A Good Teacher Should Be Ready to Learn Also from the Pupils
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PhD
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Tallinna Ülikooli doktorant
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Helsingi Ülikooli doktorant
The new role of teachers in the rapidly changing times and learning environments led the authors to the idea of studying students’ opinions (n=972) on how they perceive relationships and teachers’ professionalism in everyday school practice.
The students were asked to write essays on the theme “What makes a good teacher” and to describe the positive characteristics of teachers able to create supportive learning environments. The research was based on hermeneutical analysis of the collected texts using three criteria: teacher as a person, teacher as a professional and teacher as an ethical individual. The students’ opinions about teachers’ personal characteristics and professional capabilities deserve attention as they clearly reflect expectations of the most meaningful target group the teachers work for. Hopefully such information will provide food for teachers’ deeper self-analysis for their individual aspirations towards educational excellence, but also for updating teacher training curricula at colleges and universities in order to meet the ever growing demand for flexibility and higher level professional skills of educationists. The collected material enables further treatments, but primarily highlights the characteristics of good teachers. They are expected to be emphatic and ethical intellectuals with a wide range of knowledge and professional skills, especially in the field they are specialized in.