Qualities of a Good Teacher
From LiteracyTentWiki
Subject: [PD 4614] Teacher quality & characteristics of effective teaching
From: Jackie A. Taylor jackie at jataylor.net
Date: Tue May 18 10:24:05 EDT 2010
All,
So far I'm hearing that while the fluency of the English teacher is very
important, who decides the fluency standards and what those standards are is
just as important. For example, some have questioned whether it is
appropriate for this sort of thing to be legislated. Others say they are
more comfortable when it is a local, hiring decision only.
I think we agree, generally speaking, that the fluency of an English teacher
is an important characteristic of teaching and learning English. Does anyone
disagree?
What are other characteristics of an effective teacher?
The reason I ask is because at the COABE/ProLiteracy Conference, Assistant
Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier delivered a keynote address and outlined the
five priorities of the Administration for WIA Reauthorization. (The
Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title II, provides for federally-funded
adult education programs and needs to be reauthorized.) Among the
Administration's five priorities is teacher quality.
So -- Who defines teacher quality in adult education? What makes an
effective adult educator? Do we leave it up to the federal government to
mandate? To state directors and staff to define? Or do we begin by defining
it for ourselves?
I welcome your thoughts.
Jackie Taylor
jackie @ jataylor.net
Subject: [PD 4632] How would you like to learn a language?
From: Thompson, Duren J duren.thompson at utk.edu
Date: Wed May 19 12:36:11 EDT 2010
Steve,
Interestingly enough, when asked if I would prefer to be taught a
language by a native or non-native speaker, I had a very strong
gut-level response:
"I'd like to be taught be a GOOD one."
Native - non-native does not matter to me. What I want is a competent,
knowledgeable, compassionate language instructor who has a grip on what
it is like to learn a new language. In particular, I want one who
understands the common "challenges" between the two languages,
anticipates those challenges, and plans instruction to assist you to
overcome them. If they have an accent, but I understand them, and others
from the country can understand me - who cares? (Thinking about China
and Poland, I might even *prefer* a non-native speaker, as they will
know exactly what my feelings of displacement and confusion are like,
and I might feel less an outsider!)
Every foreign language instructor I have had (total of 5, I think,
Spanish - 2, Italian - 2, and French-1), was a non-native speaker, but
had spent time traveling and learning in countries that spoke that
language. I feel I was lucky - they were all good solid instructors,
and I enjoyed learning with them.
When I got to an actual foreign country to try out my language skills
(Chile), I had a strong enough base to communicate, and function in the
community. Based on my experiences with the K-12 school system there, I
had Spanish sufficient to cope easily with 'sixth grade' studies, but
not with '10th grade' Chemistry - which seemed reasonable to me as I had
had only 5 years of High School Spanish at that point (compared to a
native's 11 or 16 years learning their language). Contrasting that to my
experiences in Norway with a phrasebook and a pleading look, I think my
"non-native" instructors did fine.
I'm afraid I am of the opinion that the job of any K-12 (or adult
literacy) language instructor is NOT to create perfectly accented
speakers of another language. It is to teach the structure and form of
the language sufficient for the student's purpose - which is usually to
conduct fairly routine communication (oral and or written) in the other
language. Rarely do these language instructors need to get folks to the
point of "perfect accent" or even perfect structure - that is for
college level (or commercial) programs - where classes from a Native
speaker may really begin to matter.
So, if what I want is a GOOD teacher, let us return to Jackie's earlier
question: How do you determine who is a "Good teacher"? Who should be
doing this determination? Who should draft the criteria?
Duren Thompson
Center for Literacy Studies - Celebrating 20 years of support for
life-long learning!
University of Tennessee
www.cls.utk.edu
Subject: [PD 4642] Qualities of a Good teacher
From: Thompson, Duren J duren.thompson at utk.edu
Date: Thu May 20 10:49:39 EDT 2010
Steve & Sandy,
Reviewing these last two digests, it looks like we have the beginnings
of some responses to Jackie's question -
So what I hear us saying is:
1) Local school systems, students, & family members/parents should
be the designers/implementers of any teacher quality policies. (Steve)
2) One important quality of a good teacher is the ability to
inspire/excite/motivate learners. (I think this is measureable by
looking at retention rate, level gain, and outcomes per teacher, also
via satisfaction surveys per teacher) (Steve)
3) ESOL teachers should have a good command of the English language
(not necessarily unaccented, but understandable and 'correct by current
standards' English - I think we can measure that...). Sandy
4) Teachers should be 'professionally competent' (Sandy - could you
break this one down for us? List of skills/qualities you think are
encompassed in that?)
5) Good (AE) teachers should be compassionate, and aware of the
kinds of emotional struggles adult learners usually face. (Duren/Me -
hmmm, not sure how you measure this...retention again? Student surveys?)
6) Good Teachers are knowledgeable regarding common pitfalls in the
topic(s) they teach, anticipate those pitfalls, and plan instruction to
address those common challenges. (Duren/Me - measured by review of
lesson plans? Level gains again? Student surveys?)
7) Good teachers plan instruction around clear and realistic goals
for their students that are based on the *student's* own goals/needs.
(Duren/Me - again, student surveys? Examination of lesson plans to
student goals? Ick...not an easy one to directly measure, I think...)
Can we build on this?
Duren
Center for Literacy Studies - Celebrating 20 years of support for
life-long learning!
University of Tennessee
www.cls.utk.edu
Subject: [PD 4643] Re: Qualities of a Good teacher
From: Steve Kaufmann steve at thelinguist.com
Date: Thu May 20 12:48:19 EDT 2010
Lots of good points here Duren.
I think it depends on the situation. In general I am guided by these wise
words from Mary Ann Lyman-Hager, Director of the San Diego State University
Language Acquisition Research Center.
"Language learning success depends 1) on the attitude of the learner, 2) the
time spent with the language and 3) noticing what happens in the language".
Ideally with high school learners and adults, an outstanding teacher, can
1) motivate the learners, inspire them to enter another culture, and give
them confidence to believe they can do it.
2) induce them to spend a lot of time on the language, away from class, and
direct them to useful and interesting resources (books, audio, videos,
places to meet people etc.)
3) show learners how to notice what is happening in the language, so they
will notice their own mistakes, and notice while reading and listening.
In the case of elementary school learners, who are unlikely to be exposed to
the language outside of the classroom, especially in places like Arizona
where 45% of first grade learners are not native speakers of English, and
therefore many classrooms will be almost entirely non-native speakers, the
role of the teacher as a representative of the target culture, can be
decisive, and a native speaker will usually be more effective.
Steve
