What Makes a Good Teacher?

A look at "Teacher Instinct"
Raf Erzeel, Lessius Hogeschool,Antwerp, Belgium

Read any good books lately? If the answer is yes, how many of those did you read for professional purposes? Do you know what the newest trend in TEFL is? Could you name five authors of works on pedagogy in general or teaching English in particular who have published books in the past five years? Do you think that we are being flooded by TEFL publications? Have you, maybe, given up trying to keep up with recent evolutions in the field? How important do you think it is to read something or other about teaching regularly?

The glut of books and guides on how to teach has, over the past decade or so, not only had advantages. Obviously, the many authors have taught us a host of useful methods and tricks, and have given us invaluable inspiration to spice up the classes we teach, but it seems to me that they have also given us the misguided impression that, with the help of their books, anyone can become a good teacher. It may not be their aim, and many of them will no doubt categorically deny that such a thought has ever entered their minds, but it is no doubt an idea that has subconsciously influenced us all. 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 this 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.

Each of the separate skills is catered for by most of the big publishers - C.U.P., O.U.P., Macmillan-Heinemann, Pearson (Longman),...to name but a few. And then there are the resource books, giving us new inspiration for classes. Yet there is this factor that never seems to be mentioned, or that is just taken for granted - and I am not certain which of the two is more worrying. This prime skill, call it teaching instinct, is one element of a good teacher that I have not come across in any publication I can remember. Not that it would make sense to write a book on the teaching instinct - its very nature makes it 'unteachable'.

Yet 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.

Let me close with this last thought: 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.

[Editorial note: I am delighted that Raf should be encouraging you to read HLT!]