What It Means to Be an Effective Teacher?

What it means to be an effective teacher

Introduction

"Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life." That was the view of the characters Thomas Gradgrind and Mr M'Choakumchild, created by Charles Dickens in his novel Hard Times, a novel which satirises school teachers who teach "nothing but facts" and regards students as "little vessels ... ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim." Reciting facts for students to absorb is undoubtedly an easy method of teaching, but is it effective?

This essay attempts to answer the question of what it means to be an effective teacher by examining in more detail five areas that, when implemented effectively, can help to produce a productive learning environment that will enable effective teaching to take place - classroom organisation; student diversity; managing student behaviour; planning for instruction; and student motivation.

The effective teacher

A productive learning environment is a classroom that is orderly and is focused on learning (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010). According to Lyons, Ford, & Arthur-Kelly (2011), students feel more motivated to learn when they feel accepted as part of the school community, feel physically and emotionally safe, and feel that their needs are being met by teachers and other students. In order to create such an environment, the classroom needs to be well managed and organised. Effective organisation of the physical classroom is of fundamental importance according to Arthur-Kelly, Lyons, Butterfield, & Gordon (2006) and an effective teacher should have input into the layout of the workspaces to ensure that they have visual contact with students from anywhere in the classroom. This point is reinforced by Reynolds (cited by Freeman, p273) who noted that "competent teachers should also determine the most appropriate social arrangements for the students and lesson".

Along with the physical layout of the workspace, a teacher's personal traits such as positivity; friendliness; compassion; respect; ability to listen; possessing good communication skills; and a willingness to help are integral to developing a productive learning environment by helping to establish a positive 'climate' or 'feeling' within the room (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010). Indeed, Walker (2008) conducted studies that show that the personal (qualitative) qualities of a teacher have a greater impact on students than their academic (quantitative) qualities as it helps to build a personal relationship with the students.

In addition to creating a positive climate within the classroom, it is fundamental to effective classroom organisation to establish a set of rules and routines to ensure safety, order and predictable consequences for behaviour (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010). Whilst rules detail acceptable standards of behaviour, routines give students guidelines for completing recurring tasks such as going to the toilet or transitioning from one activity to another. Research has also shown that an effective teacher will involve students in setting up the rules and routines, making students feel more accountable for maintaining them (Lewis as cited by Marsh, 2008). This also complements the idea that an authoritative approach to teaching tends to be more effective than an authoritarian or permissive approach, as documented by Whitton, Barker, Nosworthy, Sinclair & Nanlohy (2010). Effective authoritative teachers provide students with a model of competence and recognise that their students need to feel autonomous and have an ability to adhere to expectations, rather than simply following instructions (Whitton et al., 2010).

In order to implement and display any of the above, an effective teacher has to be well organised so that instruction can start on time, transitions from one activity to another are quick and smooth and the required materials are available, which maximises available instructional time (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010). To understand what type of instruction will most benefit the students, an effective teacher needs to have a good understanding of the student's background, knowledge and abilities.

In the 19th century, students with special needs were termed handicapped and were sent to speciality schools that were deemed more able to cope with their alternative requirements (Foreman, 2007). In today's classroom, however, teachers are facing a diverse range of backgrounds and abilities and an effective teacher is expected to be able to accommodate all of their differences under the term inclusion. Eggen & Kauchak (2010) define inclusion as "a comprehensive approach to educating students with exceptionalities that advocates a total, systematic and co-ordinated web of services". Student's exceptionalities can have a diverse range from sight/hearing impairments; mental health illnesses and medical conditions through to injury related impairments, intellectual challenges (which includes gifted and talented children) and sensory impairments (Foreman, 2007).

In addition to these physical and mental impairments, a student's ability to grasp a concept may be influenced by such things as their ethnic background, gender, socio-economic status, and style of learning (Whitton et al., 2010). Whilst accommodating all of these special needs could be seen as a challenge, for an effective teacher, it should also be viewed as an opportunity. Having students with differing needs encourages teachers to vary their style of instruction because, as Brophy (2004) points out, different students prefer differing instructional strategies.

However, in order to deliver an effective lesson, a considerable amount of prior planning is needed (Whitton et al., 2010). Initially, a teacher needs to decide what is important to learn (Anderson & Krathwohl as cited by Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.390) and, in order to do this the teacher must have a good understanding of their student's current knowledge of the topic and their abilities (Whitton et al., 2010). If, as suggested in paragraph four, the teacher has taken the time to get to know each of their students, this knowledge will be to hand when it comes to planning the lesson.

Furthermore, as part of the overall lesson plan, an effective teacher will specify the objectives that are to be achieved, that is, what students should have learnt or be able to do with the information taught (Whitton et al., 2010). This ensures that the teacher can design their learning activities effectively, stay on-topic and control