also guide them into laying the foundation for meaningful relationships, understanding their feelings, and navigating challenging situations. 

10 Qualities of a Good Teacher

Outstanding teachers have certain qualities that make them rise above the rest of their student’s lives. Such teachers have a way of remaining in our memories no matter how far removed from our school years. 

Studies from the Economic Policy Institute show that good teachers contribute more to student achievement than learning facilities and school leadership. 

Here are our top ten qualities that make a good teacher:

1. Great communicators

When you possess excellent communication skills, you will know how to teach your subject in a learner-friendly and engaging way. 

This will, in turn, improve their understanding and achievement as it will bring you closer to them and help them present any concerns they may have regarding any learned content. 

For instance, a finance class will be easier to understand if the teacher uses everyday examples with which the students are familiar. 

2. Experts in their field

Your students will be motivated to learn if you are an expert in your field. If you love your teaching area, you will show that expertise in the classroom. 

Once you have mastered the content in your subject area, you can use different angles to explain the subject matter; hence be very resourceful when teaching. 

For instance, a math teacher can use the rows and columns in the class to enhance understanding of matrices. 

3. Collaboration

Collaboration in teaching creates a growth-based learning environment that increases student learning processes.

You should work closely with other teachers and your students if you aim for great results. 

Collaborating with other teachers helps you learn from each other, allowing you to brainstorm new ideas. This is significant in improving learner outcomes. 

A good teacher is also interested in learning from parents about their students. This equips you with an understanding of how to help your students better.

Empathy is how you understand your learner’s emotional, social, and intellectual situations. A good teacher can respond empathetically to a learner’s admirable and ugly emotions without losing focus on student learning. 

For instance, if your best student failed a test. Your first instinct might be to reprimand them and for an explanation for their poor performance. On the other hand, consider putting yourself in their situation, imagine how they are feeling, and empathize with them. 

Seek to understand how they feel about the dismal performance, what they think they did wrong, and then suggest ways to improve the result. Assure them that they have a chance to turn things around. 

When your learners feel physically, mentally, and emotionally safe, they will engage better in your subject as they feel loved and understood. 

You can grow your empathetic touch by reading books on such, taking courses on empathy, and attending seminars that build on this. 

5. Loving challenges

A great teacher loves challenges. A classroom environment is full of varied challenges; therefore, embracing them is a sure way to manage them. 

Once you love your challenges, you will teach your learners more effectively. This is because a teacher who loves challenges will grow to challenge students. Students love challenges, provided they are presented in a kind spirit. 

You can draw your students to love challenges by asking thought-provoking questions that get learners to think about sequencing and predictions. 

Challenging them will push them to work harder, improve, and achieve beyond their imagination. 

6. Creativity

Although not all subject areas promote creativity, they can all be taught creatively. 

For instance, a biology teacher teaching about different kinds of plants would take students to the natural habitat to exploit the topic practically. Also, a literature teacher would more creatively use film to enhance the mental correlation of a play the learners are reading as a literary text. 

A science teacher would use real solutions more creatively when teaching learners to test for bases and acids. Learners always appreciate the extra mile. 

When you creatively motivate your learners, they are motivated to do this in education and their lives after school. 

7. Constant growth 

Teachers need a growth mindset that prepares them for the classroom environment. Continuous learning will equip you with invaluable knowledge to progressively inspire your students. The growth mindset is essential because it will enable you to collaborate with your learners with the understanding that they can learn it to a higher level. 

A view that continuous growth is essential will create a love of learning and resilience in just one area. It empowers your learners to believe they can develop their abilities with brains and talents as starting points. 

The need for growth will motivate you to focus on creativity and intelligence, the two factors that result in success in both your academic and professional lives. 

8. Patience

When managing learners, your patience is constantly tested. You will also deal with learners, parents, and colleagues with differing perspectives, backgrounds, and characters. This requires patience. 

For instance, with your learners and their parents, you must be patient in repeatedly dealing with the same questions and issues.

Also, some of your learners will have difficulties understanding various concepts; it’s essential that you keep going but should continuously try out new ways of helping them succeed. 

9. Adaptability

Your environment as a teacher is constantly evolving. This demands that you continually adapt to the constant changes and adjust your teaching methods to suit the age and intellect of your learners. 

Also, with the continuously changing educational frameworks, being able to adopt those changes makes you a good teacher. 

Adaptability is also one of the essential skills that you will require if you are educating learners of varying grade levels or those with different learning styles. 

10. Respect

Many educators imply respect, but few understand how to use it in the classroom. 

As a good teacher, you must be mindful of any imbalance in respect and ensure that your students feel respected and heard. 

In stories from American Teacher Week , Maggie remembers her seventh-grade language teacher for the respect she fostered and reflected on her students. The feeling that her teacher valued and respected each of them taught her a valuable lesson about the significance of fostering the respect you demand.

Desired Classroom Skills

Besides the teaching and communication skills you should possess as a good teacher, excellent class management skills are critical.  

Some of the desired class management skills include:

• Setting high but achievable expectations for your students – You can do this by teaching them about growth mindsets. They should believe that success is within their control. Reinforce in them daily that they can succeed if they put in the effort. 
• Good planning skills – With good planning skills, you will help students identify their goals and guide them in deciding what their priority is. Teach them how to plan their learning by breaking their tasks into steps to make them more manageable. Teaching learners how to plan will also eliminate uncertainty in the mind, which in most learners results in procrastination. 
• Creating a sense of community- A sense of community will create a social connection and a sense of belonging among your learners. You can establish this community within your students by consistently holding class meetings every morning to focus on building social and emotional skills and establishing relationships among them. 

Common Weaknesses of Teachers

Teachers, even the most experienced, are helpful with some weaknesses. Every teacher would like to see themselves as being perfect, but admitting that we are all flawed in different ways is the first step to becoming better teachers tomorrow. 

Here are some common weaknesses in teachers: 

Perfectionism

Making mistakes is a normal part of human life. Perfectionism is a fear-based pattern whose short-term rewards are getting the job done and exceeding expectations. Its long-term effects, however, include burnout, compromised quality of work, and missed deadlines. 

Being afraid to make mistakes primes us for burnout and overwhelms us with fear, factors that distort our functioning as teachers. 

Dealing with others as a perfectionist is challenging since you will always want them to do things your way, allowing little room for the ideas and imperfections of others. 

Perfectionism also prevents you from taking constructive criticism from colleagues who may want to share relevant observations on your interaction. 

Though no one is perfect, some teachers seem to have it together, and this may be the basis for our comparison. Comparison can hinder your success as a teacher if you are constantly comparing yourself with colleagues you view as perfect. 

Learning helpful hints and new ideas from teachers with the strengths we would like to possess would help you overcome comparison.

For instance, if a colleague is better at relating with learners and they look up to her more for guidance, instead of getting all jealous and bitter at her, seek to know what she does differently to get the students to open up to her. 

Spontaneous

If you are a spontaneous teacher, you act without planning but will rely on previous experience teaching diverse classes and using different approaches to teaching. 

Spontaneity in learning is not all bad, as it helps adjust the power imbalances in a typical classroom. Spontaneous teaching, however, can have some adverse effects on learning. This can result in a lack of structure to your lesson and poor lesson organization. It may also limit your degree of learner assessment of learner progress and achievement. 

To avoid the adverse effects of spontaneity, find a balance between flexibility and structure in the lesson. Consider the individual learner’s needs and learning abilities when deciding on the instructional method. 

Becoming a Good Teacher

A chosen path can guide you into becoming a better teacher. Many specialties are available, so knowing what grade you want to teach and what subject area you are passionate about is essential. 

Here are some steps to take toward becoming a good teacher. 

Bachelor’s Degree 

A bachelor’s degree is crucial to becoming a good teacher. Though most states will require a bachelor’s degree in education, alternative routes to licensure are also available. 

 It will allow you to learn essential skills that will help you become a better teacher. Such include:

• Cognitive skills : A degree program grows your ability to recall, integrate, and analyze information. You will be able to foster critical and creative thinking skills that guide fluency, originality, flexibility, and adaptability in developing and adjusting to learner programs. 
• Communication skills: Acquiring communication skills enables you to interact and collaborate effectively with your learners in delivering and assessing knowledge acquisition. Efficient communication is necessary when also engaging with students’ families and colleagues. 
• Research skills: The skills to initiate and complete data collection concerning learner performance and curricula are essential in effective instruction. A bachelor’s degree program will guide you into effectively demonstrating, considering consequences, information presentation, and record keeping. 
• Social skills: A good teacher is sensitive to ethical and integral processes of establishing functional relationships with all the school community members. The program will develop compassion, empathy, interpersonal skills, and internal motivation, skills you will require to impact your learners and effectively relate with your colleagues positively. 

Here is a list of some bachelor’s degrees that would guide you into initial certification as a teacher:

• Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education
• Bachelor of Special Ed. and Elementary Education
• Bachelor of Special Education (mild to moderate)
• Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education (middle grades)
• Bachelor of Science in Science Education (Secondary Biological Science)
• Bachelor of Arts in Music Education
• Bachelor of Science in STEM Education

Master’s Degree

Besides attaining a bachelor’s degree, aspiring teachers should also think about acquiring a master’s degree. A master’s degree will upgrade your knowledge and help you learn more about your subject area. You will also acquire more effective ways of curriculum instruction. 

Teaching Certification

To get hired after completing your degree program, getting certified to teach in the state where you are interested in teaching is essential. 

Getting certified gives you credibility as a teacher and is one of the states’ quality measures for hiring teachers. 

Most states will therefore require teachers to have certificates to teach. 

Teachers are crucial in changing lives, inspiring dreams, and pushing individuals to realize their potential. Teachers educate the next generation, promoting positive attitudes that shape society. 

Middle School Teacher Salary in Texas in 2023

July 30, 2023 by bryan

Texas Teachers Certification Areas

Texas teachers currently offers 50+ certification areas:.

• Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources 6–12 (272)
• American Sign Language (ASL) (184)
• Art EC–12 (178)
• Bilingual Education Supplemental (164)
• Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test (BTLPT) Spanish (190)
• Business and Finance 6–12 (276)
• Chemistry 7–12 (240)
• Computer Science 8–12 (241)
• Core Subjects EC-6 (291)
• Core Subjects 4–8 (211)
• Dance 6–12 (279)
• English as a Second Language Supplemental (154)
• English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 (117)
• English Language Arts and Reading 7–12 (231)
• English Language Arts and Reading/Social Studies 4–8 (113)
• Family and Consumer Sciences EC-12 (200)
• Health EC–12 (157)
• Health Science 6–12 (273)
• History 7–12 (233)
• Journalism 7–12 (256)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Arabic EC–12 (600 & 605)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) French EC–12 (610)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) German EC–12 (611)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Latin EC–12 (612)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Japanese EC–12 (602 & 607)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Mandarin Chinese EC–12 (601 & 606)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Russian EC–12 (603 & 608)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Spanish EC–12 (613)
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Vietnamese EC–12 (604 & 609)
• Life Science 7–12 (238)
• Marketing 6–12 (275)
• Mathematics 4–8 (115)
• Mathematics 7–12 (235)
• Mathematics/Physical Science/Engineering 6–12 (274)
• Mathematics/Science 4–8 (114)
• Music EC–12 (177)
• Physical Education EC–12 (158)
• Physical Science 6–12 (237)
• Physics/Mathematics 7–12 (243)
• Science 4–8 (116)
• Science 7–12 (236)
• Social Studies 4–8 (118)
• Social Studies 7–12 (232)
• Special Education EC–12 (161)
• Speech 7–12 (129)
• Technology Applications EC–12 (242)
• Technology Education 6–12 (171)
• Texas Assessment of Sign Communication–American Sign Language™ (TASC–ASL™) (073)
• Theatre EC–12 (180)
• Trade and Industrial (T&I)

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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The 10 Most Important Qualities of a Good Teacher, According to Real Educators

This is what it takes to succeed in this challenging career.

It’s a standard teacher interview question : “What do you think is the most important quality of a good teacher?” While everyone has a different answer, there are some that come up more often than others. We asked a group of experienced educators and administrators to share their thoughts on the key qualities of a good teacher. Here’s what they had to say.

1. Patience

This was far and away the most commonly mentioned characteristic by educators in our survey. “Patience can be used in virtually every situation,” says high school ELA teacher Ann Cox. “If a teacher is able to remain calm, consider others’ point of view, and think through scenarios, they will be able to navigate just about anything that comes their way.”

She continues: “Patience helps teachers not to react in the moment when students are off task, disrespectful, etc. It’s also helpful when dealing with angry parents so you don’t say or do something you might regret later. And patience is definitely needed when sitting through meetings and professional development sessions!”

For ELA teacher Kenly CG, patience means “paying attention to each student’s needs and showing that you care about your students’ learning.” UK special school teacher Sarah Brown also advises “remaining calm, listening and observing students’ needs, repeating instructions, and modelling again when necessary.”

Learn more: 7 Ways To Cultivate Patience at Calm

2. Empathy and Compassion

These two traits were a close second behind patience when we asked about the qualities of a good teacher. “They have to know you care before they can learn from you,” explains middle school teacher Samantha Wheeler. As a special ed teacher from New York notes: “You have to teach the child before you can teach the curriculum.”

“Empathy is a constant exercise in stepping outside of yourself and your perspective to see the children you teach for who they are,” notes Indiana preschool teacher Maile C. Quinton. “Contact talks. Get down on the same level as a child, listen to what they say, and emphasize their shared feelings by validating them. Don’t try to silver lining everything—you can validate a situation, a moment, an emotion without condoning a behavior or a problem. Empathy isn’t sympathy.”

Learn more: Cultivating Empathy at American Psychological Association

3. Flexibility and Adaptability

Being open-minded to change is critical in this field. So many of the educators we surveyed agree with this North Carolina ESL teacher: “There is nothing constant in teaching. Good teachers have to be able to adapt to the changing needs of students, to new administrators, new curricula, new colleagues, and new technology.”

“With so many different needs from students and parents, teachers need to be flexible to accommodate and meet students where they are at,” says elementary school counselor Lisa K, while high school English teacher Nicole P. adds, “There are often times where you need to think on your feet, so being flexible is important to go with the flow in different situations.” ADVERTISEMENT

Elementary special ed teacher Brianna Vuori sums it up like this: “We can only begin to predict what the future will hold and with that what we need to prepare students for, so adaptability is critical to being able to survive and thrive in this ever-changing profession.”

Learn more: Teachers, To Succeed, It’s Important To Be Flexible at EdWeek

Teaching can be a tough gig, and you’ll need to be dedicated and passionate in order to thrive. “Passion is what drives us forward and what sees us through rough times,” emphasizes ELS department head Katerina T. “It is the driving force behind every lesson plan or decision we make and what lies at the foundation of life-changing relationships with our students.”

“Teachers that have passion will always find a way to meet the demands of the job,” says Florida teacher Jamie Cabaniss. “Teachers can lean on their passions when feeling frustrated and burnt out. Passions are what reignite us to get back in the classroom to teach our hearts out.”

Preschool teacher Christina H. couldn’t agree more. “You have to have a love and passion for what you are doing,” she declares. “Teaching isn’t just ‘teaching.’ It is also being a second mom (or dad), a counselor, a referee, a nurse, and so much more. To wear these many hats, you need to love what you are doing. You also need to love your students to help them succeed. Loving them on their best and worst days is what will make you successful.”

Learn more: 5 Ways Educators Can Grow and Sustain a Passion for Teaching at NSHSS

5. Kindness

Over and over again, educators emphasized kindness as one of the most important qualities of a good teacher. “We are in the business of teaching human beings. We must teach them to be good people,” stresses Adam Peterson, Illinois music teacher and tutor.

Tina Jones agrees: “Teachers need to be kind, caring, compassionate and understanding. In our world today, with kids getting so much information and misinformation via social media, children need examples of those qualities more than ever.”

Learn more: The Case for Professional Kindness in Teaching at Teacher magazine

6. Collaboration

“Good teachers need to be able to give ideas, ask for help, share, and communicate with coworkers and families,” advises one Washington second grade teacher. “Be able to take suggestions, offer help, and not take things personally.”

Teachers regularly have to work collaboratively, and not just with their fellow colleagues and administrators. Developing strong, collaborative relationships with parents and families is vital. To succeed in this field, you need to learn to work well as part of a team.

Learn more: The Importance of Teacher Collaboration at American University School of Education

7. Professionalism

It probably feels like professionalism should be a given in any job, but it’s one of the most important qualities of a good teacher because you need to gain and maintain the respect of students, families, and administration. “Some days are going to be frustrating, discouraging, and stressful,” warns an Ohio 7th grade science teacher, “but you need to remain professional by staying calm and encouraging and being a good mentor for your students.”

Learn more: The Five P’s of Professionalism in Teaching at Grand Canyon University

8. Sense of Humor

There’s no doubt about it, teachers do best when they have a sense of humor. “Laughing at yourself is a great relief, and laughing with children builds trust with them,” says Maile C. Quinton. Find ways to bring humor into your classroom, and you’ll find that students relax and learn a little more easily. (Plus, it’s much easier to deal with the small daily annoyances of teaching when you learn to laugh them off!)

Learn more: Engaging Students With Humor at Association for Psychological Science

9. Open-Mindedness

“Be open to learning from more (and even less) experienced teachers, and open to trying out new teaching and classroom management methods,” recommends middle school ELA teacher Abigail Perry.

“We are building relationships with a diverse student population,” notes Cheryl Rizzo, a middle school ELA teacher. “This can be a source of stress or create divide. However, with an open mind, it can create new opportunities or a chance to grow. Teachers are open-minded when they allow students to have a voice and take an active part in their education.”

Part of being open-minded means demonstrating a willingness to grow and a dedication to growth mindset. According to a literacy coach from North Carolina: “This job requires constant reflection, learning, and growth.”

Learn more: How To Be Open-Minded and Why It Matters at Very Well Mind

10. Resilience

Marilyn Weber, a retired principal from Massachusetts, names this as the quality she looked for in a good teacher. “In order to navigate the world of education with all its related constituencies and responsibilities, an educator needs to be knowledgeable, flexible, an impeccable communicator, and should be able to withstand all the highs and lows of what comes their way and needs to be accomplished,” she states. She added that educators must be able to “do so without allowing any of that to shake their confidence and resolve in order to do what’s best for their students.”

That’s a tall order! Fortunately, Andrea Perry, a certified coach for educator well-being, has some advice. “Develop emotional intelligence. It’s critical for keeping our calm and being proactive, not reactive. This supports the teacher not only in serving their students well but also helps them remain joyfully in the profession as well.”

Learn more: How To Be Resilient at Work at Positive Psychology

More Qualities of a Good Teacher To Consider

These qualities of a good teacher didn’t make the top 10, but they’re definitely worthwhile attributes for every educator to cultivate:

• Inclusive mindset: “There is such a huge stigma against disabilities and it is often hushed away, which creates shame. All children are general education first and receive special education services second. Build a classroom community with respect by explaining differences to students and celebrating everyone’s strengths. True inclusivity helps all students grow, not just the students in a special education classroom. True inclusivity should help you as a teacher grow.” —Katie M., Functional Life Skills Teacher
• Love for all children: “A good teacher must truly like kids, even the naughty ones. Too often teachers only seem to like the ‘good’ kids or the ones from ‘good’ families. They attribute the student’s behavior to something personal or bad about them. Instead, those are the kids in whom we need to diligently look for the good.” —Kathryn Roe, retired educator and administrator
• Love of learning
• Problem-solving skills
• Hopefulness
• Imagination
• Reliability
• Knowledge of content and pedagogy
• High expectations

What do you feel are the most important qualities of a good teacher? Come share your thoughts in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, the complete guide to becoming a teacher, from choosing a college to landing a job ..

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11 Habits of an Effective Teacher

I really appreciate teachers who are truly passionate about teaching. The teacher who wants to be an inspiration to others. The teacher who is happy with his/her job at all times. The teacher who every child in the school would love to have. The teacher kids remember for the rest of their lives. Are you that teacher? Read on and learn 11 effective habits of an effective teacher.

1. Enjoys Teaching

Teaching is meant to be a very enjoyable and rewarding career field (although demanding and exhausting at times!). You should only become a teacher if you love children and intend on caring for them with your heart. You cannot expect the kids to have fun if you are not having fun with them! If you only read the instructions out of a textbook, it's ineffective. Instead, make your lessons come alive by making it as interactive and engaging as possible. Let your passion for teaching shine through each and everyday. Enjoy every teaching moment to the fullest.

2. Makes a Difference

There is a saying, "With great power, comes great responsibility". As a teacher, you need to be aware and remember the great responsibility that comes with your profession. One of your goals ought to be: Make a difference in their lives. How? Make them feel special, safe and secure when they are in your classroom. Be the positive influence in their lives. Why? You never know what your students went through before entering your classroom on a particular day or what conditions they are going home to after your class. So, just in case they are not getting enough support from home, at least you will make a difference and provide that to them.

3. Spreads Positivity

Bring positive energy into the classroom every single day. You have a beautiful smile so don't forget to flash it as much as possible throughout the day. I know that you face battles of your own in your personal life but once you enter that classroom, you should leave all of it behind before you step foot in the door. Your students deserve more than for you to take your frustration out on them. No matter how you are feeling, how much sleep you've gotten or how frustrated you are, never let that show. Even if you are having a bad day, learn to put on a mask in front of the students and let them think of you as a superhero (it will make your day too)! Be someone who is always positive, happy and smiling. Always remember that positive energy is contagious and it is up to you to spread it. Don't let other people's negativity bring you down with them.

4. Gets Personal

This is the fun part and absolutely important for being an effective teacher! Get to know your students and their interests so that you can find ways to connect with them. Don't forget to also tell them about yours! Also, it is important to get to know their learning styles so that you can cater to each of them as an individual. In addition, make an effort to get to know their parents as well. Speaking to the parents should not be looked at as an obligation but rather, an honour. In the beginning of the school year, make it known that they can come to you about anything at anytime of the year. In addition, try to get to know your colleagues on a personal level as well. You will be much happier if you can find a strong support network in and outside of school.

5. Gives 100%

Whether you are delivering a lesson, writing report cards or offering support to a colleague - give 100%. Do your job for the love of teaching and not because you feel obligated to do it. Do it for self-growth. Do it to inspire others. Do it so that your students will get the most out of what you are teaching them. Give 100% for yourself, students, parents, school and everyone who believes in you. Never give up and try your best - that's all that you can do. (That's what I tell the kids anyway!)

6. Stays Organized

Never fall behind on the marking or filing of students' work. Try your best to be on top of it and not let the pile grow past your head! It will save you a lot of time in the long run. It is also important to keep an organized planner and plan ahead! The likelihood of last minute lesson plans being effective are slim. Lastly, keep a journal handy and jot down your ideas as soon as an inspired idea forms in your mind. Then, make a plan to put those ideas in action.

7. Is Open-Minded

As a teacher, there are going to be times where you will be observed formally or informally (that's also why you should give 100% at all times). You are constantly being evaluated and criticized by your boss, teachers, parents and even children. Instead of feeling bitter when somebody has something to say about your teaching, be open-minded when receiving constructive criticism and form a plan of action. Prove that you are the effective teacher that you want to be. Nobody is perfect and there is always room for improvement. Sometimes, others see what you fail to see.

8. Has Standards

Create standards for your students and for yourself. From the beginning, make sure that they know what is acceptable versus what isn't. For example, remind the students how you would like work to be completed. Are you the teacher who wants your students to try their best and hand in their best and neatest work? Or are you the teacher who couldn't care less? Now remember, you can only expect a lot if you give a lot. As the saying goes, "Practice what you preach".

9. Finds Inspiration

An effective teacher is one who is creative but that doesn't mean that you have to create everything from scratch! Find inspiration from as many sources as you can. Whether it comes from books, education, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, blogs, TpT or what have you, keep finding it!

10. Embraces Change

In life, things don't always go according to plan. This is particularly true when it comes to teaching. Be flexible and go with the flow when change occurs. An effective teacher does not complain about changes when a new principal arrives. They do not feel the need to mention how good they had it at their last school or with their last group of students compared to their current circumstances. Instead of stressing about change, embrace it with both hands and show that you are capable of hitting every curve ball that comes your way!

11. Creates Reflection

An effective teacher reflects on their teaching to evolve as a teacher. Think about what went well and what you would do differently next time. You need to remember that we all have "failed" lessons from time to time. Instead of looking at it as a failure, think about it as a lesson and learn from it. As teachers, your education and learning is ongoing. There is always more to learn and know about in order to strengthen your teaching skills. Keep reflecting on your work and educating yourself on what you find are your "weaknesses" as we all have them! The most important part is recognizing them and being able to work on them to improve your teaching skills.

There are, indeed, several other habits that make an effective teacher but these are the ones that I find most important. Many other character traits can be tied into these ones as well.

Last word: There is always something positive to be found in every situation but it is up to you to find it. Keep your head up and teach happily for the love of education!

This piece was originally submitted to our community forums by a reader. Due to audience interest, we’ve preserved it. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own.

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12 Characteristics of an Effective Teacher

For 15 years, college instructor Robert Walker gave his education majors a writing assignment asking them to describe the outstanding qualities of the teachers who impacted their lives. 

He discovered that the most common theme among his students’ writings ​​—when recalling the teachers who made the most impact on them—was an emotional connection. Can it be that the way to your students’ heads is through their hearts? What an encouraging idea!

We’ve compiled Professor Walker’s adapted summary of his students’ memories of their most effective teachers. We can all strive to embody the qualities these students responded so well to. 

12 Characteristics of an Effective Teacher  

1. prepared.

The most effective teachers come to class each day ready to teach that day’s lesson. They: 

• Jump right into the lesson with enthusiasm.
• Avoid wasting instructional time. They start class on time, teach for the entire class period, and time flies in their classes.

2. Positive

The most effective teachers have optimistic attitudes about teaching and their students. They always: 

• Look on the bright side of every situation. 
• Communicate with students about their progress. 
• Praise and recognize students for hard work.
• Help students act kindly toward one another.

3. Hold High Expectations 

The most effective teachers believe every student can be successful. They: 

• Hold students to the highest standards. 
• Consistently challenge their students to realize their potential. 
• Build students’ confidence and teach them to believe in themselves.

4. Creative

The most effective teachers are resourceful and inventive in their teaching methods. They: 

• Might wear a clown suit if the class reaches its academic goal. 
• Agree to participate in the school talent show. 
• Use technology effectively in the classroom.

The most effective teachers handle students and grading fairly. They: 

• Allow all students equal opportunities and privileges. 
• Provide clear requirements. 
• Recognize that “fair” means giving every student an opportunity to succeed. 
• Understand that not all students learn in the same way and at the same rate. 

6. Display a Personal Touch

The most effective teachers are approachable and friendly. They: 

• Connect with students personally. 
• Are genuinely interested in who their students are as people. 
• Visit the students’ world. For instance, they sit with them in the cafeteria; they attend sporting events, plays, and other events outside normal school hours.

7. Cultivate a Sense of Belonging

The most effective teachers have a way of making students feel welcome and comfortable in their classrooms. 

• Have a warm, welcoming attitude that helps students know they belong in your classroom. 
• Communicate how much they love teaching and prefer it to other occupations.

8. Compassionate 

The most effective teachers are concerned about students’ personal problems and can relate to them. Numerous stories established how the sensitivity and compassion of caring teachers affected them in profound and lasting ways. They:

• Understand when students are having a difficult time and act accordingly.
• Remember that students are people with lives outside of the classroom, just like teachers.

9. Have a Sense of Humor 

The most effective teachers do not take everything seriously and make learning fun. They:

• Use humor to break the ice in difficult situations.
• Bring humor into the everyday classroom. 
• Laugh with the class but never at the expense of any particular student. 

10. Respect Students

The most effective teachers do not deliberately embarrass students. Teachers who give the highest respect get the highest respect. They: 

• Respect students’ privacy when returning test papers. 
• Speak to students in private concerning grades or conduct. 
• Always avoid situations that unnecessarily embarrass students.

11. Forgiving 

The most effective teachers do not hold grudges. They: 

• Forgive the students. 
• Start each day with a clean slate. 
• Understand that disruptive or antisocial behavior can quickly turn a teacher against a student, but that refusing to give up on a difficult student can produce success. 

12. Admit Mistakes

The most effective teachers are quick to admit it when they’re wrong. They: 

• Apologize to mistakenly accused students. 
• Make adjustments when students point out errors and oversights. 

Lessons in Love Seen in Scripture

God tells us throughout His Word that love creates more love. It teaches lessons and deepens relationships. As teachers, we can all strive to show more love in our classrooms. Here are a few encouraging verses to help guide your daily path: 

God’s greatest lessons are taught from a loving heart.—1 John 4:7, 11–12 

Service to God and others creates and builds love.—John 14:15; 21:17 

The ability to love is deepened by a relationship with God.—1 John 4:7

Comments for 12 Characteristics of an Effective Teacher

Guadalupe veles:.

I just want to mention that ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS mentioned above describe MRS. AMSBAUGH perfectly. I will never forget how interesting and easy to learn she developed each and every one of her classes. I wish she will know how much we love her and appreciate her love and dedication for the children, and how she takes the time to prepare the class in such a way that kids can learn and have fun at the same time. My daughter and I absolutely love her. May God bless her beautiful spirit so she can continue blessing her students and all those around her. God bless you all!!!

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Evelyn Zangu:

Very useful and educative. This helps as minister to our kids through teaching. Thanks

Evelyn Damaris Rivas Funez:

Kyoheirwe fortunate:, pastor mathew leonard masanja:, add a comment, explore: at school, a christian school guide to standardized testing.

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The elements of effective teaching

Professional learning moves vision, framework, and performance standards into action

By Joellen Killion and Stephanie Hirsh

December 2011, vol. 32 no. 6.

Student success depends on effective teaching— not just occasionally, but every day in every classroom and school. Effective teaching impacts students’ academic, physical, socialemotional, and behavioral well-being. Effective teaching occurs best when all education stakeholders, including parents, policymakers, community members, and educators, share responsibility for continuous improvement and student achievement. For teachers in classrooms, effective professional learning is the single most powerful pathway to promote continuous improvement in teaching.

Consistently great teaching — every day, in every classroom, and in every school — emerges from a clear vision for teaching and learning. This vision is then translated into an instructional framework that details rigorous outcomes for student and educator performance. The framework and outcomes form the basis for the system for professional learning that makes them possible.

A vision for teaching and learning describes how students experience learning and the role of teaching in achieving that vision. Such a vision is grounded in learning theories and models selected to explain how learning happens, who the learners are, and the context in which students learn. The vision emerges from communitywide conversations among stakeholders who come together to describe the learning experience they want for students to prepare them for the future.

The following sample vision, based on the work of a national task force, describes teaching and learning based on the possibilities available through technology. Once a district establishes a vision, an instructional framework moves the vision from a dream to reality by describing how to achieve it.

“Imagine a high school student in the year 2015. She has grown up in a world where learning is as accessible through technologies at home as it is in the classroom, and digital content is as real to her as paper, lab equipment, or textbooks. At school, she and her classmates engage in creative problem-solving activities by manipulating simulations in a virtual laboratory or by downloading and analyzing visualizations of real-time data from remote sensors. Away from the classroom, she has seamless access to school materials and homework assignments using inexpensive mobile technologies. She continues to collaborate with her classmates in virtual environments that allow not only social interaction but also rich connections with a wealth of supplementary content. Her teacher can track her progress over the course of a lesson plan and compare her performance across a lifelong ‘digital portfolio,’ making note of areas that need additional attention through personalized assignments and alerting parents to specific concerns” (National Science Foundation Task Force on Cyberlearning. 2008. p. 5).

Whether an instructional framework is detailed or simple, it guides instructional decisions and builds accountability and consistency into learning experiences to improve results for students. See the sidebar below for examples of what such frameworks might include.

Visions for teaching and learning and instructional frameworks must be coupled with rigorous outcomes for student learning that specify what students are expected to know and be able to do as well as performance standards for educators. The Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics become an essential component of effective teaching because they specify the expectations for student learning. Without clearly articulated outcomes, teaching may be fragmented or unfocused. These standards have been fully adopted in 44 states and the District of Columbia and partially adopted in one additional state; variations of these standards exist in other states or in individual school systems.

ASSESSMENT MATTERS

Generating a vision, developing an instructional framework, and delineating student learning outcomes by themselves are insufficient to produce effective teaching. Effective teaching requires not only explicit performance standards for educators but also processes for improving and assessing effective practice. Performance standards for teachers define instructional expectations and inform the individual improvement and criteria for measuring effectiveness. The Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), a collaborative of more than 30 states, provides model teacher standards for individual states and districts to use in developing their own performance standards (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011). Others have contributed standards for effective teaching that are used as the basis for developing performance criteria such as those defined in Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 2007) and Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008). For school leaders, the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium provides model standards for school leaders (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2008). These standards contribute to a rich vision for leadership, teaching, and learning to establish a process of continuous improvement. See the diagram that demonstrates this relationship on p. 11.

Effective teaching emerges from a vision for teaching and learning, an instructional framework, standards for student learning, and performance expectations for educators coupled with a convergence of policy, planning, and goals at the state, school system, and school levels. Educators, policymakers, community members, and decision makers work collaboratively to develop and implement these components that serve as the backbone of effective teaching. Yet without professional learning to support implementation, these components are relegated to words on pages rather than actions in classrooms.

Effective teaching is possible in every classroom by ensuring every educator experiences substantive professional learning within a culture of collaboration and shared accountability. Effectiveness in teaching is a journey, rather than a destination. Each year, teachers experience new challenges to refine and expand their teaching practices. Each year, teachers face new students with different learning needs. They strive to implement new technologies in their classrooms to accelerate learning. Benchmarks for student learning continue to change. New research on effective instruction is released. New colleagues and leaders join the faculty to support teaching practice and student learning. Systems of professional learning are the only way to ensure these challenges become opportunities to improve student and educator performance.

Absent professional learning, teachers lack access to the information and support they need to refine and enrich teaching throughout their career. At each stage along the career continuum, effective teaching broadens from the core elements of teaching to include expanded responsibilities of a master or mentor teacher whose work includes supporting peers and assuming leadership roles within their schools and beyond that focus on improving student learning. Professional learning is the only strategy in school systems that moves the vision, instructional framework, standards for students, and standards for educators into action.

COMMON ATTRIBUTES

Effective professional learning for effective teaching has seven core attributes, which Learning Forward has defined as Standards for Professional Learning . Professional learning that doesn’t include these attributes is unlikely to produce the same high level of results for educators and their students that effective professional learning will. (See the full list of the Standards for Professional Learning below.)

A common attribute of effective schools is collaboration among educators. Engagement in one or more learning communities provides teachers opportunities to moderate their practice and expectations with their peers, to examine and reflect on their work together, to learn from one another, to challenge one another professionally, and to solve complex problems within the context of their unique work environment. Learning communities generate collective responsibility and accountability for effective teaching and student learning and engage teachers in school-based, ongoing learning focused on strengthening teachers’ day-to-day practice and reducing variation in the effectiveness of teaching from classroom to classroom within a school so that every student, regardless of his or her classroom, experiences the same high level of teaching each day.

Students benefit when teachers learn from peers. C. Ki-rabo Jackson & Elias Bruegmann (2009) report that when the quality of a teacher’s colleagues improve, the students of that teacher benefit. These results occur most likely because teachers organize the focus of learning within their communities on challenges relevant to their students’ success. Effective teaching and student learning are the benefits that spread from classroom to classroom and even from school to school.

Effective teaching requires skillful leadership to build capacity and structures to support learning. Leaders, both administrators and teachers, advocate professional learning as a key lever for continuous improvement of teaching and student results. While individual teachers may engage in professional learning aligned to their professional goals, universal effectiveness in teaching depends on making it a priority within a school or school system, creating a culture and systems to support it, and developing teacher leaders to skillfully facilitate collaborative learning.

In addition to leadership, successful schools and school systems invest resources to support effective teaching. Some of these resources include time for professional learning and collaboration, classroomand school-based support in the form of coaching, technology to seek information, models, networks, and research, and access to external experts who provide specialized knowledge and skill development when the needed expertise is unavailable within the school or district. The effects of these resource investments can be measured in increased student achievement.

Measures of increased effectiveness in teaching and student achievement depend on the use of formative and summative assessments that provide data about teaching performance and student achievement. These data plus data gleaned from examining student work and engagement, individual and collaborative teacher reflection, coaching, and other forms of peer interactions provide both informal and formal data the inform decisions related to improving teaching. These data also provide information to link results for students with changes in teaching practices. Without a regular stream of data about multiple variables related to effective teaching and student learning, teachers, their peers, and supervisors lack valid, reliable, and tangible evidence about effective teaching. These data provide a continuous stream of information against which teachers benchmark their progress and continuous improvement. Because of the significance of data in teaching and professional learning, effective teaching requires extensive assessment literacy and skill in using data to identify, plan, and measure the effects of ongoing professional learning.

Data allow teachers to identify the focus for their professional learning. The effectiveness of the learning experience is measured not only by the content, but also by the design of the learning experience. When professional learning for teachers models effective teaching practices, particularly those that are aligned with the vision of teaching and learning and the instructional framework, those engaged in the learning have an added advantage of learning both the content and processes about learning.

Effective designs integrate learning theories and research and foster active engagement and collaboration with colleagues. Learning designs vary to accommodate the expected outcomes, learners’ preferences, experience levels, school culture, and other factors. Teaching practices are enhanced through mentoring, coaching, and team learning that focus on clearly defined outcomes for teachers and their students.

Learning transfers to practice when mentors, coaches, and team members provide schooland classroom-based support sustained over time that draws on research about individual and organization change. Frequently, efforts to refine or extend teaching practices fail because the improved practices are not fully implemented with fidelity to the design. The use of constructive feedback based on predetermined criteria that describe effective teaching is also essential to continuous improvement of teaching.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING

Performance standards such as those described by Charlotte Danielson, Robert C. Pianta, Karen M. La Paro, and Bridget K. Hamre, InTASC’s model core teaching teaching standards, or state or district performance standards become an integral part of efforts to increase teaching effectiveness. Standards such as these align closely with the vision for teaching and learning and the instructional framework and define excellence in teaching. Coupling performance standards with student learning outcomes such as those defined in the Common Core State Standards creates a coherent set of criteria for both practice and results of effective teaching.

Effectiveness in teaching is a process of continuous learning that occurs over time without a termination point. As described in the InTASC standard 9, Professional Learning and Ethical Practice — “The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his or her practice, particularly the effects of his or her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner” (Council of Chief State School Officers, p. 18) — effective teaching includes reflection using data, engaging in professional learning, and adapting practice to meet the learning needs of students.

School systems have responsibilities to develop and embrace a vision for teaching and learning, adopt an instructional framework that guides how the vision moves into action, and establish standards that serve as the criteria for measuring effectiveness. Effective teaching results from comprehensive efforts of the entire community who come together to create the core components of a state and local system for teaching effectiveness. This system is fundamental to guarantee that every student, not just some, experiences effective teaching every day, and every educator, not just some, understands his or her role in increasing student achievement.

Joellen Killion and Stephanie Hirsh

Joellen Killion ([email protected]) is senior advisor and Stephanie Hirsh (stephanie.hirsh@ learningforward.org) is executive director at Learning Forward.

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2008, April). Educational leadership policy standards: ISLLC 2008 as adopted by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Washington, DC: Author.

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2011, April).

InTASC model core teaching standards: A resource for state dialogue. Washington, DC: Author.

Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Jackson, C.K. & Bruegmann, E. (2009). Teaching students and teaching each other: The importance of peer learning for teachers. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(4), 85-108.

National Science Foundation Task Force on Cyberlearning. (2008). Fostering learning in the networked world: The cyberlearning opportunity and challenge.

Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.

Pianta, R.C., La Paro, K.M., & Hamre, B.K. (2008).

Classroom assessment scoring system. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.

Joellen Killion

Joellen Killion is a senior advisor to Learning Forward and a sought-after speaker and facilitator who is an expert in linking professional learning and student learning. She has extensive experience in planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality, standards-based professional learning at the school, system, and state/provincial levels. She is the author of many books including Assessing Impact , Coaching Matters , Taking the Lead , and The Feedback Process . Her latest evaluation articles for The Learning Professional are “7 reasons to evaluate professional learning” and “Is your professional learning working? 8 steps to find out.”

• Joellen Killion /author/joellen-killion Coaching heavy, coaching light: How to deepen professional practice
• Joellen Killion /author/joellen-killion Evaluating professional learning
• Joellen Killion /author/joellen-killion 7 reasons to evaluate professional learning
• Joellen Killion /author/joellen-killion Is your professional learning working? 8 steps to find out.

Stephanie Hirsh

Stephanie Hirsh retired in June 2019 after 31 years with Learning Forward, an international association of more than 13,000 educators committed to increasing student achievement through effective professional learning. Hirsh led the organization as its executive director for the last 13 years where she presented, published, and consulted on Learning Forward’s behalf across North America.

• Stephanie Hirsh /author/stephanie-hirsh Transforming Teaching Through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning: The Elements
• Stephanie Hirsh /author/stephanie-hirsh The evolution of Standards for Professional Learning
• Stephanie Hirsh /author/stephanie-hirsh New curriculum demands new support
• Stephanie Hirsh /author/stephanie-hirsh The art of listening

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19 More Lessons About Teaching

By  Andrew Joseph Pegoda

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Previously in Inside Higher Ed , I provided 19 lessons that I’ve learned about teaching. (See here or here .) In no particular order, I’d like to share another 19.

20. Survey courses can be much more than surveys of the content and are a huge responsibility because they provide a last opportunity to reach students. As much as possible, I use the survey courses that I teach in United States, Texas, Mexican-American and African-American history as surveys of much more than hundreds of years of past peoples and events. More and more I strive to also provide a survey of various methodologies.

For example, for primary sources, we’ll look at a range of the traditional written sources, as well as films, music, objects, paintings, photographs and short stories. We’ll look at secondary sources that are based on an analysis of historical memory, oral history and archival sources at various points during the semester. We’ll look at articles concerned with environmental, religious, military, political and intellectual history and more. For actual face-to-face time, we use a mixture of learning through interactive lessons, watching and discussing documentaries, completing written assignments and group assignments, and listening to and discussing clips from songs and movies. Sometimes we focus on grassroots, sometimes the great men, sometimes the culture. We’ll even have a bit of chemistry or psychology or something else mixed in here and there, as it helps uncover ways to study the past.

I hope students get a survey of teaching methods, content and ways of studying appropriate primary and secondary sources. The survey is also a survey of ways to think and learn.

Required freshman- and sophomore-level survey courses demand that we cover a bunch of material in far too little time and provide essentially the last and only opportunity in an institution of higher education to show students how wonderfully complex, diverse and interesting our subjects are. After the vast majority of students take the required six credit hours in American history, they will never again take a history class and will likely never read another history book. I take seriously my only opportunity to show them how and why history is important and how and why anything and everything is history. While most students are not history majors and do not become history majors, so far my students say again and again that they leave my courses more aware of the history around them and embodied in everyday culture.

21. Teaching takes all of your time -- in the best way possible. Teaching does take real time as far as planning, actual teaching in the classroom or online, giving feedback on assignments and answering emails, but when I say teaching (and learning) takes all of my time, I mean something very different. Anytime I am doing anything, I am always consciously and unconsciously thinking of ways my current task could improve or influence how I teach or what I teach. I find myself at all sorts of random times, including in the middle of the night, thinking about something insightful a student said or pondering ways to reach so-and-so that seems to have an untapped spark for learning. Teaching is not a job or a career. It’s a life. For me, teaching never feels like going to work and always has the same (or more) excitement as if I were still taking classes myself.

22. Thrive on the deep satisfaction of teaching. Again and again while teaching, I find my aches, pains and worries evaporate. We all frequently have opportunities to open up and share personal details about our lives because the classroom is a safe place -- a safe place to learn new perspectives from each other, to discuss hot button issues and to ask deep, powerful questions. Laughing is fun and important, too. When it happens naturally, laughing is a great thing for helping a class bond and learn together. Sometimes the things that evoke laughter surprise me and make me laugh even harder! And college is one of the few places in society where deep, intellectual conversations are welcomed and celebrated instead of demonized.

23. Stick to your beliefs and instincts (within reason). There are always new studies saying something is effective and then another studying saying, “Wait, no.” You know what I mean. We must stay up to date, as much as possible, with new research in best practices, as well as research in the areas in which we teach. But at a certain point we have to stick with what works for us and our students. We should try new things, but each professor has a distinct personality and way of reaching students. If something works, it works.

24. A quiz can work wonders at getting students to read and understand the syllabus. I recently experimented with requiring my student in my online Texas history class to take a multiple-choice syllabus quiz before they could begin to work on any of the assignments or earn any grades. The quiz was in Blackboard. Students could take it as many times as needed until they earned a 100 percent, at which point they would see all the course materials appear.

This worked so well that I’ll be doing it in all of my classes from now on: I’ve received almost zero questions this semester about assignments, deadlines, policies and other “syllabus stuff.”

Questions on the quiz were very detailed and picky, per se, but were designed to get students to really look at everything in detail and to become familiar with the syllabus and to notice important or unusual aspects of it. For example, I had questions about late work, the font required for assignments and whom to contact with questions. The way the class is set up, it’s better to read Chapter 12, followed by Chapter 11, in one of the books -- so I made that into a question. Such an approach guarantees the syllabus is read and hopefully helps students internalize the most important information.

25. Twitter and Facebook don’t work (for me). A lot of professor friends incorporate assignments and online discussions into their classes where students use Twitter and Facebook with great success. But that has not worked for me so far. I still want to try it again sometime. Thus far, however, I find that students forget about it because it is still somewhat unusual to use social media for assignments, or they resist having their fun space cross over with school space. Oftentimes, too, they don’t have any social media accounts and/or don’t know how to use them and don’t have the desire to figure them out. Twitter and Facebook assignments also make the grading process much more difficult since everything is not automatically and easily together. The latest technology simply isn’t always needed (and sometimes is a hindrance!) for effective teaching and learning.

26. Blogs do work and work wonders. For over a year now, I have had some of my students create free blogs on wordpress.com in lieu of some more traditional tests and papers with great success overall. Blogging is important and interesting because it forces students to think differently. The Times New Roman size 12, double-spaced paper won’t work. They need images and tags and to have control over what their page looks like. Blogs work best when the topic is fully open-ended. In classes where students blog, I also always have them reply to blog posts from each other.

27. Teaching involves constant flexibility, trial and error, and change. Effective teaching requires near constant adaptability, boldness, change, determination and experimentation. I always enjoy the challenges, successes and failures of innovative teaching strategies. Likewise, we have to be flexible with ourselves, our classes and our students. I have a firm no-late-work rule that I seldom enforce because I understand students have busy, busy lives.

28. Effective discussion-based classes are tricky. My experiments with discussion-based classes are ongoing. Thus far, I find that discussion-based classes work best if you have a small class and all (or almost all) of the students are exceptionally strong -- who do everything required and more. Even then, I find that students don’t actually know enough (for the simple reason that they haven’t been studying said subject forever). I find discussions work best when we talk about one specific source, essay or thought question. I am still experimenting with these discussion roles .

29. Students don’t know how to read (or study). The difficulty students have with reading is one of the newest things I have learned and internalized. For some time I’ve realized students have difficulty pronouncing new words. (Due to dyslexia and slight hearing differences, this is something I too have struggled with and still do occasionally.) But I’ve only in the past few months realized that students have great difficulty sitting down, reading any kind of material and retaining that information. Lately, I spend more and more time giving advice for effective reading. With growing frequency, students understand exactly where they need to improve but struggle in unlearning strategies that were seemingly successful when they were given an automatic A on everything in high school.

30. Not every student will like you, and you can’t reach every student, every semester. Almost all professors want to reach every student and have a positive relationship with each one. This simply isn’t possible. There isn’t time. And not every student and professor will match. (The unpredictable, unscientific ways in which people get along well or not so well is one problem with programs that automatically match a student with a faculty mentor.) Additionally, some students at this historical moment are not in a place where they can thrive in college.

31. Being rested is tremendously important. Effective teaching requires not only sufficient sleep but also mental rest. On the days that I teach, from the time I start my car to the time I park it, 35 to 41 minutes have gone by. This is treasured time when I can prepare mentally. Before teaching, I try to avoid checking my email or talking with students about anything too serious, so I can keep my mind fresh. I like to have a bottle of water, too.

32. Mentoring students is a really important and fun part of teaching. Teaching and visiting with students outside of the classroom is fun and important -- just as important as inside the classroom. I love the conversations that I regularly have with students, whether they just need a friendly ear or some sort of career or academic advice. I especially enjoy staying in touch with students well after the formal end of the semester.

33. Students are busy from mental and physical exhaustion. Through talking with students, I’ve found that they are almost always too busy. Given society as it is in 2016, students face struggles of paying for an education that is more and more expensive, while also working and taking care of children and sick relatives. They are busy and tired. Society does not provide them the assistance they need. They are also tired from having been in school for 13-plus years by the time they reach college. They’ve never had a chance to breathe and play, or as Ms. Frizzle of The Magic School Bus would say, “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” More here .

34. Challenging students with ideas is just as important as challenging them with the word load and type of assignments. I’ve always been a big fan of challenging students as far as what I ask of them when it comes to reading and writing. Students continue to rise to these challenges. But I’m also increasingly realizing that college is an important time to challenge students in terms of the ideas and types of material they are exposed to. We have to allow time for the corresponding emotional demands of college.

35. Student overwhelmingly respond to the new and unusual more than anything else. Again and again, students respond best when I teach material in ways that are new and shocking. They are always fascinated when we talk about Christine de Pizan, lynching, or how Margaret Sanger advocated for birth control in part because she hoped it would cause black people to become extinct. Likewise, they are captivated by the songs “Ain’t No Bugs on Me,” “Atomic Power” and many others. Various film clips, paintings and photographs are always popular, too.

36. Low-stakes assignments can backfire when some students don’t take them seriously. Students sometimes see that earning a zero on that discussion or quiz will only hurt their grade by one or two points. The saddest part of this is they miss a learning opportunity, and even a teaching opportunity, since we all learn from one another. Additionally, they sometimes think that one too many times, and it ends up having more negative consequences. More here .

37. Students frequently don’t understand how grades correspond with their performance. Most of our current college students come from high schools where essentially no one ever earned a final grade below an A or never read a book, wrote a paper or did homework. Therefore, we need to explain even more what we are looking for and what is necessary for a college degree. More here .

38. Students can be tricked into talking louder (and doing other things). I frequently have trouble hearing students in the classroom, even when I am close to them. I know other students have trouble hearing their classmates talk. By walking farther away, instead of closer to, the person who is talking, I encourage them to talk louder, and then everyone can hear them. I have also just finished one successful experiment where students assign themselves work to do before the next class. With full freedom, these students assigned themselves a good amount, and for the first time in the semester, they all came to class fully prepared and having completed their work.

More information about my journey teaching can be found here and here .

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10 Qualities of a Good Teacher

A good teacher can make a world of difference in a student's life, impacting everything from their classroom learning to their long-term success. If you're considering a career in education – or looking to boost it with a Master of Education  (MEd) – it's important to explore the qualities of a good teacher.

Research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that good teachers are the single most important factor that contributes to student achievement in the classroom, more important than facilities, school resources and even school leadership.

A study from the American Economics Association (AEA) found that improvements in teacher quality positively impact everything from the quality of colleges students attend to students’ future salaries, the quality of their neighborhood and even their future participation rates in 401k savings plans ( AEA PDF source ).

So, What Makes a Good Teacher?

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) education faculty and university students shared their thoughts on the qualities that make effective teachers stand out.

1. Good Teachers Are Strong Communicators.

Tanguay got his start as a high school math teacher and said that many students came to his class feeling afraid of math, discouraged by their prior experiences and too overwhelmed to approach the subject positively. 

By communicating with students at the beginning of the year about how math applies to their favorite hobbies, sports and future careers, Tanguay said his students were able to approach the subject in a more enjoyable way that better supported their learning.

“I’m a firm believer in communication in all forms,” he said. “As a leader, communication is a tool for overcoming fear.”

2. Good Teachers Listen Well.

Great communication doesn't stop when the teacher is done talking. Listening well is one of the most important skills needed to be a teacher. 

“Teachers that are skilled in listening and observing often pick up on what isn’t being said, such as any anxieties a student may have, and can then help the student build their skills and confidence levels," said student  Kristine Ducote , who is earning her bachelor's in criminal justice .

Student Latricia Maddox , who is studying for a bachelor's in business , said that effective listening skills also help a teacher better understand their students and tailor lessons to reach them how they learn best. 

“If an educator can truly hear a student, they can learn how to reach them where they are,” she said. “This will open the door for them to receive and learn the lesson that is being taught.”

3. Good Teachers Focus on Collaboration.

Working in education means you’re never truly working alone. From paraprofessionals and teaching assistants to other classroom teachers and school leaders, working as a teacher often means working effectively in a group. It's also important to keep an open mind and learn from other educators. 

The key to success in this kind of environment, Tanguay said, is the ability to collaborate. "You really need to be able to fill various roles in order to collaborate effectively," he said. "If you already have someone on your team who is going to be the one to critique all of the suggestions made, then you don't need to join in on that. Instead, maybe you need to be the person who is going to come up with creative ideas. You need to have that flexibility."

4. Good Teachers Are Adaptable.

Effective teachers need to be able to work in a constantly evolving environment and adjust their teaching methods based on the age of their students, the resources available and changing curriculum, practices and requirements.

As a teacher since the 1980s, SNHU education professor and on campus undergraduate program chairman Dr. Audrey Rogers said she’s seen tremendous changes in the education field throughout her career, particularly with the rise in access to the internet, computers and other technology. What is teaching going to look like in another 30 years? The only thing certain, Rogers said, is change.

“Change is a constant,” she said. “Learning how to adapt and adjust, that’s been one of the skills that’s been most helpful in my career. It’s about keeping my finger on the pulse of who my students are over time and all the trends, standards and new research, and being able to continually improve.”

Adaptability is also one of the key skills needed to be a teacher who may be educating students of varying grade levels or different learning styles, Tanguay said. 

“You have to be able to adapt based upon your audience,” he said. 

5. Good Teachers Are Engaging.

Being able to engage students with humor, creative lessons and a strong classroom presence is an important part of what makes someone a good teacher, Tanguay said. 

“If you were to envision that teacher that you would want in your life, even now, you’re going to want someone who is very engaging in front of the classroom,” he said. “A good teacher will perform for their students to keep them going... It’s not about sitting back and just lecturing, it’s about engaging in the work.”

What an engaging teacher looks like will vary depending on grade level and subject matter, Tanguay said. 

In kindergarten, an engaging teacher might be one who gets down on the floor to do activities with their students on their level. In high school, an engaging teacher may be one who thinks outside the box, adds humor to their lessons and finds creative ways to bring learning into the real world.

6. Good Teachers Show Empathy.

Another key to engaging students and improving their learning is to treat each student as an individual, by being empathetic and understanding to what may be going on in their lives, Tanguay said. 

“We need to take a moment to think back and think about what could be going on in this student’s life,” he said. “It’s so important to be observant, attentive, empathetic and always have a positive attitude.” 

“Something that may be easy for one student may not be so easy for someone else,” she said. “Everyone learns differently, whether it be faster or slower than normal, learns better by writing, reading or hands-on. Teachers need to always keep this in mind and always pay close attention to ensure each student is on the track they need to be.”

7. Good Teachers Have Patience.

No matter what grade level you're teaching, your patience will be tested while working as an educator.  

Whether you’re managing classroom behavior, working with colleagues with different views, or communicating student issues or progress with parents, patience is one of the most important skills to practice as a teacher. 

“More often than not you actually have to have more patience with the parents than you do with the students,” Tanguay said. “Parents are coming in with their perceptions of what happened to them when they were students or previous experiences that may have been detrimental to their child... You have to be patient and understanding of them.”

8. Good Teachers Value Real-World Learning.

Teachers who bring their students’ learning into the real world are often some of the most engaging. But it’s important for teachers to bring their own learning into the real world, too.

One of the best preparations for effective teaching is to ensure that education students get plenty of classroom experience early on in their degree programs, Rogers said.

For education majors  in SNHU's on campus program, this preparation includes embedded coursework that begins in a student's freshmen year. They spend time at a local school once a week to collaborate with teacher partners and apply their learning to the classroom. A year-long student teaching experience is also a powerful way to ensure soon-to-be teachers have the time to hone their teaching skills, Rogers said.

"Our students have that benefit of seeing the practical application (of) what they're learning in the moment they're learning it," she said.

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9. good teachers share best practices..

A willingness to share knowledge and experiences with others is one of the most important qualities of a good teacher, Rogers said. 

Education is a hands-on field and often requires experimentation within the classroom to discover which methods of communicating with students work best. Part of being an effective teacher is sharing your findings and best practices with others in the field, Rogers said.

“I always challenge my students to think, ‘What is your contribution?’” she said. “Are you brave enough to post on Twitter about your ideas on technology integration in the classroom? Your willingness to share your practice, to keep an open door, to be transparent and to be observed are an important part of your teaching.”

10. Good Teachers Are Lifelong Learners.

One of the key skills needed to be a good teacher is a dedication to continued education and a love of learning. 

Whether you’re learning more about your subject area, learning new methods of communication or even exploring how to bring more technology into your classroom, continuing to expand your own knowledge is key to expanding that of your students.

“Those dedicated to their subjects with a passion for learning make the best teachers," said student Jennifer Gardner , who is earning a bachelor's in mathematics . “They also need to have a desire to pass on that knowledge.” 

Ducote said it’s important for teachers to never feel as though they’ve learned it all, and to remain open to new experiences.

“No matter your education level, you can learn something from everyone you encounter, including fellow educators as well as students,” she said. “Being willing to continually add tools to your toolbox – even unconventional ones at times – will keep things new and exciting, as well as giving you excellent skills.”

Learn the Characteristics of Effective Teaching

If you’re interested in starting a career in education, it’s important to first focus on your own learning. Whether you’re seeking a bachelor's degree in education, an education master’s degree or even a Doctor of Education  (EdD), building a strong foundation of knowledge and real-world experiences is key to becoming a good teacher.

No matter where your career path takes you – whether to an elementary school, secondary school or even to the university level – your teaching can have a profound impact on the lives of students, and your education is the foundation for that work.

“Teachers make such a huge impact on their students’ lives,” said student Donna Whisman , who is earning her bachelor's in communication . “I believe that being a teacher is a very special gift, and those that have that gift make a positive, lasting impression on the lives of their students that can totally change the trajectory of their lives.”

Danielle Gagnon is a freelance writer focused on higher education. Connect with her on LinkedIn .

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About southern new hampshire university.

SNHU is a nonprofit, accredited university with a mission to make high-quality education more accessible and affordable for everyone.

Founded in 1932, and online since 1995, we’ve helped countless students reach their goals with flexible, career-focused programs . Our 300-acre campus in Manchester, NH is home to over 3,000 students, and we serve over 135,000 students online. Visit our about SNHU  page to learn more about our mission, accreditations, leadership team, national recognitions and awards.

Teachers' Essay

It’s all about teachers thought, experiences and observations of daily school life.

• What makes an effective teacher?

Teaching is one of the world’s most challenging occupations. Teachers hold a unique position in our society. Ask yourself whether you have the characteristics of an effective teacher. If you feel that you have the characteristics, consider ways to improve and learn more on how to become an effective teacher.

An effective teacher makes good use of instructional time and inspires students to do well and to know more. Each and every student in the class has to feel comfortable and have the sense of belonging. The classroom has to be conducive to learning and has the proper lighting so that learning easily takes place.

Being an effective teacher has to be able to handle every situation that comes our way. We surely encounter different problems regarding pupil’s attitudes and others. Teacher should be flexible to take control of any situation. Teachers are values-oriented mentor.

Effective teachers tend to have similar characteristics: enthusiastic, creative and positive. You can express these characteristics in different ways, but typically this means that, most time of the day, you truly want to be in classroom and see your pupils learn and excel.

Being organized in the classroom is another key element of an effective teacher. By organizing and planning each day, the teacher surely presented the lesson in effective manner. When the teacher is organizing in the classroom, pupils will observe, imitate and apply it in their daily lives.

As teacher, one must be honest to himself, to the school and to his profession. A teacher must always be truthful in whatever he does or say.

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An aeffective teacher is also compassionate. He is also forgiving and do not hold grudges towards his pupils.

Of course,first and foremost,a teacher has to have a deep knowledge that she can give to her pupils.Moreover patience,empathy,inspiration are also the main factors which a teacher certainly should have.big thanks!

That is true

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Top Qualities of an Effective Teacher

What makes an effective teacher? This is a question that educators and parents have asked for many years. While many qualities make up an excellent teacher, we have compiled some of the most important ones here.

Table of Contents

What is an Effective Teacher?

An effective teacher can help students learn and understand what they are learning in school. They can also ensure that their students are engaged in learning and are motivated to do their best.

They have a wealth of knowledge and can share it interestingly and engagingly. They are also patient and kind and can adapt their teaching style to meet the needs of their students.

Effective teachers must also be knowledgeable in their subject matter and be able to answer any questions their students may have. They must also be able to create lesson plans that are both interesting and informative. 

Finally, effective teachers must be able to build relationships with their students, establishing trust and respect.

Becoming a teacher is one of the noblest professions that someone can choose. It is not an easy job, but it can be gratifying. Teachers can shape young minds and help them grow into contributing members of society.

That is why teachers must possess certain qualities to be effective in the classroom. Here are four of the most important ones:

An excellent teacher is patient with their students. They understand that every child learns at a different pace and take the time to ensure that each student grasps the material before moving on.

This patience also extends to dealing with disruptive behavior in the classroom. A good teacher will have the patience to work with a student who may be acting out and find a way to help them focus and learn.

A great teacher is creative in their approach to teaching. They understand that not all students learn the same way, and they can adjust their methods to fit each student’s needs.

This creativity also comes into play when creating engaging lesson plans. An excellent teacher can take the dullest subject and make it interesting for their students.

Good Communication Skills

An effective teacher is a great communicator. They can clearly explain concepts to their students in a way they can understand. This also includes listening to their students and understanding what they are saying.

A good teacher can have a two-way conversation with their students and help them feel comfortable asking questions.

Strong Organizational Skills

Effective teachers must have good organizational skills to keep their classrooms running smoothly. They can keep track of their lesson plans, assignments, and grading. An organized teacher will have a tidy and well-organized classroom so students can easily find what they need.

A passionate teacher is one of the best kinds. They love what they do, and it shows in their teaching. Passionate teachers are excited about their teaching material and enjoy passing that excitement on to their students. This passion is contagious and helps students stay engaged in the material.

Deep Understanding of Their Subject Matter

An effective teacher has a deep understanding of their subject matter. They know the material inside and out and can easily answer students’ questions. They can also present information interestingly and engagingly, keeping students’ attention throughout the lesson. They can adapt their teaching style to meet the needs of each student.

Ability to Inspire Their Students to Learn

This can be done in several ways, such as by creating a positive and supportive learning environment, being a good role model, and providing interesting and engaging lessons. It is essential to find what works best for each student and adapt your teaching style accordingly.

By showing genuine interest in your student’s success and taking the time to get to know them personally, you can help them develop a love for learning that will stay with them throughout their lives.

Tips on How to Become an Effective Teacher

Becoming an effective teacher takes time, hard work, and dedication. It is not easy, but it is worth it. Here are some tips on how to be the best teacher you can be!

• Get to know your students. It would be best if you built relationships with your students. Knowing them will help you understand how they learn best and what motivates them.
• Be patient. Patience is a virtue, especially when you’re dealing with young minds. Remember that every student learns at their own pace, and it is your job to help them along the way.
• Be creative. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching. Be creative in your lesson planning and delivery to keep your students engaged.
• Be kind. Kindness goes a long way, especially in the classroom. Showing compassion and understanding towards your students will create a positive learning environment.
• Be dedicated. Teaching is not easy, but it is rewarding. Dedicate yourself to your students and their education, and you will be successful.

If you are thinking about becoming a teacher, or are currently in the field, consider these top qualities of an effective teacher. With these traits, you can be sure to engage and inform your students while maintaining a positive and productive learning environment.

If you have any questions about the qualities of an effective teacher, please do not hesitate to reach out to us! We are more than happy to help.

How to Cite this Article

Llego, M. A. (2022, August 27). Top Qualities of an Effective Teacher. TeacherPH. Retrieved August 27, 2022 from, https://www.teacherph.com/qualities-effective-teacher/

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Mark Anthony Llego

Mark Anthony Llego, a visionary from the Philippines, founded TeacherPH in October 2014 with a mission to transform the educational landscape. His platform has empowered thousands of Filipino teachers, providing them with crucial resources and a space for meaningful idea exchange, ultimately enhancing their instructional and supervisory capabilities. TeacherPH's influence extends far beyond its origins. Mark's insightful articles on education have garnered international attention, featuring on respected U.S. educational websites. Moreover, his work has become a valuable reference for researchers, contributing to the academic discourse on education.

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Introduction

Works cited.

Education is an important part of human’s life. Education is a power. Nowadays people try to get a good education as it influences their future life. The high quality of education makes it possible to get a good well paid job. People’s education depends on teachers. The higher the teachers’ qualification the higher level of knowledge they can give people.

The effectiveness of further education depends on the teacher’s first day at school. Everything depends on the way how he or she will organize the work in class during their first days. There are a lot of factors that can help to succeed the teacher during his/her first week.

Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong in their book write that, ‘knowing how to structure a successful first day of school will set the stage for an effective classroom and a successful school year’ (2009 – 3). It is very important to organize the work in class correctly. The authors of the book give very useful recommendations of how to organize the teachers’ work during their first week.

Completing this assignment has allowed the students to demonstrate their competency in Florida Educator Accomplished Practices, especially in critical thinking, human development and learning, planning and the role of the teacher in the class (Florida Educator Accomplished Practices).

Students get much experience in class work organizations during investigating this research. This topic is very important for students as it gives instructions of how to behave during the first weeks in class. It is especially useful for students who have never had a pedagogical practice. The research may be improved by means of personal experience and future search for similar information.

Internet is an essential part of present life. People use Internet for different purposes; they are entertainment, job search, looking for some information, communication. Using modern technologies in class is one of the main aspect on which every teacher should work.

Anita E. Woolfolk tries to explain in the section of the book “Enhancing Your Expertise: Continuing your Learning” the importance of Internet during developing teachers’ experience (Woolfolk 2006).

The Internet has a rich source of information for students and teachers. Students may find lots of information for their classes and research papers. Teachers may also look for some information dealing with this or that task, some hints of how to organize work in class. Internet also gives some information about new ways of teaching, new approaches and methods of teaching. The Internet is a source of fresh ideas dealing with improving the work in class.

The present research may help students to gain such knowledge from the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices as continuous improvement of skills, diversity of educational methods, knowledge of subject matter, technology and others.

Teacher may give some tasks in Internet, as there are a lot of websites with exercises dealing with this or that problem. Using Internet in class helps to vary the assignments, to make the work in class more vivid and interesting for students. But still teacher should make a very difficult and long research in the internet before giving tasks for students from this or that source.

The life of Internet does not stand on one and the same spot, it enlarges develops every minute and there are always lots of new information which can be useful for teachers and students.

“Florida Educator Accomplished Practices”. Florida International University: College Education. (2009). Web.

Woolfolk, A. Educational Psychology (with MyLabSchool). New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2006.

Wong, Harry K., Wong, Rosemary T. The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Harry K. Wong Publications, 4 edition, 2009.

• Problems of Inexperienced Teachers Analysis
• Methods for an Education Program Implementer
• Gifted Students in Florida
• Florida Wetlands: Importance to the Health of the Environment
• How I Organize my Trash
• Individualizing Instruction for Gifted in Mathematics
• Analysing The Lesson By Tim Bedley
• Reluctant Disciplinarian by Gary Rubenstein
• Professionalism in the Teaching Profession
• Teacher Tenure: Reasons and Oppositions
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, December 4). How to Be an Effective Teacher. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/

"How to Be an Effective Teacher." IvyPanda , 4 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'How to Be an Effective Teacher'. 4 December.

IvyPanda . 2021. "How to Be an Effective Teacher." December 4, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/.

1. IvyPanda . "How to Be an Effective Teacher." December 4, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "How to Be an Effective Teacher." December 4, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/.

• Open access
• Published: 20 August 2024

Impact of a game-based interprofessional education program on medical students’ perceptions: a text network analysis using essays

• Young Gyu Kwon 1 ,
• Myeong Namgung 2 ,
• Song Hee Park 3 ,
• Mi Kyung Kim 3 , 4 ,
• Sun Jung Myung 5 ,
• Eun Kyung Eo 6 &
• Chan Woong Kim 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  898 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

The increasing complexity of the healthcare environment and the necessity of multidisciplinary teamwork have highlighted the importance of interprofessional education (IPE). IPE aims to enhance the quality of patient care through collaborative education involving various healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. This study sought to analyze how game-based IPE activities influence students’ perceptions and reflective thinking. It also aimed to identify the shifts in perception and effectiveness caused by this educational approach.

The study is based on a game-based IPE program conducted at University A, involving medical and nursing students in structured learning and team-based activities. Data were collected using essays written by the students after they had participated in IPE activities. Text network analysis was conducted by extracting key terms, performing centrality analysis, and visualizing topic modeling to identify changes in students’ perceptions and reflective thinking.

Keywords such as “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” played a crucial role in the network, indicating that students prioritized enhancing their communication and problem-solving skills within the educational environment. The topic modeling results identified three main topics, each demonstrating the positive influence of game-based collaborative activities, interprofessional perspectives, and interdisciplinary educational experiences on students. Topic 3 (interdisciplinary educational experience) acted as a significant mediator connecting Topic 1 (game-based collaborative activity experience) and Topic 2 (interprofessional perspectives).

This study demonstrates that game-based IPE activities are an effective educational approach for enhancing students’ team building skills, particularly communication and interprofessional perspectives. Based on these findings, future IPE programs should focus on creating collaborative learning environments, strengthening communication skills, and promoting interdisciplinary education. The findings provide essential insights for educational designers and medical educators to enhance the effectiveness of IPE programs. Future research should assess the long-term impacts of game-based IPE on clinical practice, patient outcomes, and participants’ professional development.

Peer Review reports

With rapid changes in the healthcare environment and the advancement of systems, effective collaboration among various healthcare professionals is crucial to meet patients’ high expectations [ 1 ]. This underscores the growing importance of interprofessional education (IPE), which aims to develop the ability to collaborate efficiently as multidisciplinary teams [ 2 , 3 ]. IPE involves students from two or more healthcare professions learning about, from, and with each other through collaborative education. The primary objective of IPE is to assist healthcare professionals, including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, in developing the competence to collaborate more effectively in multidisciplinary teams to enhance patient care [ 4 ]. Its history began in the early twentieth century and has evolved to include numerous healthcare professionals such as nurses, pharmacists, and dentists [ 5 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that IPE provides highly collaborative teamwork experiences that improve job satisfaction and enhance access to and safety in patient care [ 6 ]. Recent studies have also shown that IPE is pivotal not only in promoting professional autonomy, understanding of professional roles, teamwork, and collaboration, but also in providing essential knowledge and skills for improving healthcare services [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].

One innovative approach to enhancing IPE involves game-based learning, which integrates educational content with interactive gaming elements to create engaging and effective learning experiences. Game-based learning has been shown to enhance students’ motivation, participation, and retention of knowledge by providing a dynamic and immersive learning environment [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. In the context of IPE, these activities can simulate real-life clinical scenarios that require collaboration, communication, and problem-solving among diverse healthcare professionals [ 17 ]. This method allows students to practice and develop these critical skills in a safe and controlled setting, thereby preparing them for actual clinical practice [ 18 ].

Previous IPE studies involving students primarily used surveys, interviews, and participant observations to assess changes in students’ knowledge acquisition, collaboration, teamwork skills, and attitudes [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. While these approaches have provided valuable information for evaluating the effectiveness of IPE programs, they have limitations in terms of exploring students’ direct expressions and deep thinking. Recent research has started exploring game-based learning in IPE, emphasizing its potential to enhance collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills among healthcare students [ 24 , 25 ]. Game-based learning activities, such as serious games and simulations, offer engaging experiences that promote interprofessional collaboration and reflective thinking [ 17 ]. However, there is still a scarcity of research on students’ personal experiences, changing perceptions, and in-depth understanding of interprofessional collaboration through game-based learning. Addressing this gap can provide better relevance and context to the study of IPE.

Medical education literature has highlighted the importance of various educational strategies in enhancing reflective thinking skills [ 26 , 27 ]. Dewey defines reflective thinking as conscious thought in the problem-solving process, which can be considered as the active utilization of knowledge gained through experience [ 28 ]. Narrative materials, such as essays, are useful tools for gaining an in-depth understanding of students’ experiences and perceptions. Thus, analyzing reflective thinking through essays can help students better understand their learning experiences and improve their problem-solving abilities through effective collaboration across different disciplines [ 29 , 30 ].

This study aimed to analyze students’ perceptions of collaboration by examining essays they wrote after participating in game-based IPE activities, thereby providing evidence for the effectiveness of such education. The results of this study are expected to serve as foundational data to help design and implement more effective collaborative learning strategies for IPE programs.

Course design

The IPE program at a South Korean university targeted fifth-year medical and fourth-year nursing students to prepare them for clinical training. The course was divided into two phases: a six-day shadowing period and a four-day IPE activity period.

During the shadowing period, students observed various healthcare professionals in different clinical settings, including emergency rooms (ERs), ambulatory care, critical care, and outpatient environments. This phase emphasized understanding interprofessional roles and the importance of collaborative practice skills.

In the subsequent IPE activity period, students were grouped into teams of five or six, consisting of both medical and nursing students, to engage in team building exercises. These activities aimed to promote students’ collaboration, communication skills, mutual understanding in clinical settings. The activities during this phase were meticulously designed to develop essential soft skills through structured game-based exercises. These included the Marshmallow Challenge, which aimed to enhance understanding of team building dynamics; the Puzzle Game, which focused on defining roles and fostering teamwork to achieve a common objective; and the Message Game, which underscored the importance of clear and effective communication. Additional activities, such as the Drawing Shapes Game and the Drawing the Story Game, were designed to improve skills in accurate verbal description and to enhance understanding of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication protocol, respectively. Finally, the Board Game was specifically developed to reinforce systems thinking and to illustrate the need for interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing complex issues in a hospital. Table 1 outlines the key activities included in this period.

This study aimed to analyze essays written by students after participating in the IPE activities to assess their reflections and learning outcomes.

Research procedure

The fundamental premise of text network analysis is to extract keywords representing the core content from the literature [ 31 ]. This study focused on understanding students’ thoughts and perceptions by analyzing their essays. The research process comprised (1) data collection, (2) keyword selection and data processing, (3) core keyword extraction and network construction, (4) network connectivity and centrality analysis, and (5) topic modeling. This approach facilitated a nuanced understanding of the conceptual relationships within the text, yielding deeper insights into students’ reflective thinking and experiences with interprofessional collaboration, thereby aligning with the objectives of this study.

Data collection

Data were collected in 2021 after the IPE program. Of the 82 medical students who participated in the program, 77 voluntarily submitted essays, representing a 93.9% response rate from the entire cohort enrolled in the IPE program. The essays were collected after the completion of the entire program, capturing students’ reflections and feelings about the course. These essays were not intended for assessment or evaluation purposes but were written freely by students to express their thoughts and experiences regarding the program. The primary aim was to gather qualitative insights into how students perceived and internalized the IPE activities, which aligns with the study’s objective to understand the impact of game-based learning on developing interprofessional collaboration, communication, and team building skills. We focused on medical students’ essays to explore their specific perspectives and experiences within the IPE program, as these students often play crucial roles in multidisciplinary teams. Therefore, understanding their views can provide valuable insights for improving IPE programs and enhancing interprofessional collaboration in clinical practice [ 32 ].

Keyword selection and data pre-processing

The student essays were collected using MS Office Excel. Pre-processing involved an initial review using Excel’s Spell Check, followed by manual corrections to fix typographical errors. Morphological analysis was performed using Netminer 4.5.1.c (CYRAM), which automatically removed pronouns and adverbs, leaving only nouns. To extract the words, 25 designated words, 40 synonyms, and 321 excluded words were pre-registered. Designated words are terms that convey specific meanings when grouped [ 33 ]. In this study, terms such as “interprofessional education” and “Friday Night at the ER” were classified as such. Synonyms, a group of words that have similar meanings, were processed as a single term that can represent the common meaning of those words [ 34 ]. For instance, “Friday night ER,” “FNER,” and “Friday night in the ER” were extracted as “Friday Night at ER.” Words considered irrelevant to the current research focus or general words that did not contribute to meaningful analysis were excluded (e.g., “and,” “or,” “front,” “inside,” “during”). Three professors specializing in emergency medicine and one medical educator handled word extraction and refinement, and the final selection was reviewed by the entire research team.

The data analysis utilized was qualitative content analysis, focusing on both the identification and contextual usage of keywords. This approach involved the descriptive counting of keywords as well as an in-depth analysis of their usage within the essays. This rigorous process ensured that the keywords selected were relevant to the study’s focus on IPE and collaboration, providing both quantitative and qualitative insights into the students’ reflections and experiences.

Extraction of core keywords and network construction

Core keyword extraction was based on the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) method. The frequency of word occurrences is expressed as “term frequency (TF),” which indicates how often a word appears within a document [ 35 ]. By contrast, “inverse document frequency (IDF)” is calculated using the logarithmic value of the inverse of document frequency [ 36 ]. The TF-IDF value is computed by multiplying TF by IDF. A high value indicates that a word is important in a specific document but rarely appears in others [ 37 ]. This method allows the assessment of the importance of words in documents. For network analysis, the 2-mode word-document network was converted into a 1-mode word-word network. The co-occurrence frequency was set to occur at least twice, and the word proximity (window size) was set to two, following previous studies on text network analysis [ 38 ].

Network connectivity and centrality analysis

Network size and density, as well as the average degree and distance at the node level, were identified to understand the overall characteristics of the network. Network size denotes the total number of nodes (keywords). Density measures the ratio of actual connections to possible connections, indicating network cohesion. The average degree reflects the average number of connections per node, while the average distance shows the typical number of steps between nodes, revealing the network’s connectivity and compactness [ 35 , 38 ]. Centrality analysis included degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality, whereas closeness centrality was excluded due to poor performance in lengthy texts [ 39 ]. Degree centrality measures how well a node is connected within a network, helping to identify keywords that play a central role in the network [ 40 ]. Betweenness centrality measures how frequently a node appears on the shortest path between other nodes, indicating how well it acts as an intermediary between two nodes [ 41 ]. Eigenvector centrality assesses the influence of a node by considering the importance of its neighboring nodes beyond the degree of connection [ 42 ]. This study extracted the top 30 words for each degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality. Finally, a spring map was used to visualize the keywords and their connection structures in the network.

Text network analysis was chosen because it provides a detailed understanding of relationships between concepts, unlike traditional methods that focus on theme frequency. It visualizes keyword interactions, highlighting central themes and their connections, offering insights into students’ reflections on IPE and their thought patterns.

Topic modeling

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a statistical text-processing technique that clusters keywords based on their probabilities and distributions to infer topics [ 43 ]. In this study, keywords extracted from essays were compiled into a matrix for LDA. To determine the optimal number of topics, combinations of α = 0.01–0.03, β = 0.01–0.03, topic model = 3–8, and 1,000 iterations were tested. The optimal model was selected based on the coherence score (c_v), with the highest coherence score ensuring the validity and reliability of the inferred topics [ 44 , 45 , 46 ].

Key keywords

Table 2 presents the keywords derived from analyzing medical students’ essays selected through the TF and TF-IDF analyses. In the TF analysis, “thought” appeared most frequently (365 times), followed by “group” 359 times, “class” 322 times, and “game” 278 times. The top 20 keywords in TF-IDF included “patient,” “game,” “group,” and “person.” Keywords that appeared in both TF and TF-IDF analyses included “nursing school,” “nurse,” “game,” “hospital,” “person,” “mutual,” “communication,” “time,” “group,” “important,” “progress,” “puzzle,” “patient,” and “activity.” Comparing the keywords between TF and TF-IDF, new terms that emerged in TF-IDF included “IPE,” “room,” and “clinical practice.”

• Text network analysis

Network structure

In this study, a network was constructed based on a co-occurrence frequency of at least two words with word proximity (window size) set to two words. The resulting network comprised 1,218 nodes and 627 links. The network density was 0.012, with an average degree and distance of 3.919 and 3.447, respectively.

Centrality analysis

Table 3 lists the top 30 keywords according to degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centralities, providing insight into the overall network characteristics. The top three keywords across all three centrality analyses included “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication.” The ranking and composition of the keywords were similar in both degree and betweenness centrality analyses. In the eigenvector results, “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” were ranked highest. When comparing the top 30 keywords from eigenvector centrality with those from degree and betweenness centrality, new terms such as “future,” “society,” and “need” emerged. These findings are presented in Fig.  1 , which illustrates the spring network map of centrality.

Spring network map of centrality. a  Degree centrality. b  Betweenness centrality. c  Eigenvector centrality

Topic modeling: selection of the number of topics

To determine the optimal number of topics, 54 combinations of options were tested, including α = 0.01–0.03, β = 0.01–0.03, topic models = 3–8, and 1,000 iterations. Three topics were identified.

In the topic modeling process, after reviewing the keywords and contents of the assigned original documents, the research team convened and named each topic to reflect the trend of the subject matter, as shown in Fig.  2 . Following prior research, the final topic model was visualized using a topic-keyword map displaying the top eight to thirteen words [ 44 ]. Topic 1, accounting for 17% of the total topics, includes keywords such as “group,” “game,” “puzzle,” “delivery,” and “activity.” This reflects the inclusion of group-based, game-centric activities in the IPE classes; hence, it was named “game-based collaborative activity experience.” Topic 2 comprises 23% of the topics centered around the thoughts of doctors and nurses about patients in clinical settings, with keywords including “doctor,” “thought,” “patient,” “hospital,” and “nurse.” It was thus named “interprofessional perspectives.” Topic 3, with the largest share at 60%, incorporates keywords such as “class,” “nursing school,” “thought,” “activity,” and “student.” It primarily addresses class activities involving nursing students, thus the term “interdisciplinary educational experience.” Visually examining the entire network of topic modeling indicates that Topic 1, “game-based collaborative activity experience,” and Topic 3, “interdisciplinary educational experience,” are connected through the keywords “person” and “activity.” Topic 2, “Interprofessional Perspectives,” and Topic 3, are linked by “thought” and “class.” In the network, Topic 3 plays a vital role in connecting Topics 1 and 2, as illustrated in Fig.  2 .

Semantic keywords of topic modeling

This study is the first attempt to demonstrate the educational impact of game-based IPE activities on fostering an interprofessional perspective, communication skills, and team building skills among healthcare professionals through a text network analysis of student essays. This distinguishes this study from previous studies. This approach can help students develop collaborative skills, thereby effectively addressing various challenges in clinical settings. The primary findings and implications of this study are as follows:

First, the keywords with the highest degree of centrality were “patient,” “thought,” and “group.” High-degree-centrality keywords play a central role in the entire network, suggesting that the overall program should be designed around these keywords. The keywords with high betweenness centrality were also “patient,” “thought,” and “group.” These keywords act as necessary connectors within the network, indicating that they are crucial for establishing communication channels between different professions and ensuring a smooth flow of information in medical education. Keywords with high eigenvector centrality included “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication.” The prominence of keywords such as “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” in centrality measures signifies their strong connections to other important terms in the network. This highlights the pivotal role of doctors and nurses in collaborative practices and underscores the importance of communication skills in IPE programs. The central positioning of these keywords within the network emphasizes the need to prioritize interprofessional roles and communication competencies to enhance collaborative practices in clinical settings. These results align with previous findings emphasizing the importance of education in promoting effective collaboration and communication among healthcare professionals [ 47 ]. The centralities thus provide quantitative evidence supporting the critical roles and interactions that are essential for successful IPE.

The relevance of these keywords can be understood within the framework of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies, which emphasize patient-centered care, reflective thinking, and effective communication. The central keywords align with IPEC’s domains: values/ethics for interprofessional practice, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams/teamwork [ 4 , 48 ]. For instance, “patient” and “group” correspond to the emphasis on patient-centered care and teamwork, while “thought” and “communication” are essential for reflective practice and effective interprofessional communication. Integrating IPE into medical education strengthens transparent and efficient teamwork across different specialties, minimizes errors in clinical decision-making, and improves patient outcomes. Consequently, medical schools should develop curricula that provide students with ample opportunities to collaborate with team members from various specialties [ 49 ].

Second, the topic modeling analysis indicated that Topic 1 provides a collaborative experience through group-based gaming activities in an IPE course. This aligns with previous research, indicating that game-based learning can enhance participants’ socialization and communication skills. Thornton Bacon et al. [ 50 ] and Sanko et al. [ 51 ] reported that students who participated in the Friday Night at Emergency Room (FNER) game demonstrated a statistically significant increase in systems thinking scores. In addition, Fusco et al. [ 52 ] confirmed that gameplay positively affected students’ systematic thinking, effective collaboration, and socialization skills. This suggests that game-based learning is useful for developing collaborative problem-solving skills and can be effectively integrated into various educational designs of IPE programs. Topic 2 highlights the significant focus on the perspectives of healthcare professionals in clinical environments. According to Bridges et al. [ 53 ] and Prentice et al. [ 54 ], IPE provides opportunities to develop a better understanding of roles and improve communication among healthcare team members. In this process, improving knowledge about one’s own roles and responsibilities as well as those of other professions can enhance teamwork between professionals [ 55 ]. This finding suggests that IPE programs can improve the quality of healthcare delivery by fostering mutual respect and understanding among different healthcare professionals. Topic 3 primarily addressed class activities for nursing students and included interdisciplinary educational experiences. These results show that game-based IPE activities are an effective educational method for enhancing interprofessional perspectives and communication skills, going beyond traditional lectures that simply deliver knowledge to students.

Additionally, Bjerkvik and Hilli [ 56 ] stated that expressing thoughts through writing facilitates the understanding of personal experiences. This enables learners to explore their emotions and attitudes, ultimately leading them to deeper self-understanding and professional growth. Consequently, this study analyzed students’ reflective thinking through topic modeling and presented evidence that game-based IPE activities are crucial in promoting learners’ reflective thinking and professional growth.

This study has several limitations. First, a limited group of students from a specific university participated in this study, which may have restricted the generalizability of the findings. Additional research is required to verify the results of this study across multiple student groups from various backgrounds and environments. Second, the research methodology relied on text analysis of student essays, focusing only on students’ subjective experiences and perceptions. To address this limitation, we used a rigorous coding scheme, inter-rater reliability checks, and TF-IDF for keyword extraction. Our methodology included keyword selection, data pre-processing, network construction, and LDA-based topic modeling, optimized with the coherence score (c_v). These steps ensured that the data analysis was both robust and reliable. Additionally, incorporating multiple methods for data analysis allowed us to cross-verify the findings and enhance the overall rigor of the study. Future research should integrate a range of methods, including interviews and surveys, to achieve a more comprehensive evaluation. Third, the effects of IPE programs on students’ collaborative competencies in clinical practice and healthcare settings is limited. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of game-based IPE on clinical practice, patient outcomes, and students’ readiness for clinical environments. Additionally, tracking the career progression and professional development of participants will help assess the sustained benefits of these educational interventions.

Conclusions

This study is the first to explore changes in reflective thinking and perceptions among students who participated in IPE programs. This demonstrates the positive effects of IPE on professional healthcare students. Specifically, through the analysis of degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality, we identified keywords such as “patient,” “thought,” “group,” “doctor,” “nurse,” and “communication” as crucial to interprofessional perspectives and communication among healthcare professionals. Topic modeling further underscores the importance of game-based learning, interprofessional perspectives, and interdisciplinary educational experiences.

These findings emphasize the need for innovative teaching methods in medical education and reaffirm the importance of promoting effective inter-professional perspective, communication skills and team building skills. Medical schools should strive to improve the design and implementation of their IPE program by incorporating students’ experiences and reflective insights. This will ultimately improve the quality of medical education. This study can serve as valuable foundational data for future research. Future studies should investigate the long-term effects of game-based IPE on clinical practice and patient outcomes. Research should also explore the impact of game-based IPE on participants’ career progression and professional development to assess sustained benefits. Additionally, future research could examine how different game-based learning activities influence specific interprofessional competencies, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills, to identify the most effective approaches for IPE programs.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to ethical constraints but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

• Interprofessional education

Friday night at emergency room

Latent Dirichlet allocation

Term frequency

Term frequency-inverse document frequency

Inverse document frequency

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The authors sincerely thank all those who have contributed to this work through their support, insights, and encouragement.

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Study conception and design: YK, MN, CK. Data collection: YK, MN, CK. Data analysis and interpretation: YK, MN, SM, EE, CK. Drafting of the article: YK, MN, SP, MK. Critical revision of the article: YK, MN, SP, SM, EE, CK.

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The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Chung-Ang University determined that this study meets the criteria for an exemption from IRB review, as it involves research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings and involves normal educational practices. Approval Number: 1041078–20240321-HR-051. Written informed consent was obtained from all participating students. All methods were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations, including the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Kwon, Y.G., Namgung, M., Park, S.H. et al. Impact of a game-based interprofessional education program on medical students’ perceptions: a text network analysis using essays. BMC Med Educ 24 , 898 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05893-2

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Received : 27 May 2024

Accepted : 12 August 2024

Published : 20 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05893-2

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