Characteristics of Star Teachers

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Star Teachers

Haberman’s star teachers exhibit warmth, fairness, and discipline. They understand that their role is to teach; love and compassion are not enough. The teachers that Haberman views as quitters/failures blame academic underachievement on student’s backgrounds, home environment, and observe personal limitations rather than recognize their responsibility to provide a safe, and undisruptive environment for students to learn.

Poverty schools have ineffective teachers because the traditional university programs training and recruiting teachers provide these schools with candidates who will most likely quit or fail. Most college students seeking to become teachers are in their twenties, which Haberman considers to be the worst time to train someone to be an effective teacher. He notes that young adults are still struggling with the issue of self-identity, fighting off peer pressure, seeking independence and trying to find meaning and purpose in life. Many have few real-world experiences, seek immediate gratification, and are idealistic, which are exact opposite characteristics of what a teacher is suppose to be. A teacher must be committed to the needs of her students and inspire confidence and build self-esteem in them not look for her/his individuality and be self-absorbed. Therefore, mature adults are more likely to be successful teachers because they have more experiences and firm values. Haberman explains that just because candidates have a high GPA, have passed all requirements for teacher licensure and have been declared “highly qualified” does not necessarily make them effective teachers to poverty children. The teacher must be able to relate to the children in urban schools and build a positive relationship wit...

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... make the student want to learn by showing patience and encouragement. Stars are gentle and caring with their students but also exhibit strength of character. More than anything, they want their students to succeed, and make them into prosperous individuals. Thus, star teachers are not necessarily individuals who finished a degree from a university for education or scored high on tests, but they were simply able to build a lasting relationship with their students. Their goal is to engage students in meaningful lessons and teach them to be independent thinkers. They do not judge their students or their family but have respect for them. Also, stars do not try to change the school but their main focus is on their students. They view the students need to succeed in school as a matter of life and death and therefore their main goal is to see their students succeed.

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