80 Best Qualities of a good teacher; Become a Better Teacher

There are effective qualities of a good teacher as one who impacts knowledge on students which you should know.

Teachers set the students up in situations that enable them to learn effectively and grasp what is being taught.

Teaching is a very important profession because it is through teachers the foundations of the future of students are laid. This is the very reason not everyone can become a teacher.

As a teacher, there are qualities expected of you to exhibit. This article is aimed at listing a few of these qualities.

list of qualities of a good teacher

  • A good teacher has good communication skills

  • A good teacher sets high expectations

  • Promoting a love for learning

  • A good teacher possesses Interpersonal communication skills

  • Self-reflection

  • A good teacher manages the classroom effectively

  • Self-preparation

  • Creates a student-centered learning environment

  • Keeps lessons current

  • A good teacher reacts to changes in performance 

  • Acting as a role model

  • Preparation

  • A good teacher is creative

  • Understands the strengths and weaknesses of students

  • A good teacher instills confidence

  • A good teacher makes learning goal-oriented

  • A good teacher Instill a growth mindset

  • A good teacher reassures students verbally

  • A good teacher uses teaching strategies

  • A good teacher is fair-minded

  • A good teacher can be humorous

  • A good teacher is consistent

  • A good teacher is reliable

  • A good teacher possesses organizational skills

  • A good teacher has dignity

  • A good teacher must possess empathy

  • A good teacher is passionate

  • Punctuality is one of the qualities of a good teacher

  • A good teacher never stops learning

  • A nurturing teacher promotes a healthy classroom
  • Acts with integrity

  • Brings a wide range of skills and talents to teaching

  • Builds links at national and international levels in education

  • Committed to professional development in education

  • Committed to the work

  • Communicates effectively with others

  • Contributes to course design and structure

  • Contributes to publications on education

  • Creates a climate of trust

  • Demonstrates creativity in teaching strategies

  • Demonstrates leadership in teaching

  • Discusses ideas in an organized way

  • Does not stereotype or speak negatively of others

  • Emphasizes teamwork

  • Encourages an open and trusting learning environment

  • Encourages and appreciates diversity

  • Encourages collaborative learning

  • Encourages creative work

  • Encourages input from others, listening deeply and giving credit for their contributions

  • Encourages student growth with appropriate behavior-based feedback

  • Encourages student questions and engagement in the learning process

  • Encourages students to achieve their goals

  • Encourages students to learn from mistakes

  • Encourages students to organize, analyze and evaluate

  • Encourages students to work in teams

  • Enthusiastic about work and about teaching

  • Evidence of self-development in an educational context

  • Explores with probing questions

  • Focuses on the educational needs of the students.

  • Fosters critical thinking

  • Fosters innovation and new approaches

  • Helps and supports people to grow

  • Helps students redefine failure as a learning experience

  • Helps students to focus on key issues

  • Interacts and communicates respect

  • Keeps up to date in specialty

  • Listens to students and discovers their educational needs

  • Monitors the progress of students and fosters their success

  • Motivates students and co-workers

  • Motivates students to create new ideas.

  • Nurtures and encourages diversity

  • Presents difficult concepts comprehensible

  • Brings appropriate evidence to the critiqueTeaches memorably

  • Provides a model of high ethical standards

  • Provides constructive feedback

  • Provides positive feedback

  • Work-life balance

  • Seeks continually to improve teaching skills

  • Seeks feedback and criticism

  • Seeks to learn and incorporate new skills, and information teaching

  • Shows a caring attitude

  • Trains students in strategic thinking

  • Seeks and encourages understanding of, and respect for, people of diverse backgrounds

  • Trains students in strategic thinking

  • Teaches students how to monitor their own progress

  • Teaches students how to think, not what to think

  • Teaching is clearly presented and stimulates high-order thinking skills

  • Values students, never belittle

  • Works with passion

  • Keen to uphold the university’s values

  • You can mention more qualities of a great teacher in the comment section

Good communication skills

Having good communication skills is one of the top qualities of a good teacher. To be a good teacher, you must have good communication skills.

As a teacher who is bound to use verbal and nonverbal communication skills to identify with students, you should know when to listen and when to talk.

Also as a teacher who communicates orally to students in the classroom, it is important to improve your communication skills because poor communication skills on your part could not only be embarrassing but may cause misunderstanding which could lead to the failure of your students.


Promoting a love for learning

Promoting your students’ love for learning is one of the top qualities of a good teacher and it has been proven that students love of learning tends to increase when they are given opportunities to voice out their own ideas, ask questions about what they don’t understand ( and get deserving answers ), and seek more information to improve their understanding.

As a teacher who wants to promote the love for learning in your students, you should know how to be encouraging to your students and applaud them when they get a question right or do an assignment right.


Self-reflection

Another quality that makes a good teacher is the continual process of self-reflection and self-improvement.

Self-reflection is very important in maintaining the relevance of your teachings to your students, it encourages innovation and helps keep you up to date with new teaching practices and strategies that would help in your own improvement.

Aiding professional development, creating a student-centered learning environment, encouraging honesty, increasing confidence, and keeping lessons current are all benefits of self-reflection as a teacher.

If you are actively engaging in self-reflection, it is possible to pass this process on to your students, thereby encouraging them to become more reflective learners too.

Self-reflection is an invaluable, transferrable life skill to take with them when they leave the confines of the classroom.


Self-preparation

As a teacher, it is important that your prepare mentally. This is because your daily success in the classroom depends on your organization and planning, as well as understanding the professional expectations that will foster your readiness and successful teaching results.

On self-preparation, you can obtain instructional materials and books ahead of time for early previews of content expectations.

Creates a student-centered learning environment

In this current era, many classrooms are moving from a teacher-centered learning environment to a student-centered learning environment.

As a teacher, it is important to be reflective and you must learn to adapt your teaching to suit your students, and that shows that you are putting your student’s best interests first.

Keeps lessons current

Reflecting is an important part of keeping your teaching relevant to your students. This helps improve their focus and learning.

Keeping your lessons current encourages you to be innovative and keep up to date with new practices, as well as strategies that can help you tackle the areas that you feel you need to improve on.

As a teacher, getting stuck in your way is easy if you are teaching similar content year on year.

However, there is always a new spin to be considered though, and this may help you as a teacher to resonate better with your students.

Self-reflection will help you find and implement your new ideas in the most effective ways.


Adaptability and flexibility

A core tenet of teaching is adaptability, classrooms demand strong planning and strong flexibility in order to meet the varying short- and long-term needs of all students.

Adaptation and flexibility have always been the cornerstone of teaching.

As each change is implemented, they build on previous alterations such that teachers are required to respond iteratively to compounding contexts.


Acting as a role model

Teachers are role models. What do you think of the type of teacher you would like to be, and who comes to your mind? The maths teacher that helped you conquer fractions? The English teacher who wrote great comments on your stories? The teacher who helped you discover new sports?

So you see, teachers are one of the most influential and life-changing role models.

They follow students through each pivotal stage of development, making them one of the most influential people in students’ lives.

What are your thoughts about these effective qualities of a good teacher?

In Conclusion

The qualities listed above might be ones that you have heard before. Strive to always work on them in your classrooms day in and day out.

Challenge yourself to be a better teacher every single day and then watch yourself tell your success stories.

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