A Good Teacher Essay

Great Teaching is important to children’s success. In education, it is not always easy to define the terms, ’good teacher’ and ’great teaching’. When I entered into the Master studies a year ago, I knew I wanted to be a good teacher. I started to list in my mind some qualities and criteria of a good teacher, and began to realize the complexity of the questions: ‘What makes a ‘good teacher’? How do teachers improve the quality of their teaching? And how does a teacher get children to value their education? By definition, a good teacher is a ‘high-quality teacher’ (Merriam-Webster). In school systems, a good teacher is usually the one with at least a bachelor degree, many certificates and is also related to students’ test scores. However,
The question of what makes someone a good teacher is relevant to all teaching contexts, because most of the people have an opinion about this topic, based on their own experiences in the classroom. Most would be able to identify at least one teacher from their past , who was memorable and would share stories to demonstrate why they think so. Eight years ago, my English teacher asked the class to list the characteristics of a ‘good teacher’. Descriptors such as caring, fun, interesting, creative and motivational made the descriptions colorful. Due to the fact that, we rarely had to do with these kinds of teachers made us think like that. Practically, this question reminded me of this teacher, because she was curious to know what characteristics wanted her students to see in a good teacher. And this leads me to the argument that, maybe she was trying to understand, to change something and be more effective for her students. The students’ success lies in the quality and expertise of the teachers, yet some may not have a teaching qualification. So what makes a good teacher? ‘’Teaching, after all, is about engagement, about getting children to listen and switch on’’ (Tait). Good teachers are not always those who are the best qualified, but those who know how to connect with children, teach, inspire and challenge them regardless of their own levels of