”Better than a thousand days of diligent studies is one day with a great teacher.”
What could be better than the above quoted Japanese proverb to indicate the fantastic qualities of a good teacher? Spending time with a marvellous educator has a positive influence not only on your academics but overall outlook towards life.
The right influence has a lot to do with your overall growth. You start embracing the positivities, look at things positively and everything around seems delightful.
What are the great qualities of a teacher that can have a strong impact on the students? If you’re an aspiring teacher or a new joiner, willing to know about some of the great skills a teacher should possess, you are at your destination.
In this article, we will discuss some of the amazing characteristics of a good teacher and how it helps them to make a difference in a student’s life.
What are the Qualities of a Good Teacher?
A teacher is someone who lights the students’ life with something glorious and helps them come out of their comfort zone and explore the world beyond. You should be the one that the students should look up to and idealise. Besides following effective classroom management strategies, a teacher must carry a lot of other qualities.
They need to feel free to approach you whenever in need. All these comforts, easiness, and cordiality don’t come naturally from the students. They’ll only take a step ahead when they find their teacher approachable and helpful enough.
In the section below, let us take a look at the superb qualities of a good teacher that creates a positive impact both inside and outside the classroom.
1. Good Teachers are Excellent Communicators
What marks the difference between a good and a better teacher? It’s their communication capacity with the students. Many instances show students coming to class with the fear of a particular subject and unable to take it to the teacher either.
Great teachers communicate directly with their students, discuss the respective subject’s prospects, how it can align with their hobbies, and highlight the interesting positions. This can give the students much room to express their doubts. Rather, they can start overcoming their fear and develop an interest in the subject.
Being a great teacher will need you to be expressive towards the students and communicate with them clearly regarding the subject prospects, and try to diminish their fear gradually. Moreover, strong communication skills will also help you deliver clear lectures that properly insert into the students’ brains.
2. Great Teachers are Empathetic with their Students
One of the finest characteristics of a teacher is their empathy towards their students. Suppose you take a particular class where a student consistently performs poorly. You point out his mistakes and try advising him to get him back on track and improve his grades, but there’s no change in the scenario.
It might make you impatient or infuriated, and you end up rebuking him badly. But, as a teacher, you must try to feel him first. What if they have a learning disability? Or they’re going through a bad phase in their home? There can be a lot of reasons, and you need to be empathetic towards them to detect the problem they are going through.
When you give your students time to understand rather than jumping to conclusions immediately, they feel comfortable around you and can approach you for any problem they might face. Sometimes, some students miss out on their homework or are not paying attention to the tasks allotted in class.
We don’t support carelessness but if there is a genuine problem with the child, you need to identify it to guide them well.
3. Great Teachers are Excellent Listeners
According to Gillian Parrish, research and communications specialist at the St. Louis University, Washington, being good listeners can help the teacher initiate new ideas and creative approaches and it also deepens student learning by creating an engaging classroom environment. Being a great listener is among the best qualities of a good teacher.
As a teacher, you must spend considerable time speaking, discussing, and leading conversations. At the same time, you must listen to your students well, understand their thoughts, and derive a conclusion accordingly. Two-sided effective discussions will always beat the monotony of boring one-sided lectures.
Being a good listener will help you listen to the student queries well, and the problems they might be facing and give them proper suggestions,
4. Good Teachers have an Adaptable Attitude
Another of the must-mention qualities of a good teacher is adaptability. A teacher can’t follow the same teaching method for every class. Several factors must be considered, like the students’ age, the syllabus he’s covering, and the class timing.
Suppose you have the first period of the day with a particular class. Quite obviously, students will be charged up in the beginning hours of the class. You can go for the lecture method, allot them tasks, etc. But, if you have a class in the late hours of the second half, the students might already be tired.
You can adopt some engaging methods like asking the students to read out chapters, initiating a discussion to ensure some meaningful exchanges, and so on. A great teacher with good adaptability skills can create a wonderful environment inside the class and yield positive results.
5. Good Teachers have a great Engagement Capability
A class doesn’t mean constant delivery of lectures with the students nodding yes or no every time the teacher asks if they have understood. Rather it’s more about meaningful conversations, healthy discussions, and great exchanges that make up a healthy learning environment.
Developing the qualities of a good teacher will need you to have great engagement capability. You must make them feel they belong in the class, creating equal opportunities for every student to participate in class. A slight touch of a great sense of humour? A bonus!
As students walk out after your class, they must leave it satisfied to come to it again the next week.
6. Great Teachers Must be Super Patient
A good teacher is very patient with his students and in the class. Working as an educator is a big test of your patience. You need to deal with a lot of matters like managing the classroom environment, facing opposite mindsets in the class and discussing accordingly, working with both like-minded and unlike-minded colleagues, etc.
Discussion with the parents about student progress, making them understand the important details, and participating in the parent-teacher meetings: all these need a lot of patience or else you’ll be stressed. Making a strong career in the education sector will require you to be very patient and adapt accordingly.
7. Good Teachers Focus on Real World Learning
One of the prime qualities of a good teacher is focusing on real-world learning that provides the students with in-depth knowledge about the topic taught. As a teacher, you need to create a practical environment in the class that helps the students derive better industry exposure, gain valuable skills and learn the concepts well.
In this tech-driven era with immense value for skills, candidates should always derive significant lessons about the in-demand market concepts. As an educator, it will be your chief role to develop such an ambiance and continue to bring value to the table.
8. Great Teachers Always Share Experiences and the Finest Practices
One of the best teacher qualities is sharing real experiences and practices to present the real-world scenario in front of the students. Teaching is not only about coming to class, checking homework, delivering lectures, allotting class work, and leaving as the bell rings.
Sharing real-life experiences, practical practices, etc., are a great way to boost the knowledge of a particular topic. It helps them understand the scenario better, connect to real life and understand it more conveniently.
When you include a real-life example with every topic you teach, the lectures appear more realistic to them, and they connect better.
9. Good Teachers Always Encourage Collaboration
Being in the education sector is not only about student-teacher interaction. There are a lot of activities that you need to take care of outside the class as well. Like, you get to work with a lot of colleagues around you. Some have the same mindset as yours, while it might differ from a few others. You might be knowledgeable in one sector, while someone can help you enrich your understanding in the space.
The best teacher will always encourage collaboration with other teachers, be interested in expanding his knowledge on a particular matter, and will look for meaningful ways to keep the classroom engaging.
As a teacher, you must never restrict yourself to boundaries but must be available to new learnings, better approaches, and strengthening your existing knowledge.
10. Great Teachers are Permanent Learners
Do you know what makes up a great teacher’s personality? It’s their lifelong learning attitude. Precisely, there’s no end to knowing and learning. You can keep learning, irrespective of your age and discipline. Being a great teacher is all about the learning approach and being keen on exploring newer concepts.
Being a well-read man will help you create a scintillating environment in the classroom. It will help in providing clear lectures and better information and guide the students to proceed toward a brighter tomorrow.
You can refer to various books, google information, visit the library, watch meaningful YouTube content, etc., to expand your knowledge in various fields.
11. Good teachers are Highly Creative
One of the other significant qualities of a good teacher is creativity. How your students are feeling in class, if they’re getting interested, if they’re enjoying the lessons: all these depend on the level of creativity you bring to the table. Even if you’re teaching a simple concept, try incorporating creativity that encourages the student to listen to the class carefully.
With various tools being introduced these days, you can use them and learning tools to ensure a top-notch creative session that the students will remember for a long time.
12. Good Teachers Need to have a Neutral Perspective
One of the best skills of a good teacher is fair-mindedness. Being a teacher will need you to be impartial in class and treat all the students equally. You can’t be biased while marking their answer scripts or setting a question paper.
When they come to your class, students must be comfortable and interested enough to be in it. They must not ever feel you’re being partial to someone else because that can have a negative influence on them and can destroy class unity.
13. Good teachers are also humorous
One of the other prime qualities of an ideal teacher is a good sense of humour. Do you remember your school days? Did you like the long hours of lectures with no breaks in between? You must always try and create an environment in class that you’d be comfortable with, being a student.
If you have a good sense of humour, try utilising it after continuous lectures to ease them down. Make them free so that they participate in class and also find you approachable.
14. A good teacher should be consistent
One of the best qualities of a good teacher is consistency. When they turn up in class regularly, maintain an organised schedule, and interact with the students, it creates a positive environment.
Being a teacher, you should be consistent in your classes unless there are serious emergencies, try following a regular pattern that the students can connect with, and be organised.
15. Good teachers are encouraging
One of the main professional qualities of a teacher, which has a mental basis too, is encouraging the students. Giving them short rewards when they do good in class can boost their confidence.
As an educator, try to be as encouraging as possible. Plan short rewards if your students are doing good, encourage them when they give write answers in class, or don’t rebuke them even if they are wrong. A positive attitude from the teacher will help students maintain a disciplined academic lifestyle.
16. A Great Teacher is Always Reliable to the Students
A good teacher is someone reliable and friendly. Schools or educational institutions are the second home to students and are guided by the teachers. Being a teacher, you must appear reliable to them. They shouldn’t think twice before discussing a problem or conveying an important message to you.
Students will remember you for a long time even after they’re done with their course or pass out. They will set your example in front of others, considering you as one of the most reliable persons they have met. Achieving this milestone is a great success in your teaching career. You can check the ideal student-teacher ratio in India.
17. A Great Teacher is Passionate About his Job
A teacher should be passionate about his job and absolutely in love with his work. Setting up a teaching career and succeeding in it doesn’t occur overnight. It’s no cakewalk rather a lot of hurdles will await you. Amidst everything, you need to be passionate about your work.
Keep consistent with your classes, show up on time, maintain a schedule, and repeat. Your passion will attract the students to be attentive in class and consider you their role model.
18. A Good Teacher Should be Motivational
One of the other main qualities of a good teacher is their motivating attitude. How you manage your students during their tough times displays a lot about your character as an educator.
You should motivate the students at their failure that the next phase will bring something better for them. The best teacher always tries to fill his student’s life with positive energy that keeps them going in the long run.
19. A Great Teacher Should have a Nurturing Attitude
How would you create an innovative learning environment? By showing a nurturing attitude to the students. In a class, there are various scopes of mistakes. Rather than being harsh, an ideal teacher is nurturing towards them to guide them to the right path.
It will help to set up a healthy learning ambiance in class that would encourage students for healthier participation and has a unique learning scope under the educator’s guidance.
20. A Great Teacher Should be Honest
One of the most mentionable qualities of a good teacher is honesty. You’re the role model of your students, and they look upon you as an inspiration. You need to be honest towards the work you’re doing, mai tai it with your students and colleagues.
Not only will this quality mark you to be a great teacher but also as a great human being.
21. Teachers Need to be Punctual
One of the biggest strengths of a good teacher is his punctuality. Students learn from you and they recognize your attributes quite well. That’s why it’s important to set a significant example in front of them.
Being punctual to everyday class is one of them. Moreover, being on time is also helpful to finish the lessons within the given tenure without rushing.
22. A Good Teacher Should have Great Organisational Skills
The personal qualities of a teacher are also helpful in keeping them on track in their professional segment. Try maintaining an organised schedule in your personal life. Keep everything in a pile in one place with all the necessary belongings kept handy. It will help you maintain the same ethic in your professional life and encourage growth.
23. A Good Teacher Should be Ethical
One of the other qualities of a good teacher is following an ethical principle. You should have a set of values, morals, and principles that you follow in your life. Keeping up with these ethics will help you shine in your professional life and encourage the students to learn from you.
24. A Good Teacher Should Maintain Dignity
Another one of the prime qualities of a good teacher is maintaining dignity. You should be friendly but that must not cross a line encouraging the students to be disrespectful. Adhere to your dignity that keeps them respectful and obedient towards you.
25. A Good Teacher Encourages Classroom Rules
One of the best qualities of a good teacher is creating effective classroom rules for students that keep the lesson time engaging. The students should adhere to the classroom rules and achieve the short goals set for the stipulated lecture. It boosts better learning and understanding of the concepts.
Wrapping Up
A good teacher will always follow trendy classroom strategies and try to motivate his student’s in the best way possible. A teacher is an ideal in his student’s life and they take back all his good qualities with a positive impact on the mind.
Flourishing in the education industry as an educator will require a lot of consistent effort and adaptability to your job. Try out the above-mentioned techniques, and they might help you do excellent in your professional life!
