A brief reflection on the professional and personal qualities that make for excellence in education.

What makes a good teacher?

• Thorough subject knowledge.
• Enthusiasm for subject.
• Ability to communicate ideas clearly.
• Empathy with students.
• Ability to ‘make subject come alive’.
• Confidence.
• Leadership qualities.
• ‘Human’ qualities.

Thorough subject knowledge: This goes without saying – in order to teach the subject well, you must understand it. It is demoralising and disconcerting for students to see their teacher struggling with ideas and concepts that they are expected to learn. Knowing the subject thoroughly also allows teachers plan more interesting lessons using different teaching methods to explore facets of the subject and to respond to questions that arise during the course of the lesson. While knowing the content of the syllabus is a pre-requisite, the teacher’s knowledge will hopefully go beyond it, enabling them to place the syllabus in a broader context, answer the inevitable question ‘But why…?’ and field queries beyond the scope of the syllabus (As a physics tutor I am asked about most often include black holes, the big bang and Pluto’s demotion from planetary status!). Awareness of new developments in the subject is also crucial.

Enthusiasm for the subject makes it so much easier to teach. There’s only so much you can fake it! Students pick up on a teacher’s enthusiasm and it helps to enthuse them. My Physics teacher, Mr Barlow, was not the jolliest of men, but nonetheless commanded the respect and admiration of pupils for his obvious enthusiasm for science and skills as a teacher.

An ability to communicate ideas clearly: It’s one thing to know the subject well, quite another to teach it to someone else in a way which they’ll understand and remember. To teach effectively, one needs to be able to break down complex concepts into their constituent parts in order to build up the full picture for the students. Often even simple concepts, which we may take for granted after years of study, need to be explained to students encountering them for the first time.

Empathy with students: Appreciating areas of the subject which they are likely to find difficult or confusing or boring. Communicating ideas in a way that will interest the class. Being able to remember your own classroom experiences and use methods which helped you to learn. Being able to communicate the ideas in an interesting way. Bringing the subject alive: placing abstract concepts in real-life contexts or using interesting experiments and activities to get the pupils to learn for themselves.

Confidence: Goes without saying! You’re addressing an audience and a potentially hostile one at that! If you haven’t confidence in yourself, then neither will the class. Leadership skills are also vital to maintain order, to inspire reluctant students, to mentor promising ones and to generally encourage a positive attitude.

Looking back, some teachers at school were able to come across as human beings while still maintaining authority. It’s a tricky balance to strike – no-one liked the teachers who tried to be your mate, it seems creepy and needy but on the other hand it’s much easier to learn from someone who you can empathise with to an extent rather than from a poker-faced automaton!