What makes a teacher great?

What makes a teacher great?

I believe there is no single all encompassing answer to this, however, I firmly believe it starts with being a lifelong learner.

Our drive to always be learning new things gives us a more open mind about our students experiences… a more open spirit for understanding how they perceive their experiences. In a nutshell, it helps us be better listeners.

Paolo Freire elaborates this mindset in The Pedagogy of the Oppressed as “co-learning”. We learn alongside our students, because we seek to understand how they perceive this world as we create ways of teaching to their strengths and weaknesses.

Carol Dweck (see her Ted Talk first, then read her amazing book, The Growth Mindset) suggests the role of the teacher is less about offering information or guiding students to mastery of subjects; and much more to inspire curiosity! Curiosity drives learning, drives experimentation, drives risk taking, resilience, and problem solving skills!!!

The business world appropriated Kaizen as a catchphrase for a sign of a potentially successful employee attitude… it is, as with many beautiful Japanese mindsets, simply a passion and dedication towards continual growth… ie: being a lifelong learner.

So, perhaps the greatest asset and trait needed to be a great teacher is… curiosity (however you may define and experience it).