Monday, December 1, 2008

Perfect Teacher

Surprisingly, this one is pretty easy to answer. Obviously there is no "perfect" teacher, but there are always "extraordinary" teachers.

The best teachers, first off, actually want to be teachers. Needless to say, people who fell into the profession because they wanted to coach, or needed a job, or wanted *cough* graduate student funding *cough* might not be the most invested purveyors of knowledge.

I think that as long as a teacher is genuinely interested in the subject AND interested in helping the student reach his or her potential (rather than using the classroom as their own personal "look how smart I am" fest), then that teacher is awesome.

Respect for students, interest in the text, and effective skill in communicating knowledge are all absolutely required. Nun-chuch skills, computer hacking skills and bow hunting skills are just an added bonus.

1 comment:

A Brewer said...

I find your comment about "look how smart I am" a keen observation. I think we've all had an instructor who exudes this feeling, and isn't it annoying? I also agree with assessment that there are not perfect teachers but extraordinary teachers. An extraoridnary teacher is one that cares about the subject they are teaching and, as you say, helping their students reach their highest potential.