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8612-1

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Professionalism in teaching

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Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad

Question No. 1: Define professionalism. Is teaching a profession? How? Give arguments.

Professionalism:

Professionalism involves being reliable, setting your own high standards, and showing that you care about every aspect of your job. It’s about being industrious and organized, and holding yourself accountable for your thoughts, words and actions.Teaching is a noble profession which comes with so much responsibility and duty towards students. Teachers do not only teach and impart knowledge but inspire and motivate students for life and take important steps in life. They keep working to boost the confidence of students and direct them in the right direction.

Everyone in this world has his own likes and dislikes. So is the case with choosing one’s profession. There are many professions to choose from. But most of the people have got some pet profession that they like most.

In childhood, everyone talks of becoming a barrister, a doctor or an engineer but some like to become politicians, statesmen, officers in army, navy and air force. It is quite difficult to choose a profession.

Upon a profession depends on the whole life of a man and so one must have an aim in his life. An aimless life is just like a boat or a ship that is not aware of its destination or is a letter without an address.

Hence, there arises the necessity of choosing a profession. Although I am not fit enough at this age to choose a profession, yet I would like to take up teaching as a profession.

Teaching is a noble profession. I want to become a professor. Ours is still more or less an illiterate country. So, to take the masses from the darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, from illiteracy to literacy is really a pious task.

That is way; I want to take up teaching as my profession. Teaching has many advantages over other professions. First of all, it is free from all the corrupt practices prevalent in other professions.

It is an ideal and noble profession in the sense that a teacher remains honest and studious in his profession. He gives the gems from his mind to his students. The words of wisdom are far more valuable than all the riches and everyone can get benefit out of them.

A professor remains in touch with various books. This keeps his knowledge up-to-date. He is the storehouse of knowledge and information. He is the picture of wisdom. A professor has to read books of eminent authors, philosophers and literary figures.

Six traits of professionalism:

Terms in this set (6)

1. Be the best.
2. Be dependable.
3. Be a team player.
4. Be respectful.
5. Be ethical.
6. Be positive.

Teaching is a noble profession which comes with so much responsibility and duty towards students. Teachers do not only teach and impart knowledge but inspire and motivate students for life and take important steps in life. They keep working to boost the confidence of students and direct them in the right direction. There were many teachers who dedicated all their life in empowering their students and making them a better and successful human being in their life.

Role of a teacher

While writing an essay on teaching as a profession, the role of a teacher must be included. The general and first role of a teacher is to teach their students. Then motivate them and boost their confidence to take up things which can help them in their life. Teachers should find different ways to teach students and apply them in teaching so that the maximum information and knowledge reaches the students.

They should try to explain complex and difficult topics through fun activities and make it easier for students to understand. Teachers are not only teachers but they are your mentors and guide.

They are responsible not just to teach the syllabus but inspire students by exchanging thoughts, sharing a bond, and be with them in every ups and downs. If you will be able to portray all these roles for your students then teaching as a profession is perfect for you.

Teaching skills, matter knowledge, personality, ways of imparting information’s are some factors that affect learning pattern of students. It helps teachers to become successful teachers and mentor for their students.

If the above explained traits inspire you to become a teacher and you are thinking how to proceed then read the guide below.

Academic Path for a Teacher

To adopt teaching as a profession, we must realise that not only personality qualities are important but educational qualifications too are one of the main requirements. With right qualifications and passion to teach students can make a good teacher. There are several to pursue teaching as a profession, you can follow some of the below mentioned ways:

I was at a party once and a fellow guest asked me what I did for a living. I answered: “By profession, I’m a teacher.”

“Ah well, teaching isn’t a profession.” he replied. When I asked him why he held that view he said: “Because teachers are prepared to go on strike. Members of real professions don’t go on strike.”

By any standards, that’s a pretty narrow definition of a profession. But I do ask this question of all the new teachers I meet: “Is teaching a profession?”

Most say “Yes, of course!” but then I ask them to define “a profession” and how it is different from any other kind of job. Then I get a wide variety of responses. For example, some say: “Professions like teaching are usually respected, trusted and are expected to be role models.” Others add that to enter a profession “usually requires education, training, qualifications, commitment, dedication and even passion”. Some demur and say: “Ok, but that definition can include electricians, hairdressers and car mechanics too”.

I agree with that, at least to a point. My car mechanic probably has all those attributes – he certainly has passion for cars and seems very dedicated to my satisfaction as a customer.

But I wonder whether as a member of the public and particularly as a parent, I would expect the same things from an electrician, plumber, hairdresser or car mechanic as I would from a doctor, solicitor or my child’s teacher?

And that’s where I realize I do expect something different.

For example, I know for a fact that my car mechanic has no qualifications in car mechanics though he’s been mending my car for years and he’s brilliant at it. To be honest with you, it doesn’t bother me that he hasn’t; he’s a great car mechanic and does a really good job mending my car at a good price.

But it would bother me if my child’s teacher wasn’t qualified. For some reason, I want to know that the person standing in front of my child is properly trained and qualified to do that job to the high standard we all expect.

Going back to my car mechanic. He’s a very nice guy, but I don’t know anything about him. I’ve no idea about his background, for example, whether he’s ever had a serious conviction for let’s say, grievous bodily harm or dealing in Class A drugs.

Should it be an issue for me if he has? I’ll be honest. It’s not. All I’m concerned about is whether he does a good job on my car at a reasonable price. What he’s done in his background or private life is of no concern to me.

But what if my child’s teacher has a conviction for grievous bodily harm or dealing in Class A drugs? Now, that’s a question I’d be much more interested in knowing the answer to.

That’s not to say that society shouldn’t forgive foolish mistakes done by people in a misspent youth. But – call me old fashioned – I think most people would have some concerns that would need reassurance.

We still expect something extra from the likes of doctors, nurses, lawyers and yes, teachers that we don’t necessarily expect from the likes of electricians, plumbers, hairdressers and car mechanics. It may be related to rather ill-defined concepts like trust or reputation or an even more ill-defined concept like being a role model. Whatever it is, I think that expectation still exists and is real.

That’s not to say my car mechanic isn’t professional. He is. He’s very professional.But is he a member of “a profession”?

Conclusion

If you are focused and passionate enough to take up teaching as a profession, then dealing with such challenges can be a cakewalk for you. Not only does a career in teaching give you the power to nurture the leaders for tomorrow, but it also instils in you the need to never stop learning.

To pursue a career in teaching, you must be aware of both the rewards as well as the challenges.Teaching career teaching gives you the chance to inspire and empower bright young minds and build a better tomorrow.However, before you decide to become a teacher, it could be a good idea to assess your personality, interests, and aptitudes to be sure of yourself. You may take the help of an expert career guide who can help you understand your true strengths and weaknesses.

Question No. 2: What is professionalization? Describe characteristics of professionalism.

Professionalization:

Professionalization portrays the (a) education, training, and different exercises that transform a worker into a professional and (b) the social procedures by which an occupation turns into a profession. Professionalization is a social procedure by which any trade or profession changes itself into a genuine “profession of the most noteworthy uprightness and competence.” The meaning of what constitutes a profession is frequently challenged. Professionalization will result in general outcome in setting up satisfactory capabilities, at least one expert association to prescribe the best practice and to administer the behavior to the members of the profession, and some level of the outline of the certified from unqualified beginners. It is additionally prone to make “word-related closure,” shutting the domain to entry from outsiders, novices, and the inadequate. Occupations not fully professionalized are sometimes referred to as semi professions.

Professionalization can be a bottom-up process by those in the occupation, a top-down approach by employers or the government (as an employer or as a policymaker), or a blend of the two. For a business employer, Professionalization might mean requiring a specific course of academic study, degree, certification, or professional society membership as a criterion of initial and/or continuing employment. For a professional association, Professionalization might mean setting up a code of conduct or creating certifications, training programs, or educational norms. For the administration, Professionalization might mean encouraging or requiring a particular academic accomplishment or credentials for its own workforce, supporting the development of educational plans, building standards for training programs, encouraging the utilization of certification as a means of managing the workers whose employments influence the well-being and security or property of others, or requiring (at either government or state level) licensure for specific occupations.

 Goals for Professionalization:

Traditionally, Professionalization has had one or more of the following goals:

• to set up norms and improve the nature of the workforce;
• to regulate workers whose occupation can influence the wellbeing, safety, or property of others;
• to upgrade public trust and confidence;
• to empower compliance with administrative or legal necessities;
• to elevate the status of an occupation;
• to set up a monopoly or else direct the supply of labor to propel the interests of its members;
• to guide the conduct of specialists in the field, particularly with regards to morally or ethically ambiguous activities;
• to establish and standardize roles (and the associated knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and abilities) and pathways so as to readily adjust supply and demand, enhance awareness of career paths, and facilitate recruitment and maintenance by employers.

Characteristics of teaching professionalism:

1. It Essentially Involves an Intellectual Operation:

Since teaching involves arousal of interest in teaching learning process, it requires an intellectual operation.

The teacher evolves a suitable plan of action to carry out teaching by creating a conducive and supportive learning environment to achieve the pre-specified objectives, i.e. bringing desirable changes in the behaviour of the learners.

All the above are intellectual operations on the part of teacher. Therefore, teaching is essentially an intellectual operation and exercise.

2. It Draws Material from the Spectrum of Science:

Teaching is not only an art but also a science. As an art it propels teachers to acquire some skills which are called “tricks of the trade”. As such, a teacher needs to be trained properly in order to achieve some objectives.From the stand point of science, it goes through certain steps which are followed in the training of a teacher. He/she is well-versed with the steps of teaching which go in a systematic way. Therefore, teaching is not a haphazard affair. It requires proper planning to reach the goal. It is a goal directed process.

3. It Transforms Raw-material into a Practical and Definite End:

Learners are prospective raw-materials in teaching profession. They are prepared to teach with efficiency and effectiveness for the larger interest of society which has varied expectations. They are trained into a practical and definite end by means of providing right knowledge and practical training in teaching and other pedagogical courses.

4. It Possesses an Educationally Communicable Technique:

An important characteristics of teaching as a profession is its nature of science. As teaching is a science, teaching techniques are systematic and have certain steps to be followed. It is easily communicable for its wide application.

5. It Tends towards Self-Organisation:

It demands sensitivity of personnel involved in teaching activities towards growth and development of profession. So, they are self-organized by evolving a definite mechanism to sustain and promote the standards of teaching profession.

6. It Basically Performs a Social Service:

A nation or a society marches forward on the track of development if teachers serve in a better manner to effect changes in various ways. Teaching infuses a sense of service in the minds of teachers, because teaching is essentially a social service. Self-interest recedes giving way to general interest. It accords high premium on social service-the crux of profession.

7. It Has A Lengthy Period of Study and Training:

Another chief characteristic of teaching is that this profession requires a lengthy period of study and training. In other words, a person willing to take up this profession has to study for a number of years and acquire mastery over the contents of the subject matter. After this, he/she has to pursue training in teaching skill and method.

8. It Has A High Degree of Autonomy:

Autonomy is free from any form of intervention. Any form of intervention in teaching activities is not brooked right from planning of activities, identifying instructional objectives, development of curriculum, and transaction of curriculum, evaluating student’s performance, framing of admission and promotion rules to organization of co-curricular activities.

9. It is basedupon a Systematic Body of Knowledge:

Knowledge springs from different layers and spheres of life—social, political, historical, psychological, economic, cultural and religious. Teaching as a profession is based upon systematic body of knowledge emanated from different spheres of human life and activities.

10. It Has A Common Code of Ethics:

Teaching profession has a common code of ethics which guides the behaviour and conduct of teachers in their institutions and outside. A code of professional ethics is a charter of rights and duties for the protection of professional autonomy and freedom.This can ensure development of a high degree of recognition, regard and social status of the profession so that true professionalism emerges in the long run. He/she is committed to his/her profession in a true perspective.

11. It Generates In-Service Growth:

In teaching profession, a teacher always learns at all stages of teaching. Learning does not stop. An extra-ordinary literary genius R.N. Tagore says, “A lamp can never light another lamp unless if continues to burn its own flame; a teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself”.

The teacher has to be engaged in self-study and has to carry on self-learning in order to keep himself/herself of abreast with the latest trends in his/her subjects. This aspect is emphasized in teaching profession which ultimately leads to growth of a teacher while in service.However, in-service training is a path finder for the growth of professionalism of teachers. With all these characteristics, teaching has become a noble profession with the prime motive of rendering multi-furious services to society.

Question No. 3: Explain professional dispositions. Why are these necessary for effective teaching

Professional dispositions:

Professional dispositions include the values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors towards students, families, colleagues, and communities that affect student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator’s own professional growth.

Professional Dispositions in Education:

Serving as a teacher is more than knowing your educational content, systematic planning, and instructing students. Teachers must also demonstrate the professional attitudes and conduct that facilitate student learning and convey a positive image of the education profession. These attitudes and modes of conduct are known as professional dispositions. These are the values, actions, attitudes, and beliefs of educators as they interact with students, families, community members, and professional colleagues. Professional dispositions are a vital element of teacher preparation and are the expected behaviors of all educators.

As students’ progress through their program of study, each is expected to demonstrate their mastery of professional dispositions. In Purdue University’s teacher education program, faculty members identified the following dispositions:

1. Commitment to Students and Their Learning

Candidates a) demonstrate their commitment to student learning, b) promote student self-determination and autonomous functioning, and c) demonstrate high expectations for ALL students. Here, candidates demonstrate their belief (through actions, words) that all students can learn and value the assets and resources that all students bring to a classroom. Candidates attempt to provide services at all levels of student ability they use strategies and supports that facilitate autonomous student functioning, and convey high learning and behavioral expectations for all students.

2. Receive and Act Upon Professional Feedback

Candidates positively accept critical feedback about professional practices, seek to continually improve teaching performance, and demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in the classroom. Candidates demonstrate this through making observations and asking questions about teaching practices, demonstrating knowledge of subject and curriculum and how to access new information, seeking information for making practice decisions, responding professionally to constructive feedback, demonstrating understanding of standards, and evaluating his/her own performance and generating ideas for improvements. Candidates reflect upon their own practices.

3. Demonstrate Professional Practices and Demeanor

This disposition addresses candidate professional appearance, ethical and legal practices, and professional demeanor. Positively scoring candidates in these areas requires that they demonstrate a professional appearance; convey a positive message about their discipline and the teaching profession; engage in professional, legal, and ethical conduct; are dependable, punctual, and well prepared; ensure the safety of their students; and are aware of their digital footprint on social media and take action to ensure that their electronic presence does not lead to questions of their integrity, professionalism, and character.

4. Communicate Effectively and Professionally

Candidates engage in effective and professional communication. They use professional language in all situations ensuring that communications are free from bias and meet the needs of diverse learners. Candidates also effectively and accurately communicate their ideas (oral and written) and engage in active listening.

5. Collaborate with Others in a Positive and Professional Manner

Candidates demonstrate a positive rapport with others, contributes to group efforts, and demonstrate respect for others and their ideas.

6. Demonstrate Cultural Competence in Interactions and Communications

Candidates demonstrate their ability to act and communicate in an effective manner that enhances the educational opportunities for all students and their families, especially those who represent diversity. Their language and actions are free from bias.

Professional dispositions are necessary for effective teaching:

Professional dispositions include the values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors towards students, families, colleagues, and communities that affect student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator’s own professional growth. Dispositions are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility, and social justice. For example, they might include a belief that all students can learn, a vision of high and challenging standards, or a commitment to a safe and supportive learning environment.

The professional dispositions adopted by TLEL complement the College of Community and Public Affair’s Ethics and Integrity Policies and Procedures  by focusing on the expectations for teacher candidates and individuals in advanced preparation programs during field experiences. The faculty members developed the TLEL Professional Dispositions from the standards advanced by New York State and national organizations, as well as content- and specialization areas. Additionally, a number of stakeholder groups gave feedback on the items included, providing a means to confirm their validity as the dispositions expected by teachers, administrators, and teacher educators of novice teachers.

The professional dispositions expected of all teacher candidates include an ability to

1. Demonstrate a commitment to learning and diversity.
2. Build rapport and serve as a strong role model to peers, colleagues and learners.
3. Display effective communication skills (oral and written) in all settings.
4. Demonstrate professional competence and conduct.

All teacher candidates are expected to demonstrate these professional dispositions consistently, especially during course and fieldwork opportunities. To ensure all teacher candidates demonstrate these dispositions, the TLEL faculty members have established mandated checkpoints throughout the preparation program. These checkpoints provide an opportunity to elicit feedback from course instructors, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors on any dispositional concerns. Teacher candidates are also provided with a number of opportunities to self-evaluate how well they these professional dispositions.
Professional dispositions will be assessed by cooperating teachers/placement coordinators (e.g., Liberty Partnership coordinators) and university supervisors in each field experience requirement. Additionally, course instructors will assess professional dispositions informally in courses.

Teacher candidates must receive a final rating of “acceptable” for admission and advancement in teacher education programs. If a teacher candidate receives an “unacceptable” rating in a field experience or from a course instructor, he/she must complete another field experience successfully before advancing in the program and/or before applying for the internship semester.

Question No. 4:Define self-renewal. Explain Gardner’s conceptualization of self-renewal.

Self-renewal:

Self-renewal is the ability to keep going with a heart inspired and eager for the work, whether that work is household cleaning, bricklaying, business building, seeing patients all day long, or writing a book. If grit keeps you going, and resilience picks you up, self- renewal helps you stay energized.

Gardner’s conceptualization of self-renewal:

Looking back I see a California boy finding his way through life, endlessly challenged, surmounting obstacles, falling on his face, always studying, always trying, and always wondering.

John W. Gardner

John W. Gardner was born in Los Angeles, California in1912. He married native Guatemalan Aida Marroquin in 1934. They had two daughters Stephanie and Francesca.

An acclaimed educator and writer, John Gardner received many honours including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

A former Cabinet Secretary, he helped launch Medicare and the Public Broadcasting System. In 1970, he founded Common Cause, a grass-roots nonpartisan group for citizen empowerment.

He joined Stanford University at the age of 77, where he continued to teach into his ninth decade.

When Gardner was in his mid-80s, he was asked to address a group of executives on Renewal. More than 30 years earlier, he had written the seminal book: Self-Renewal: The Individual and the Innovative Society. Now, he outlines the qualities of self-renewing persons. Here are five:

1. Self-renewing persons view life as open-ended.

“Life isn’t a mountain that has a summit. Nor is it, as some people suppose, a riddle that has an answer, nor a game that has a final score,” Gardner says. “Life is an endless unfolding and, if we wish it to be, an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our own potentialities and the life situations in which we find ourselves,” he says.

2. Self-renewing persons make commitments.

“As you get a little older, you’re told you’ve earned the right to think about yourself. But that’s a deadly prescription,” Gardner says.

Self-renewing persons are connected to the world around them. As the world changes they interact with it, and they change too.

You have to build meaning into your life, and you build it through your commitments. Self-renewing persons pace themselves, set priorities, and keep pursuing their best options.

3. They develop a sense of mutual dependence.

Says Gardner: “You come to understand that most people are neither for you nor against you; they are thinking about themselves.”

Self-renewing persons care about their families, communities, and life everywhere. They are interested. They listen and they reach out.
4. They keep learning.

As you grow older, the things you learn are more complex: “You learn not to burn up energy in anxiety…. You learn that self-pity and resentment are among the most toxic of drugs. You find that the world loves talent but pays off on character,” he says.

Self-renewing persons learn from life: their successes, disappointments, failures and mistakes. “We learn by growing older, by suffering, by loving, by taking risks, by bearing with the things we can’t change,” he says.

5. Self-renewing persons are future-oriented.

They believe in the future. By way of example, Gardner offers that Cervantes, Winston Churchill and Pope John XXIII were all tough-minded optimists who made significant contributions past their prime.

“You don’t need to run down like an unwound clock. And if your clock is unwound, you can wind it up again,” Gardner says. Motivation is the key to renewal. “There is no substitute for the lift of spirit and heightened performance that comes from strong motivation,” he says.

Source: “Self-Renewal” by John. W. Gardner, in The Futurist magazine, Dec.1996.

Question No. 5:Describe traits of a professional teacher

Being a good teacher is extremely important, and a good teacher is someone who a student will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. But what really makes a good teacher? There are a lot of things to consider when answering this question. Below we will discuss the top 10 qualities of a good teacher that we believe are most important in quality teaching and really creating that strong student-teacher relationship.

1. Communication Skills

Communication skills are on the top of the list of what makes a good teacher. Effective communication is a critical asset to acquire in both professional and in intimate environments. It is the root of successful and memorable relationships. In teaching, having strong communication skills as a teacher is an essential quality for building teacher-student rapport and creating a trusting environment for the students. Strong communication skills are essential for the objective of teaching itself.

As a teacher, having the ability to constructively express verbal, writing, visual, and body language cues together with the capacity to convert ideas into student understandable structures will deliver knowledge with superior results.

A teacher must be able to communicate the classroom’s curriculum in an effective and organized manner that the students will be able to understand. This way, the students will know precisely what is expected of them, including understanding due dates for specific homework tasks or assignments so that students can deliver the work successfully. If a student does not fully grasp or understand the expectations or directions of a particular task or assignment, it is crucial for the teacher to communicate them to the best of his or her abilities.

2. Listening Skills

Being a good teacher means having your students listen to you and making sure that you listen and give your students the attention they need by answering all of their questions. The value of listening lies behind, allowing you to better understand your students. Aristotle once said that “those who know, do” and “Those you understand, teach.”

The ability to understand your students is one of the keys to being a good teacher and helps you to understand what works and what does not work in terms of teaching for specific students and your student group as a whole. Each student is different and expresses themselves in their own unique way. By asking active questions and carefully listening to what students have to say, a teacher can further improve their communication between themselves and their students. Through strong listening skills, teachers are able to create a stronger, healthier, and higher quality learning environment.

3. Friendly Attitude

Having a friendly attitude is one of the most essential qualities of a good teacher. Expressing a friendly attitude towards your students makes you more approachable. It is more likely to motivate students to want to learn. By being perceived as more approachable, students will feel more comfortable to ask questions. This will, in turn, enhance student-teacher communication and create a more positive learning environment. The best teachers tend to be open, friendly, welcoming, and most importantly, secure in approaching.

Something important that comes with having a friendly attitude as a teacher is trust that can potentially be created within the classroom. When a student views a teacher as friendly, the student is more likely to open up to the teacher, and hence, he or she will be more likely to trust the teacher. A sense of trust will further enhance communication within the learning environment and increase productivity. Students need to feel comfortable in their learning space to perform to the best of their abilities. By having a friendly attitude, you encourage this sense of comfort and trust that can really take your teaching to the very next level. Most importantly, having a friendly attitude can really contribute to making you a memorable teacher, and there is nothing more charming than being able to be that teacher.

People will never forget how you made them feel

4. Patient

Patience is a virtue, and especially in the world of teaching. Being a teacher and handling multiple children at one time is not an easy task and requires a great deal of patience. Different students will display different levels of aptitude when it comes to learning. It is crucial to consider, as this will help students not stay behind and will further the success of the teaching environment.

Remember, you are a role model, and showing a lack of patients will only reflect on the teacher in a negative way, offering the students the teacher’s own personal shortcomings. Another factor to note on patience is that a patient teacher is likely to be more adaptable to different teaching environments.

Different individual students and age groups will express various difficulties when it comes to interacting, communicating, and teaching. By being patient, a teacher will be more willing to understand each of these individual students and overall age groups. Good teaching comes with experience; however, having patience will allow the teacher to learn and better understand what specific tactics work and do not work when it comes to engaging students within the learning process.

5. Strong Work Ethic

Having a strong work ethic is an essential quality in our list of qualities of a good teacher. A good teacher never quits, and especially not on his or her students. Having a strong ethic will always reflect on your students and the delivery of their work. As a role model, having a strong work ethic will help your students develop a strong work ethic and are an especially crucial component in our list of qualities of a good teacher. With a good work ethic comes professionalism, responsibility, and preparation. To express a strong work ethic, you have to take responsibility for several things, including your students’ possible misbehavior within classroom settings.

Unfortunately, not all students will have the same attention span or the same level of discipline concerning their attitudes and behaviors. Teachers have to be patient and remember that this is an inevitable part of teaching. By having a strong work ethic, teachers can more effectively become aware of what works and do not work in their specific teaching environment, pertaining to the students. If something does not seem to be working, teachers must try their best to find a solution that works for the objective of teaching itself.

We have engaged with many recruiters of the school. The recruiters observe subtle behaviors to determine whether a person is the right teacher job candidate and suitable for the job. The actions and expressions during the job interviews reveal the work ethic and attitude. This includes frequently drinking, continually checking the phone, leaning forward too closely or stepping too far away from the webcam, yawning, or other distracting behaviors.

Additionally, it is crucial to be punctual and attend both an interview and a virtual class on time. We recommend that teachers enter the classroom setting at least five minutes prior to starting the lesson. This gives teachers the necessary time to test their equipment and warm up with students who join the classroom setting early. This also means that teachers are expected to end the class when it ends, and not earlier. Teachers are also required to have no absences. Make sure to watch out for the time zone differences and keep in mind that students are coming from all over the world. Some do not have daylight savings like China, which has only one standard time zone even it technically lay across 4 time zones.

6. Organizational Skills

Teachers must be good organizers. Being organized plays an essential role in being a good teacher and is a paramount quality of a good teacher. Without organizational skills, a teacher could really lose grasp of deadlines, expectations, and tasks. Most teachers tend to take notes after their class is completed, with critical points to keep in mind for their next class. This way, a teacher can easily prepare the necessary material for the next lesson and know exactly where they left off.

A poor organization could potentially lead to educational waste and a waste of time. Being an organized teacher means that a teacher knows exactly where his or her students stand and that they are ready to begin the class with lessons that are effective in enhancing student learning. This way, teachers can better inform students of what is expected of them.

7. Preparation

Preparation is a crucial characteristic of what makes an outstanding teacher. Preparation goes hand in hand with the organization. It is important for teachers to prepare for their classes beforehand, by reviewing all of the class material that he or she will be presenting.

Teachers can do this 6-12 hours in advance, prior to their class. Preparation gives teachers the time to effectively set clear and realistic expectations. This way, teachers can communicate these expectations to their students in a more constructive manner. It is also important to get prepared and have all the necessary setups ready for the online teaching environment, like setting up the lighting, droplet background, whiteboard, etc.

Online classroom setups for teaching English to children Behind the scenes virtual classroom

8. Discipline Skills

To answer what makes a good teacher, one has to really take discipline into mind. A teacher who has strong discipline skills will effectively promote positive behaviors within the classroom. Maintaining classroom discipline is vital for creating a positive learning environment, which supports learning. Teachers can do this by expressing and maintaining a list of classroom learning standards.

9. Student Friendly Teaching Environment

Having a student-friendly teaching environment in your classes is truly a must. As a teacher, you are your students’ role model; thus, you will want to set the best example possible. This means that teachers should not bring their personal issues and negative emotions to the class. Going against this disrupts the classroom system and setting, also cause serious harm to the students’ well-being, especially for younger children, both physically and psychologically.

Teachers are expected to wear proper professional teaching attire appropriate for teaching environments, especially for particular age groups or toward more conservative cultures. It is important to keep in mind that a teacher reflects the organization that he or she is working with and for.

10. Respectful Attitude

Respect is everything, in every field of work and, most importantly, in life. Teachers cannot threaten, mock, insult, or tease children in any shape or form. Doing so is bullying and is disrespecting not only the student but yourself and the classroom. It is essential to be respectful to each and every student, as well as the teaching environment as a whole. Showing any form of disrespect is not only damaging to a child’s psychology but can also danger your job and reputation; teachers who treat their students with disrespect could become blacklisted.

Apart from respect concerning students and the teaching environment, it is critical to show respect to the company you are working for by not speaking at the company’s disposal. Famous sayings claim that respect is something that is earned rather than given. If you are a respectful teacher, you will most likely be treated with respect from your company, co-workers, and, most importantly, your students. It is essential to treat your students with the same respect you expect them to treat you with.Don’t forget that, after all, you really are a role model for your students.