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Qualities of Good Teachers

Teaching,  A profession that never seems to go down as the world progresses in every field, we need people who can take the knowledge & share it to a new generation or a group of people who wants to gain knowledge through formal education.

Like any other profession, teaching has its own advantages along with a set of disadvantages & requirements that are demanded from that person who wants to get into this field. The role of a teacher is critical to the growth of all the students that s/he teaches & this on a larger scale impacts the development of that region, you could even see the influence of teaching on a national level , for example better education system with standard quality of teaching will provide a strong base for the nation to build its economy & march towards high growth levels whereas a weak education system unable to implement quality teaching will see fragile growth rates with a bleak future for the entire region.

As you can see the impact of teaching is far greater than words can actually describe so you might wonder what are the qualities of good teachers? & how to become a great teacher from a Good Teacher?

Before we get into the detail, you must have seen that developed countries have a constant growth rate without much fluctuations in any of the major areas including education & the reason for this is that they already have an established system that functions well enough to maintain the standard of productivity every year.  We can take a look at the case studies of countries like Singapore,  Finland to understand that quality teaching could really change all the other components related to building a strong nation with better living. Now if consider the situation in developing nation where the first priority for development is given to education; commerce to science all are a part of the education system that can change a life.

Now, Let's come to all important qualities of that person who is at the centre of providing the education that is a teacher

1. Be Original

Different people have a different approach to their work, A teacher could be very dynamic through the use of gestures with hands & moving around the class while he's teaching, on the other hand, another teacher use the static method where he is standing at one  place but then with the use of various storylines he grab the interest of students & makes them wonder which is quite difficult t achieve requires a good level of creativity.

When you try to copy someone else's style than in this process you lose your own touch that can make them stand out or unique, generally what students want is having a teacher who could talk in their language & at the same time shows them the direction because the reality is NO ONE CAN MAKE A STUDENT LEARN, a teacher can show the direction & student will follow, during the course of his journey he will pick up the knowledge through own experience & this is what teaching is all about.  If you think the teacher has the duty to make the students learn then that is not the way teaching is carried out. You can call someone as a Teacher, Mentor, Guide or Guru - they all have one primary task & that is show the students direction which they can follow.

Now if you are thinking of the role of a teacher in school or college this is what you will be asked - You will be handed a curriculum or syllabi's with number of periods mentioned, within that duration you have to complete your syllabus & conduct exams, how you teach or what you teach is secondary: the primary goal is completing your syllabus on time

2. Renounce Teaching

You must know to differentiate between Learning & Teaching. The idea of teaching is not to make someone learn or helping students to learn. Learning occurs without teaching. Our inner beliefs normally prevent us from delivering knowledge in the way it should be so initially you must clarify your own inner thoughts.

So once you achieve this then you move on to the next step that is how to help students in the learning process by delivering proper knowledge. The best way to do it getting into their eye level - this eye level in term of teaching perspective is understanding the topic from students viewpoint. As a teacher,
you must know it clearly what you are teaching. You must be able to explain the topic in multiple ways, if you can do it then you have the quality to explain a college topic even to a nursery student in a simpler manner but if you fail to achieve this, then you must master it before moving to other stages.

3. Using "What do you think" strategy

As a teacher getting the attention of students one of the major challenges, for that you have to analyse your teaching style along with the group os students you are teaching. According to Mr Jawahar, a highly experienced teacher in the engineering field, he talks about one particular question that makes the life a teacher a lot easier & that is to ask the students "What do you think" when they come up with a query. 

Using this exercise makes the students think deeper into the subject, enhances their problem-solving ability & the best part is that all these happen with just one question "What do you think". As a teacher, you just ask the question related to their problem & give them some space to understand what could be the reason behind it.

4. Engaging with students

As you gain respect from the students,  it is important that you build a good interactive relationship with your students. More conversation you could have with them the better it is for you understand their view on studies, generally, one common thought among students which is mostly noticed is

they don't know why they are learning a particular topic?

 What is the use of it in real life?

To answer such questions & to be able to explain such complex statements you first need to understand & acquire a decent level of understanding about your own subjects. When you have a strong base in your own field then it is simply easier for you to explain any subject related queries in multiple ways. Many teachers have been spotted using only one-dimensional teaching where they can explain a topic in only one way, this makes you look boring in the eyes of your students which results in throwing you in the "Boring Teacher" zone. 

Remember all the "not so good teachers" have one thing in common & that is boring in their approach. If you want to achieve a good level of engagement from students & like them to interact with you then you must remember not to get into that Boring list of teachers.

5. Able to identify between teaching & learning

Students can learn only in the presence of teacher

Do you agree with the statement? Let's clarify a few things, learning is something that can't be forced on someone,  a teacher is there to help in the learning process but he can't make students learn things & to learn a particular skill or topic, a teacher is not necessarily required, yes that's true. As a teacher, your duty is to show them the direction, explain their doubts, help them to understand what they want to know & now you can see these are elements of teaching which define a great teacher. 

Learning takes from experience, when you go through a situation or a process, you make mistakes - you keep trying to get things in the right way but you face challenges & as you continue to put yourself through such situation you learn organically, now in this hit & trial process you do not require a teacher to make you learn things but you need someone to guide you & that's where a teacher is required. Great teachers are also called great mentors or Gurus & the reason for that is exactly what is described here 

"Give your students the right feedback after analyzing their abilities" 

"Don't allow your existing beliefs to be a roadblock in delivering the right analysis"

"Make yourself open-minded to the potential your students possess"

Always remember these 3 statements which will help immensely in changing the lives of many students as it has already been the case with a countless number of people from all over the world. A broader view that is detached from your preoccupied beliefs & keeping it simple is the primary factor that will eventually decide how influential a teacher you could become.