Qualities of an effective teacher
Teaching is an art as well as a science. The qualities of an effective teacher are not based on what he does right, but rather, on the outcome of his teachings evidenced in students' performance in the subject area. Three large features can be used to describe an effective teacher, and one is the degree of knowledge, secondly teachers' ability to deliver the knowledge and lastly teachers personality. The three features interact with each other to determine the effectiveness of a teacher.
The degree of knowledge falls in the first place, and this character indicates that a teacher should be knowledgeable. An effective teacher should clearly understand his subject area as well as understand how to create the subject, how it relates to other disciplines and how to apply it in real life situation (Anderson, 2009). To teach, one should have adequate knowledge of the field of interest and the knowledge should be updated with the advancement in new findings, hence, providing the teacher with up-to-date information. Additionally, the teacher should have knowledge of his students past educational performances and experiences in order to develop teaching strategies that best suit them. Lastly, an effective teacher should be conversant with effective teaching techniques and strategies.
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An effective and efficient teacher should have the ability to instruct as well as leadership ability. An effective teacher should pose qualities of a good leader such as organization, planning, time management, effective use of resources, ability to command, and monitoring. An effective teacher should be in a position to influence students to develop, establish teamwork, and develop self-control (Stronge, 2007). On the other hand, an effective teacher should have the ability to instruct his students and act as a role model to them. The teacher should also be able to apply his knowledge, and teaching techniques to meet the set learning objectives.
Lastly, an effective teacher is a person with a great personality. Effective teachers display characters such as; being positive, ability to communicate effectively, dependable, organized, flexible, motivated, committed to one's duties, high in creativity, and patient with his students (Anderson, 2009). These personality traits interact with the individual's knowledge and ability to produce an effective teacher.
Professionalism for Teachers
A professional teacher is one who has undergone a teacher training program and carried the conducts oneself by the teachers' ethics. A professional teacher is knowledgeable in the area of teaching subject and can use teaching techniques such as teaching aids in the teaching-learning process. Additionally, a professional teacher must experience teaching by engaging in various teaching practices and directly interacting with the learners (Pultorak & Association of Teacher Educators, 2010). Teaching is the art of imparting knowledge on learners; therefore, a professional teacher must be in a position to impact education to students as well as be in a position to apply the knowledge in real life situation. Lastly, according to teacher ethics, a professional teacher should be creative, patient with his students, morally upright, should teach by example, and should be dedicated to their work. Interestingly a professional teacher ensures that the teaching learning process is learner-centered to enable the students to learn effectively (Pultorak & Association of Teacher Educators, 2010).
Motivating students
Student motivation has been one of the interesting fields of research for many scholars in order to determine how teachers can attract and maintain the students' learning interest. Various measures can be employed to motivated students.
Firstly, the teacher should manipulate the learning environment to attract students' interest. The learning environment should be motivating, and it should allow students to learn in a natural way (Gregory & Kaufeldt, 2015). The teachers can manipulate the environment by using visual aids motivate the student to learn by capturing their interest and developing curiosity, hence, increasing their urge to know more.
Secondly, the teachers can use incentives to encourage good behaviors and performance in students (Gregory & Kaufeldt, 2015). Incentives involve the use of rewards or recognizing the best students in a subject, class, or other areas of interest. The rewards and recognition encourage students to do better in their studies.
Additionally, teachers’ attitude towards a subject also influences student's concentration in the subject. Literature indicates that students perform better in subjects that teachers show positive attitude than those with a negative attitude (Gregory & Kaufeldt, 2015).
Lastly, motivation also involves helping the students in setting realistic goals. Students' are hugely frustrated by their inability to meet their set goals in education; therefore, to encourage them in their studies, it is important to help them in setting realistic goals which are achievable (Gregory & Kaufeldt, 2015).
Professional growth as a teacher
Professional growth among the teachers is highly recommendable and aims at helping them develop competence to help the student achieve their educational goals. Traditionally, teachers’ professional growth and development was mainly based on teachers’ evaluation, whereby, the teachers' performance was established to help determine the teachers' interest as well as developing a development plan (Peine & Peine, 2008). Teachers' professional growth process involves four main steps.
Firstly, the concerned teacher reviews professional learning plan and records for previous years, and this involves evaluating the teachers performance to determine the weak and strong areas. Secondly, the concerned teacher establishes the area of interest in which he wants to develop in. Thirdly, the teacher develops a development plan that is by the concerned authorities as well as connecting with student learning process (Peine & Peine, 2008). Lastly, the teacher updates his professional education records as the last step before enrolling for a professional growth program.
References
Anderson, G. R. (2009). Achieving teaching excellence: A step-by-step guide . Charleston, S.C.?: CreateSpace
Gregory, G., & Kaufeldt, M. (2015). The motivated brain: Improving student attention, engagement, and perseverance .
Peine, J., & Peine, J. (2008). The educator's professional growth plan: A process for developing staff and improving instruction . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Pultorak, E. G., & Association of Teacher Educators. (2010). The purposes, practices, and professionalism of teacher reflectivity: Insights for twenty-first-century teachers and students . Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Education
Stronge, J. H. (2007). Qualities of effective teachers . Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
