Characteristics/Qualities of Effective English Teachers

In an article ‘The Characteristics of Effective English Teachers As Perceived by High School Teachers and Students in Korea’, Park and Lee reported that the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) believe that there are 15 characteristics of effective English teachers.

They have placed these 15 characteristics under three categories: management techniques, instructional techniques and personal traits. 

Instructional Techniques

English teachers need to teach reading, writing, viewing, listening, and speaking.   English teachers have a great deal of content to juggle in the classroom.   They need to be conversant with grammar, vocabulary, writing, literary elements, literature, researching techniques, speech strategies etc.

In addition to it, teachers need to have a variety of teaching strategies. Direct instruction, collaborative learning, co-operative learning, discourse based strategy and language games are just a few techniques that effective teachers use in the classroom. So, the English teacher must be flexible and willing to try lot of strategies to see what works best with students.

Management Techniques

Good English teachers must possess effective classroom management techniques. If teachers cannot manage their students well, very little learning will occur in the classroom.  

For novice teachers, classroom management is usually a struggle. New teachers need to seek opinions of experienced teachers on how to handle the classroom properly and to try different classroom management strategies.

Personality Traits

The three most important personality traits include flexibility, a caring attitude, and a sense of humor. There are other personality traits that help teachers become best teachers. But in the current scenario in education, a teacher should learn to be flexible to help a student. It is good to be able to laugh and to keep smiling in this climate of change.

Students should feel that their teachers care for them. They need to be in a supportive learning environment as this may be the only safe place for some children. This is the best environment that must help students reach their true potential.

In addition, teachers need to have a sense of humor.  Even when many things go wrong every day, the teacher should be able to laugh and to keep going. The students look for a pleasant teacher, not an angry one.

English teachers do their best in implementing techniques in the classroom to help children reach their learning potential. Most teachers do it for love of their subject and passion towards their profession and passion is the greatest key to success in any profession.

 

 

What are the characteristics of a successful teacher of English?

    by

Albert P'Rayan

Recently I was invited to give a guest lecture on the topic “Characteristics of highly effective teachers of English’. To prepare myself for the lecture I asked my students and fellow teachers to list the qualities of a good teacher of English. Those who were involved in the informal brainstorming sessions had listed a number of characteristics an English language teacher should have. My experience as an English language teacher and teacher trainer also helps me define an effective teacher of English as someone who possesses 5 I’s:

1.            Imagination

2.            Innovativeness

3.            Interaction

4.            Independent thinking

5.            Interdependence Imagination

A teacher who is imaginative can do wonders in the English class. Their new ideas break monontony and make students take lively participation in the class. Albert Einstein says thatt imagination is more important than knowledge.

“Human progress is possible only through education. Without imagination, education becomes a kind of intellectual recycling of the same knowledge passed from teacher to student and back to teacher on the test. Education should do more than simply transmit information; it should develop skills such as imagination that evolve our knowledge and move us forward as a species.”

Teachers who are imaginative can teach any language skill interestingly and effectively. They can develop students' creative self-expression. Teachers who are imaginative explore and create new things.

Students enjoy being guided by imaginative teachers.

Innovativeness

An innovative teacher dares to go off the track in order to be on the track. Students like teacher who are innovative. Innovativeness means

•             Introducing changes and new ideas

•             Daring to be different and being unique

•             Going off the track in order to be on the track

•             Experimenting new things

•             Being fresh always

 

Interaction

A teacher who promotes interaction in the English class does justice to their profession by empowering learners and helping them develop their communication skills. They motivate their students, create opportunities for them to interact with one another through commutainment (communication through entertainment) activities such as roleplays, groups discussions, mock interviews, etc.

Independent thinking

Independent thinking is the process of being able to think on your own, without someone else guiding you. "In a world where knowledge is doubling every few years and what once was a fact can become out of date so quickly equipping young people with the mental tools to succeed in such a world is vital." Teachers can help their students develop their independent thinking only if they are independent. Independent thinking implies

•             Thinking on your own

•             Being critical of what you see and hear

•             Questioning information and irrational assumptions

An independent thinker helps students develop the desire and ability to think on their own. An independent thinker contributes a lot to the team. Language learning tasks should aim at developing students’ thinking skills.

Interdependence

Inter dependence is essential for a successful person. Taking students from dependent stage to independent stage and then to interdependent stage is very important. Man is a social animal and interpersonal relationship is the key to success in today's competitive world. The one who knows how to relate with others can climb up the ladder of success. Those who are interdependent use positive language and win people. They are polite, pleasant, practical, persuasive and powerful.

A teacher of English who is imaginative, innovative, interactive, independent and interdependent can be successful in the field and can lead the students from dependent stage to independent stage and then to interdependent stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         9 Qualities of a Good Teacher

                by

                                   Umar Farooq

 

The good teacher of modern era has a lot of pressure and responsibilities. And only those teachers can fulfill their responsibilities who are dedicated have natural zeal, and training. In the profession of teaching, good teacher should have some good teaching qualities in order to perform his or her role well. Following are the traits of a good teacher:

1.       Patience

Teachers are not expected to have patience with those who are not disciplined, lazy or with those who irritate other students in class room.  But teachers are professionally responsible to have  patience with those students who want to learn or those students who are sincere in their studies.

2.       Passion

Passion is the essential element of a good teacher. If teacher is not taking interest in relevant subject, how can he expect his students to?  How students will learn those things their teacher not takes interest. Take interest and go ahead to teach it to other.

3.       Up to date Information

A good teacher always brings new information to the classroom. Teachers must have updated information in respective field. One of the qualities of a good teacher is he not only rely of text books but always use other sources to inform he students about new development.

4.       Command over Subject

If you don't know about something how can someone teach it? Command over subject is necessary every good teacher.  Command over subject will prove effective tool.

 

5.       Situational Analysis

A best teacher always makes adjustment with circumstance. He or she does not stick to a specific syllabus and curriculum.

6.       Positive Attitude

Another quality of a good teacher is that he or she must have positive attitude about him or herself and the role to be played .With this attitude she or he can cover a lot of obstacles.

7.       Strong Control over Classroom

A brilliant teacher has strong control over the class. How large a class may be, a best teacher can easily control over the class through the application of classroom management techniques.

8.       A Professional Reader

A good teacher always studies new materials relating to the profession of teaching. That reading enhances the role of teacher in his or her professional role.

9.       Good Evaluator

Education without evaluation is nothing. Therefore a good teacher evaluation process should be effective in order to promote, repeat and place the students in various learning stages.

Qualities of an ideal language teacher

 

Everybody wants to have an ideal teacher while studying somewhere. However, when it comes to a definition of a perfect teacher it appears to be not so easy to give it, because different teachers are successful in different ways. For example, some are easy-going and charismatic, while others are quiet and not very sociable but in spite of the difference in personalities, all good teachers have some common qualities that help them to become the best ones.

 

First of all, perfect teachers must be knowledgeable. They must know a lot about the subject they are teaching and be able to help students understand, by explaining concepts thoroughly and being able to answer all questions accurately.

This characteristic is very important and seems to be a vital element contributing to the development of students.

 

Then, good teachers should be motivating. Good teachers always succeed in inspiring their students both in class and out of class. Teachers have the power to inspire, through their attitudes, actions, and even through the lessons or activities they engage students in.

 

Patience is also one of the most important qualities. Teachers should remember that every student is different. For instance, some are different in backgrounds, cultures, and believes. Even children from the same culture still differ in personalities, which will reflect their learning abilities. So good teachers must understand that and take it into consideration.

 

In conclusion I would like to say that the above-mentioned characteristics are the most important ones, though there are some other necessary qualities, such as creativity, enthusiasm, sense of humor and others. Being a teacher is a hard job, but being a dedicated teacher requires more outstanding personalities. Without being knowledgeable, motivating, and patient, one can't be a good teacher.

 

Nola A., Senior English Instructor at Eton Institute, provides a useful insight into the roles relevant to today’s teaching.

The 7 Roles of a Teacher in the 21st Century:

Think about the type of lesson you normally teach:

•             In which roles are you often involved?

•             Are there any roles in which you have less experience?

•             Are there any new roles you might try in the future?

It is clear that the 21st century classroom needs are very different from the 20th century ones. In the 21st century classroom, teachers are facilitators of student learning and creators of productive classroom environments, in which students can develop the skills they might need at present or in future.

However, before we begin to understand the evolving role of an ESL teacher, let’s outline some of the most popular teacher roles. Harmer, J. states that ‘it makes more sense to describe different teacher roles and say what they are useful for, rather than make value judgments about their effectiveness.’ So here are some of the most common teacher roles:

 

Teacher Roles:

Most teachers take on a variety of roles within the classroom, which role do you think most defines your role in the ESL classroom?

1. The Controller: The teacher is in complete charge of the class, what students do, what they say and how they say it. The teacher assumes this role when new language is being introduced and accurate reproduction and drilling techniques are needed.

In this classroom, the teacher is mostly the centre of focus, the teacher may have the gift of instruction, and can inspire through their own knowledge and expertise, but, does this role really allow for enough student talk time? Is it really enjoyable for the learners? There is also a perception that this role could have a lack of variety in its activities.

2. The Prompter: The teacher encourages students to participate and makes suggestions about how students may proceed in an activity. The teacher should be helping students only when necessary.

When learners are literally ‘lost for words’, the prompter can encourage by discreetly nudging students. Students can sometimes lose the thread or become unsure how to proceed; the prompter in this regard can prompt but always in a supportive way.

3. The Resource: The teacher is a kind of walking resource center ready to offer help if needed, or provide learners with whatever language they lack when performing communicative activities. The teacher must make her/himself available so that learners can consult her/him when (and only when) it is absolutely necessary.

As a resource the teacher can guide learners to use available resources such as the internet, for themselves, it certainly isn’t necessary to spoon-feed learners, as this might have the down side of making learners reliant on the teacher.

4. The Assessor: The teacher assumes this role to see how well students are performing or how well they performed. Feedback and correction is organized and carried out.

There are a variety of ways we can grade learners, the role of an assessor gives teachers an opportunity to correct learners. However, if it is not communicated with sensitivity and support it could prove counter-productive to a student’s self-esteem and confidence in learning the target language.

5. The Organizer: Perhaps the most difficult and important role the teacher has to play. The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what they are to do next. Giving instructions is vital in this role as well as setting up activities.

The organizer can also serve as a demonstrator, this role also allows a teacher to get involved and engaged with learners. The teacher also serves to open and neatly close activities and also give content feedback.

6. The Participant: This role improves the atmosphere in the class when the teacher takes part in an activity. However, the teacher takes a risk of dominating the activity when performing it.

Here the teacher can enliven a class; if a teacher is able to stand back and not become the center of attention, it can be a great way to interact with learners without being too overpowering.

7. The Tutor: The teacher acts as a coach when students are involved in project work or self-study. The teacher provides advice and guidance and helps students clarify ideas and limit tasks.

This role can be a great way to pay individual attention to a student. It can also allow a teacher to tailor make a course to fit specific student needs. However, it can also lead to a student becoming too dependent or even too comfortable with one teacher and one method or style of teaching.

 

Now that we’ve had a chance to look at some of the variety of roles let’s see how we can adopt these into a real classroom activity/task:

ACTIVITY/TASK HOW THE TEACHER SHOULD BEHAVE

Team game        energetic, clear, fair, encouraging

Role Play              supportive, retiring, clear, encouraging

Teacher reading aloud   dramatic, interesting commanding

Whole class listing            efficient, clear, supportive

What we notice here is that the roles are often interchangeable. The teacher’s role is never static. One activity could see an experienced teacher smoothly transition from one role to another.

That said, the 21st century classroom is created on the premise that students experience what they require to enter the 21st century workplace and live in the global environment. The characteristics of the 21st century classroom therefore sets it apart from the 20th century classroom.

Lectures on a single subject at a time where the norm in the past. Today, collaboration is the thread for all student learning. For instance, the collaborative project-based approach ensures that the curriculum used in this classroom develops:

•             Higher order thinking skills

•             Effective communication skills

•             Knowledge of technology that students will need for 21st century careers and the increased globalized environment.

While there is certainly a place for teacher centered, lecture style learning, the evolving ESL teacher must embrace new teaching strategies that are radically different from those previously employed. The curriculum must become more relevant to what students will be exposed to in the 21stcentury.

 

An interactive teacher is by definition one that is fully aware of the group dynamics of a classroom. As Dörnyei and Murphey (2003) explained, the success of classroom learning is very much dependent on:

•             How students relate to each other and their teacher

•             What the classroom environment is

•             How effectively students cooperate and communicate with each other

•             The roles not only the teacher plays but the learners engage in

Brown, H. Douglas (2007) mentions that “teachers can play many roles in the course of teaching and this might facilitate learning. Their ability to carry these out effectively will depend to a large extent on the rapport they establish with their students, and of course, on their own level of knowledge and skills.”

According to Harmer, J. (2007), the term ‘facilitator’ is used by many authors to describe a particular kind of teacher, one who is democratic (where the teacher shares some of the leadership with the students) rather than autocratic (where the teacher is in control of everything that goes on in the classroom), and one who fosters learner autonomy (where students not only learn on their own, but also take responsibility for that learning) through the use of group and pair work and by acting as more of a resource than a transmitter of knowledge.

 

Facilitating learning is empowering for both the learner and the teacher and frees the teacher from many of the burdens that having to be an ‘expert’ might entail. It would traditionally have been seen as a weakness for a teacher to say ‘I don’t know, let’s find out’ or ‘I don’t know, do any of you students know the answer?’ But, times have changed and so must the role of the ELS teacher.

So here’s hoping the next time you teach a class you consider how your role might affect your students’ learning. Are your classes teacher centered, with you always at the center controlling everything? Or are you able to ‘let go’, and allow students to take center stage?

Regardless of the roles they assume, teacher’s shape the culture of their classrooms, improve student learning, and influence practice and production. Making the shift from teacher as expert to facilitator is sometimes seen as diminishing a teacher’s power and authority, but this should not be the case at all.

Qualities of A Good English teacher

Teachers are assigned the status of God in our scriptures. According to the great Saint Kabir, a teacher is greater than God because he guides us to the eternal God. His guidance is always of an utmost importance in a student’s life. Every field in life asks for guidance from a seasoned teacher, and English counts in the same category. Being the current global flavor this calls for a good teacher who can waft his student through the rough tides and finally get him settled on a safe coast.

Teachers are a key element in learning English. Their influence plays a fundamental role in a students’ progress, or a lack thereof. To make their students leap great heights and excel in their subjects, students must adhere to certain credentials.

Crucial factors like classroom atmosphere, student- teacher relationship, tolerance, patience, passion and other aspects, should be taken diligently. For English teachers, being good at the language is not the only yardstick to measure their efficiency, they should possess phenomenal teaching techniques as well. These techniques include specific teaching behavior and the handling of students’ diverse temperaments. Adding to this, it is important to maintain an appreciable rapport between the two stakeholders, that is, the teacher and the student.

A positive attitude in a teacher makes all the difference. Such attitude helps the students in excelling in life and gathering some of the zest from their instructor.

Designing an effective plan is also a key to success. Keeping in mind the students’ requirements and expectations from a particular course, its particulars’ should be designed. Whether a student needs attention in vocabulary, grammar or tenses, a good teacher is the one who can crack the hardest nut, and help her students overcome any difficulty he/she is facing.

Since different students learn in different ways, it’s important for an English teacher to employ a judicious mix of his teaching techniques to extract the best out of his students. For example, if a teacher wants his class the learn articles, it is important to use methods to suit students who need an explanation, and students who need some practice. It is important to create a right balance. It’s like juggling different techniques in the right way.

English teachers should learn to be flexible. This is because, teaching a foreign language is a dynamic exercise. Teachers should also adapt themselves to the constant changes the language is going through, and thus incorporate newer techniques in their teaching style.

Classroom management is an important thing to be taken care of by the English teachers. Time management and ensuring discipline in the class is one of his various duties. It should be ensured that every single student is bestowed with the equal amount of attention.

The atmosphere should be lively and should be animated. There should be creative discussions, enhanced with intellectually stimulating discussions. Students should be praised when they perform well and be motivated when they are not doing too well in studies. Students who are well above their standards should be encouraged from time to time to take on new challenges, thus to maintain their interest in he language.

The complexity of English as a second language needs a qualified teacher and an appropriate classroom environment. Overall it can be said a good teacher is at the root of the success of a student.

 

 

 

 

 

Some materials I have gathered from the internet have been included here.

In my opinion, the qualities of a good English teacher or any teacher can be categorized under two distinct and well defined heads-personal and professional. All the good human qualities can be included under the personal qualities of a teacher. All the good qualities relating to the profession can be in the list of professional qualities. Here I would like to suggest a few qualities, both personal and professional

Personal Qualities:

 

1. Kind, humane

2. Loving and caring

3. Pleasant &humorous

4. Punctual

5. Systematic

6. Honest

7. Understanding

8. Empathetic

9. Sincere

10. Dedicated

11. Positive attitude

12. Sociable

13. Humble nature

Professional Qualities

1. Communication skill

2. Subject competence

3. Imagination

4. Skill for innovation

5. Passion for teaching

6. Skill to develop strategies

7. Unbiased nature

8. Skill to motivate

9. Objectivity

10. Commanding power

You can make the list exhaustive by adding any number of qualities to both the lists.

 

Duties and responsibilities

I share some materials collected from the internet. Certain ideas are ambiguous, hence I have tried to consolidate towards the end. Hope it helps you understand the concepts clearly.

Everyone has come across the terms duty and responsibility. Duty is a moral commitment to something or someone, whereas responsibility is a condition of being responsible.

According to Cicero, duties come from four sources. Duty is a result of human beings, one’s particular place, one’s character and one’s own moral expectations. His philosophy of duty has been depicted in his famous work ‘On duty’.

As duty refers to moral commitment, it denotes an active feeling for doing something.  Once a person engages himself with some duty or if he has been entrusted with a duty, then that person fully commits himself to it. In the case of duty, the person will be involved in activity without any self-interest. As a citizen of a country, a person has many duties to perform. It is his duty to adhere to the constitution.

Responsibility can be termed as an ability to act at one’s own will, without any supervision. It is the obligation to successfully complete an assigned task. In responsibility, a person takes upon the duty to compete the task and to make the task a success.

In responsibility, a person is solely responsible for the entire task and its outcome. In case of responsibility, he takes the ownership of the entire task. Responsibility can also be explained as a set of instructions in life that one has to follow. It is the responsibility of the parents to give good education to their children.

 

 

  Difference between Duty and Responsibility

Duty

The word duty comes from the Latin word ‘debere’, meaning obligation; to call to do something.

Therefore, the word duty is what we have to do according to the law, conventions or moral rules. Duty can be distinguished according to the law and regulations, but it also has personal connotations based on one’s values, too.

A sense of duty is to obey political, legal and moral rules set out by an organization.

Responsibility

Responsibility is often misused. It is not interchangeable with the word duty. Responsibility originates from the Latin word ‘respondere’, meaning to vouch; respond to something.

It defines the state of being responsible (morally accountable or having an obligation to do something): it involves decision-making and comes with one having certain duties.

Responsibility comes in two parts: it can be given to you, but you also have to take responsibility by accepting the role or task assigned to you.

                      ________________________________________________________________________

 Difference between duty and responsibility

                                          While walking down a street, if you come across certain hooligans harassing a girl, as a citizen it is your responsibility and not duty to interfere and intervene to save the girl. For a police officer, it is his duty to save the girl. If a police officer is not duty bound, he could just ignore this incident thinking about his safety and by forgetting his duty. But a responsible police officer will interfere in such an incident even when he is not in official duty or when it is not under the jurisdiction of his police station.

________________________________________________________________________

 

Let me take this opportunity to consolidate and share my own views on this topic.

                    When you do your duty you are probably bound by certain external factors. But when you are responsible, you are bound by some internal factors.

             It is a teacher’s duty to transact the content and finish off the portions before the commencement of examinations. But a responsible teacher will always make an extra effort in the direction of making students comprehend the topics very well and help them score good marks. Teacher has the duty to evaluate students by means of various evaluation techniques. But when you are a responsible teacher, you will try to be as objective as possible in evaluation. While dealing with your students, it is your duty to give equal attention to all the students of your class. But your responsibility as a teacher will make you give more attention to weak students.

You can consider all the duties of a teacher in this manner and it is easy to see the difference between a dutiful teacher and a responsible teacher perform in each case.