Teaching

I was asked to sit on a panel next week to discuss what I thought made an outstanding teacher.  At first I thought it would be an easy task, but it is proving to be more difficult. I looked through all the materials I have accumulated over the years, including very specific documents on good teaching and good teachers.  It all looked fine, but nothing really seemed to capture what I know about teaching.  I will give it a try here:

I think first and foremost, that a great teacher is a collector - she collects resources for her students, collects research and theories to inform her teaching, and she collects information about her students. Collecting information on her students is the most vital; it shows her students she cares about them, and it gives her multiple tools to help them apply their learning as she knows where to direct them, how to personalize examples and connections.  It also indicates that she is focused on their learning rather than her teaching.

Second, I think a great teacher is concerned with her students' "voices. "   She works hard to create an environment where they will express themselves freely and safely.  But she does not stop there - it is not a simple matter of removing inhibitors to their expression, but to help them find their voice! She challenges her students, and communicates with them in many ways - in class exchanges, email, feedback on journals or assignments, even through letters.  She doesn't just lecture and leave them to store the information in their minds, she draws it out and understands how their thoughts develop even while they trying to express them.  She is fair and does not judge the perspectives or viewpoints of her students, let alone try to change or suppress them.  She understands the education that happens in mid-air, between she and her students, and between the students themselves.  She understands the use of language in her classroom.

Finally, she does not tolerate anonymity in her classroom - she doesn't let her students slide comfortably and silently into oblivion.  She builds trust in the classroom, and she manages the dynamics so that one student does not stifle another.  She understands the learning styles of her students, and manipulates them to build larger, more complex concepts.  A great teacher also learns how to develop healthy and inquisitive environments so that students interact with each other to magnify their individual efforts.  She knows when to step aside and to let the learning go where it will, not necessarily where she wants it to. She knows how to create an authentic learning environment, and it shows.

I have seen these teachers everywhere - here in the U.S. at all levels of education, in Africa where they had little or no resources, in London where they taught incredibly diverse populations, and lately, in Jordan where they lovingly nurture a generation of young students facing an incredibly challenging future.  So yes, I know what makes a great teacher - I have seen them!