by Brian
Everyone has their own list of characteristics that great teachers share. And many subscribe to the opinion of James Starkey, who recently wrote in Education Week that: "As dorky as this sounds, great teaching happens by magic. It isn’t something that can be taught. I’m not even sure that good teaching can be taught."
I guess you'd call that the great teachers are born not made theory. I do think some people are born to it. My friend Bonnie started great and has been getting greater for the last 30 years. But I'm sure she also believes teachers can get better, and maybe good ones can eventually become great. So who's right?
Amanda Ripley wrote a recent article in the Atlantic called What Makes a Great Teacher? (Be sure to watch the video about the third grade teacher called The Motivator. It gave me goose-bumps.) It is a nice counterpoint to Starkey's pessimism. She chronicles how Teach for America has been collecting data for over 10 years on the characteristics of the teachers in the program that have had the greatest impact on student learning. What's interesting is that these teachers are almost always young and inexperienced, and have only committed to spend 2 years in the profession. Steven Farr leads Teach For America's efforts to discern what
distinguishes teachers whose students in low-income communities achieve
dramatic academic growth. He just published Teaching as Leadership, a book that details his findings at Teach for America. He says: “Strong teachers insist that effective teaching is neither mysterious
nor magical. (Take that, Mr. Starkey!) It is neither a function of dynamic personality nor
dramatic performance.” There's a website associated with the book that looks interesting.
It looks like Farr's research has two huge implications:
1. Good teachers can get better.
2. Some are more likely to become a great teacher, so there are traits to look for when you're hiring new teachers.
I think I'll read the book. In the meantime where do you think great teachers come from: born or made?
This may be useful to teachers aspiring to becoming great teachers: http://www.geocities.ws/greatteachersari/
When I went back to college to get my teaching certificate, I dreamed of being Teacher of the Year. When I started teaching I was surprised to find so many great teachers in my way. Turns out I’m a Lake Woebegone teacher: above average. But I’m a work in progress. There’s time.
Empathy: yes, but tough love too. We need to see the world from their perspective, and then convince them their world can be better.
Teach for America: Think of it as two years of national service. And yes, I have learned things from 23 year-olds.
Tenacity: What if we taught that instead of Geometry?
“Toughest job you’ll ever love”: It’s easy now, compared to those first two years, but I still love it.
Desire: Yes. What doesn’t take that? So let’s do it.
Let’s all be great.
I honestly believe that a key component of becoming a great teacher is the desire to become a great teacher. Teaching is both a skill that can be developed and an art that is inherent. A skilled artist – like an architect – has some innate talent, but a great deal of learned skill. Someone like Grandma Moses who was completely untrained, and one might argue unskilled, was still a great artist based solely on talent. There are teachers who are naturals. They can come into the classroom and build relationships naturally, without effort. The passion they feel about their curriculum shines through in every lesson. On the other hand, there are teachers who have to learn how to feel empathy. They have to intentionally change their perspective and observe facial expressions and body language. They have to learn how to emote in the classroom. But they do it successfully because they have the heart and the desire to become great. Sadly, too many people seem to find “satisfactory” enough of a goal.
I see great teachers and great leaders sharing more than one attribute, Vince. Tenacity, yes. Also, there’s the quality of being willing to get down in the muck and work hard, to get dirty doing something you think is important. I don’t mean that literally, entirely. The great teachers I’ve seen make sacrifices every day. They don’t protect themselves by maintaining a distance from their kids. They give up their lunches, they get down on a child’s level and really listen, they spend their own money on supplies. Great leaders do similar things, giving of themselves for the sake of their cause, and never asking anyone to do something they’re not willing to do.
One of my main problems with Teach For America is that it’s a short-term shot. TFA teachers commit to two years of teaching, then they take that perked-up resume and go do what they really want to do. To me, that’s different from someone whose dream is to teach, and who is in it for the long haul. When you’re in it for the long haul you are invested in what happens in kindergarten, you are going to make an effort to know what happens in k-12, you are going to get your community to commit to education. I admire TFA’s efforts to get in there with energy and passion and effect change, but I get frustrated with the “toughest job you’ll ever love” two-year push. Experience isn’t everything, but I’m a way better teacher in my 13th year than I was my first.
Is it the same for leadership? I believe that great teachers and leaders have certain interpersonal skills that when coupled with necessary training give them the “potential” to be great.
It’s that rare combination of tenacity for results, empathy for the child/family, instructional skills, and perhaps most importantly – the ability to get students(class,team) to truly reach for excellence. We have a teacher in our building that has this rare combination, I see it everyday.
Loved this blog–and the comments (and the mental image of busting up a fight on the beach, in your bathing suit–eek). I agree with Mark: empathy is key, and inherent. There are dispositions (empathy, imagination, compassion, determination) that give people who wish to teach a giant head start, and can’t be taught. But I am always leery of the “teaching is an art, not a science” argument, largely because I became a much better teacher when I used the scientific National Board lens to examine my teaching. Teachers who rely *only* on their natural charm (instead of creating detailed lesson plans, or doing professional reading in their content area)–and you know they’re out there–are missing some key elements.
The Atlantic article drove me nuts. It presented things–like backwards design and other standard pedagogical tools–as innovations discovered by Teach for America to be effective. I have to admit I read the article with a bad attitude–so now Teach for America is going to tell all of us what good teaching looks like? Still…
I agree with Mark – there are some people who will always be poor teachers, no matter how much professional development they pursue.
I’ve learned things over the years that I think have helped my effectiveness in the classroom, but the most important lesson happened before I ever entered the teacher education program at the university. When I was a lifeguard at a beach I had to prevent a group of guys from beating up another guy, wearing only my red bathing suit. There are many days when teaching feels like that – making the hard sell when I’m overwhelmed and outnumbered. I figured out how to deal with those guys on that day, and I’ve been drawing on it ever since.
I also think good teachers can be great teachers; the journey lies in a refusal to stagnate and an ability to listen.
My first thought: no amount of training can give a person the critical trait necessary for teaching… empathy. Empathy is necessary so we as teachers can consider our students’ perspectives as we teach…whether they get it or not and why…how the information is received (or not) and why…what approaches are appropriate for our learners because we care enough to know them well.
Yes, pedagogical methods can be taught, teachers can improve, classroom management can be tightened up. But, you cannot take a myopic self-centered individual and transform them into a great teacher if they lack the capacity to see the world from perspectives other than their own.