brajesh kumar
Peter Grundy, Jenny Johnson, Deepti Gupta, Gerardo
Valazza and Raf Erzeel
First published in Issue 183, Feb/Mar 2005
The satisfaction of language teaching comes from the
instantaneous feedback we receive. Provided we are
sufficiently alert, we know all the time whether our
learners understand or not. From many years of team
teaching and peer observation, I’ve come to the
conclusion that one of the greatest gifts a teacher
can have is the ability to see the consequences of the
decisions he makes, both at the planning stage and
moment by moment in the implicit decision making that
goes on all the time in the classroom.
I say ‘gift’ advisedly because this is an area in
which it’s very difficult to learn to be more
proficient. I can think of colleagues who I’ve worked
with who ride hard at a ditch only to tumble clean
into it – I knew long before they did that what they
were attempting would never work. And I can think of
colleagues whose decisions I predicted and who seemed
very like me in their teaching style. And I can think
of colleagues who made decisions which surprised me
with their originality, and which turned out to work
incredibly better than I would have imagined.
At the end of the day, it’s all about being able to
‘read’ a classroom and to foresee the consequences of
the decisions we make – this is one of the essential
qualities of a good teacher.
Peter Grundy is the outgoing President of IATEFL
Email c/o: generale...@iatefl.orgFrom a manager’s
point of view, the basics of a good teacher are a good
initial qualification and, preferably, some classroom
experience. But there are other qualities which make
the difference.
Here are some views of Directors of Studies in
different language schools:
* ‘Someone who’ll fit in with culture of the
school. Keen and sees teaching and their development
as dynamic. Professional.’
* ‘Our in-service training and development system
is designed for creative and dynamic people who like
working in groups and are interested in ongoing
professional development. Friendliness and
cheerfulness are a great plus.’
* ‘A steady previous employment record, and a
positive impression at interview. We rate potential in
the classroom highly. Personality profile – ability to
achieve rapport, personal skills and interest in the
job. A young, energetic, if green, teacher has good
potential to achieve good learning in a classroom.’
* ‘Reliable and will stay. Open-minded, flexible in
approach and to timetable – adapting to a new life,
the school, new students, syllabuses, etc. Prepared
for input and observations. Should be dedicated to
their work.’
So, to summarise, a good teacher is one who adapts
well, is dedicated, and has a positive attitude to
professional development.
Jenny Johnson is Special Interest Groups
Representative on the IATEFL Coordinating Committee.
She is also Head of Teacher Training at IH Barcelona.
Email c/o: generale...@iatefl.org
In India, perceptions of a good teacher have always
been conditioned by the gurukul paradigm. In ancient
India, the gurukul was the counterpart of the
present-day boarding school, without the formal levels
or standards of classes. Pupils would live there with
the Guru and his family, learning all kinds of skills
while performing the daily chores of the
establishment. The Guru was to be venerated and the
word of the Guru was law. Even today, when the Gurukul
exists only in history, the idea of a
Guru-on-a-pedestal lives on as a sort of archetype in
Indian minds. Hence, the components of a good teacher
according to the Indian mind may not include
friendliness or smooth interactivity.
Recently, with more and more youngsters joining the
profession, teaching in India has become more human
and humane. Hence, people like me who were labelled as
‘too liberal’ when they started teaching in the 1980s
are now more comfortable interacting more and
lecturing less. Looking at the Indian scene today, in
my view, a good teacher should be:
* Both interactive and proactive.
* Firm, but friendly.
* Aperfectionist but not a stickler.
* Proficient in the subject while keeping in mind
students’ needs.
* Examination-oriented but not a corner-cutter.
* Gently critical.
The list could be endless (as I’m sure all practising
teachers would agree), but these are a few essentials.
Deepti Gupta is one of the first Indian C.A. teachers,
and set up the
first undergraduate language laboratory in Chandigarh.
Her interests
are ELT methodology, classroom observation and action
research
Email: dep...@eth.net
Freeman (1989) describes language teaching as a
‘decision-making process based on four constituents:
knowledge, skills, attitude and awareness.’ Looking
into these four elements of language teaching may shed
some light on the question of what makes a good
language teacher. We probably all know more or less
successful teachers who are more or less knowledgeable
about English and the background to language learning
and teaching, and who are more or less skilful at
giving instructions, managing classroom interaction,
presenting and practising language and so on. Is it
possible then that what makes a good teacher lies in
the other two constituents?
Attitude refers to the ‘stance one adopts toward
oneself, the activity of teaching, and the learners
one engages in the teaching/learning process,’ and
awareness is the ‘capacity to recognize and monitor
the attention one is giving or has given to something’
(ibid: 32–33). If good language teaching is related to
these two constituents, it may have to do with having
a positive and inquisitive stance toward ourselves,
the profession of teaching, and the learners, which in
turn will lead to increased awareness in all respects.
Freeman, Donald (1989) ‘Teacher training, development,
and decision making: a model of teaching and related
strategies for language teacher education’ in TESOL
Quarterly, Vol. 23, No 1.
Gerardo Valazza is Head of the Academic Department at
Instituto And finally a rather longer contribution
from Raf Erzeel of Lessius Hogeschool, Antwerp,
Belgium.
I would like to remind everyone that, in order to
teach a dog – irrespective of its age – new tricks,
you first of all need a dog with certain natural
abilities and a character open to performing tricks.
There is no doubt at all in my mind that teachers can
vastly improve their teaching skills by following
certain guidelines and principles and continuing to
learn new methods, but that does not alter the fact
that you need something or other to start with, some
basic aptitude, a natural need to explain things, an
inborn drive to guide and help people to grasp things.
So does that mean we need not bother with new
publications telling us how to improve our teaching?
It seems like a wonderful chance to stop feeling
guilty (a feeling many of us have often suffered)
about not keeping up with new books on pedagogy and
insights into teaching and all it entails. Just
convince yourself that you truly believe that teaching
is a basic skill that some people have and others do
not, that you happen to be blessed with the knack, and
you could teach happily ever after without worrying
about all those newfangled ideas. Isn’t it just too
good to be true?
Exactly. No matter how good a basis such natural
teaching skills may present, no teacher can afford to
ignore the evolution of pedagogical principles. If we
cut ourselves off from new ideas and methods, even the
best teaching abilities will not prevent us from
becoming dinosaurs. Maybe the best example is the
unstoppable technological revolution that has swept
through the education scene in recent times. How could
even the most naturally gifted teacher expect his
learners to continue to take him seriously if he fails
to incorporate any of the new possibilities offered by
information technology?
This is not to say that we should accept any new idea
or technique unquestioningly. The mark of a good
teacher is that he is able, with the benefit of his
insight into teaching and learning processes, to judge
the potential value of such ideas, and to improve on
them by enhancing them with his experience. The
inevitable basis for such improvement is, however,
that he knows what others are suggesting, encouraging,
criticising or rejecting. So, no, not even good
teachers can afford to ignore new publications
concerning education and teaching. Teaching is a
dynamic skill, one that needs to be updated regularly
if not constantly. Or maybe I should say: teaching
involves many different skills, all of which require
regular (re-) training. And then there is the need for
a more general ‘refreshing’ of the mind, to make sure
that our inspiration does not dry up.
I am almost certain that also this teaching instinct
needs to be fed regularly, though not with ideas on
paper. As far as I can tell, it feeds on learners’
reactions to the teaching event in general, and
individual classes in particular. And its favourite
dish is simple gratitude or the feeling that some
skill (or even a bit of information) has been
transferred successfully. Part of its staple diet is
also a love of the subject taught. It can survive on
surprisingly small amounts of the above, and convert
them into an enthusiasm for which there is no
substitute.
So, is there a simple answer to the question ‘What
makes a good teacher’? Obviously not. But there are
certain elements that a good teacher cannot do
without, and it is not too difficult to name the most
important of those. The indispensable foundation is
what I have called the teaching instinct. But apart
from that, a good teacher also needs plenty of other
things: a thorough knowledge of his subject, the
ability to plan a class, verbal and presentation
skills, the ability to interact with (young) people,
enough inspiration to bring variety to his classes and
teaching methods, and patience. All of those, bar the
first one, can be improved and taught, which is why
all of us need to keep up with new ideas.
I believe that teaching can be taught, at least up to
a certain point. If someone is willing, most of the
skills mentioned in the previous paragraph can be
acquired and continuously improved. Without the
teaching instinct, however, the result will be at most
a fairly efficient teacher, never a great one. But we
should certainly not look down on efficient teachers –
they will do an efficient job, which is more than we
can expect from someone who does have the teaching
instinct, but does not feed it, or – even worse – does
not take care to keep alive all the other skills
involved in teaching … by paying enough attention to
all those publications.
Raf Erzeel teaches British culture, translation and
spoken English at
the Lessiushogeschool in Antwerp, Belgium, an
institute of higher education
for translators and interpreters.
Email:
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