Bad vs. Good……Teachers ??!!

Teaching as a career is one of the most complicated jobs of all times. A teacher needs to be psychologist, historian, sociologist and geography teacher. S/he has also to have broad knowledge about the subject, curriculum, standards, and students, as well.  Being a teacher further means being the friend, the mother, the father, the advisor, and the teacher. All are compiled in one package—the TEACHER.  So, what makes a teacher great and what makes him/her flunk their mission.  The following lines will touch upon good and bad teachers as well as reflecting on my experience as a teacher. 

While I was in my first steps in teaching career, I met many burned out and unmotivated teachers who, firstly, piqued my interest and motivation towards teaching.  The first thing they uttered on my first day at school was: “Why did you become a teacher. It did not worth it when you earned little compared to the amount of work you would be doing.”  Saying this gave me the impression that they were “bad teachers” although I believed and still do that there are no bad teachers because every teacher have had something to give in their unique way to their students. Yet, and with time, I didn’t find them bad teachers because they were really good and knew what their students needed and knew their material very well. After all, I did not, and still do not, believe that there are “bad teachers” because the moment you are enrolled in education, you are a good teacher who will contribute to the educational system and students learning.

Aside from this and my reflection upon my experience with previously mentioned incident, who is a “bad teacher”?

In my opinion, a bad teacher is the one who has no control of the classroom where there are discipline problems and bullying among students. Another type of bad teacher examples is the one who is not familiar with his/her teaching material and has difficulty answering questions, or being effectively  involved in a class discussion. Adding to this is the teacher who teaches the class as a whole and does not pay attention to individual needs.   By this, s/he eliminates individualism, creativity, and uniqueness in the classroom where individuality is supposed to flourish.  Another important issue is the fact that some teachers choose to be bad due to logistic matters. This type loses enthusiasm and motivation towards teaching and students. They wander off topics easily and waste the teaching time in irrelevant issues, as a way of protesting against the system.  Yet, I still believe that there is no bad teacher as long as s/he tried to cope with all circumstances that hinder or delay the teaching involvement.

Knowing so far that there is no bad teacher, one needs to ask:  who is a good teacher? Well, a good teacher is simply the opposite of the previously mentioned examples of a bad teacher and more.  A good teacher is the one who is already prepared to teach the classroom with enthusiasm.  It is also important to not stereotype learners and undermine them for any reason.  Instead, a good teacher should have high expectations for all students and no one is left behind without giving up on any student. Good relationships are another key issue of the teacher success in the classroom. Students nowadays learn in collaborative atmosphere, where they become partners in the learning-teaching process.  Involving students in their learning gives them opportunity to shape their learning process and final product.

 

Looking back at teaching as a productive career, teachers have the potential to use different methods in their teaching.  Methods may come from adopting, sharing, exchanging and inventing ways of teaching that suit different students.  In this case, creative teachers can only bring out creative ideas that keep students motivated while using a variety of methods and approaches.  It always happens that my ideas came through negotiating learning issues with my students and colleagues. One idea will give sparks and fireworks for another and so on. For this, teachers have to be aware of every possible idea that can bring new learning experiences.

Technology nowadays becomes one of the motivated tools for the classroom because more students, compared to teachers, are going deeply into technology and online tools.  A good teacher, in this situation, is the one who takes advantage of what students like and uses it for their learning when students are engaged into their learning process and working teams. From my experience, using technological tools in the classroom provided students with alternative and available tools to enhance learning.  In particular, learning disabilities (LD), pupils having difficulties (PHD) and even special education students are mostly advanced because of integrating technological tools in the classroom. A good example is while teaching deaf-mute students who have had  no qualified teachers to communicate with them using sign language for preparing them for their Bagrut English examination. I volunteered to work with them, of course with my minimum sign language I know. The only way to communicate with them is via computers and chat options that the English Language Center (ELC) has.  I successfully managed to train them for their examinations by providing them with tips of how to deal with the exams.

Thus, when a teacher decides to obtain teaching as a career,  s/he has to take responsibility towards their students because they are the future generation who will make changes for a better life.