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Every student has his or her favorite teacher, but that teacher may not be the best qualified
person on the teaching staff. In other words, although the mastery of the subject or subjects
taught, plus an enthusiastic approach, is an essential prerequisite in a teacher, it is far from being
the only qualification. There are some who know their subjects but totally fail to put them across
to the students.
Let us first examine the negative side. Unless the teacher has a voice which carries, without
shouting, there will always be inattention at the back of the class. There are teachers who cannot
stop talking, and who will lecture a class for forty minutes. Most students will be asleep after
the first fifteen minutes. There are teachers whose manners and dress are eccentric; they may be
popular, but few students take them seriously. There are teachers who either shout at or speak
sarcastically to backward students. They are disliked by the whole class. There are teachers who
prefer to talk about the football team or a certain television program rather than the subject
they are paid to teach. While this again may achieve popularity, it certainly evokes no respect.
There are teachers whose lives are marred by drink, drugs, or sexual deviation. These cannot
begin to be effective teachers. So what are the positive qualities the student looks for ?
A good teacher must be able to exercise discipline. Teaching cannot begin in an
unruly
class. In the past, class discipline has usually been strict and inflexible. The more modern
approach is to allow more freedom of speech and movement, though no individual can be
allowed to dominate proceedings by rough and noisy behavior. All teachers know the difference
between a lively and a disruptive student. To be able to exert the right kind of discipline can be
learnt, but this is often by bitter experience. There are a few fortunate men and women who have
only to walk into a classroom to create order. Unfortunately there are more whose entry is a
signal for chaos.
Students are always ready to work to the best of their ability for someone whom they
respect, for two reasons. The first is the desire to please that person. The second, more important
reason, is the knowledge that the teacher has the student's best interests at heart.
Study has two objectives, and a careful balance between the two must be kept by the
teacher. The first is the ability to instill a love of the subject taught, which will be maintained
in adult life. The second is to prepare the students as well as possible for the next examination,
be it O or A level or university entrance in some cases. On the other hand, if, say, English is
taught exclusively to cover the examination syllabus by means of learning context passages and
model answers by heart, the subject will become boring. If there hadn't too much attention
paid to generalizations about literature and its place in social evolution, then the lessons may
well be interesting but the student will go unprepared into the examination room.
There should also be a balance between how much work the teacher does and how much
the student does. Some modern educational theorists disapprove of any talking by the teacher
beyond the bare minimum. Unfortunately, if students' work is not carefully guided, and if they
are given free expression in their approach to any subject, most of them will learn nothing of
value. Avoiding the lecture habit, the good teacher, who has already done his or her lesson
preparation, will help the student to achieve certain objectives in each lesson by, a mixture of
verbal instruction and class work. Television, radio and other visual aids are only marginally
helpful, and should be kept to a minimum.
In schools which are not streamed, there will always be class members who are sometimes
incapable of doing the work which others find easy. A good teacher will help them individually,
sometimes after school hours, and if they are non-achievers, set them simpler work.
To a certain extent, a good teacher needs to be a psychologist, able to detect and advise
on mental blockages, which are sometimes due to outside emotional disturbances. A good
teacher should be someone you can trust and talk to, and whose sane advice on your personal
problems is worth listening to.
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