Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in BaiyintAlA Sumu? Are you interested in teaching English in Tongliao Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
Being an English teacher comes with the responsibility of passing down the correct language knowledge to the student. While this is a fact, we must consider that above all both the teacher and the student are humans, meaning individuality, therefore many teachers need to take different approaches to their teaching styles in order to be able to provide the best possible lesson for their students. But since every student has different learning speeds, different experiences and different perceptions in general, what personal qualities are important for an English teacher to have, to be able to teach if not everyone, the majority of people? As mentioned above the teacher must be able to adapt to the needs of the student. What the student wants to learn, how can they learn it efficiently, what motivates them and why they are learning the subject are some of the things the teacher must learn. Adaptability, as crucial as it is, is but a "tree" in the "forest" of a good communicator. If the teacher is a good communicator, verbal and nonverbal, they can convey and receive knowledge with better results. No matter how knowledgable a teacher is if they cannot make the student understand then that makes the knowledge itself useless. Knowing when a student didn't understand the task given and knowing how to explain, if not demonstrate the task, are some of the signs that show us that the teacher has good communication skills. The listening skills of the teacher are also a big part of their communication skills. Listening to the student and asking the right questions can greatly improve what the student understands and can help the teacher better understand what the student lacks or needs, leading to a better lesson overall. Another very important personal quality a teacher must have is patience. Impatience from the side of the teacher can misguide the understanding of the student on the subject, and in the case of the student not being able to express that misunderstanding can lead to a very bad lesson for the student. Being patient, gentle and kind will not only provide correct guidance for the student but it will also motivate them to keep studying and maybe even lead to a deeper teacher-student connection with them, thus decreasing the communication problems. By being friendly towards the student and passionate about teaching the teacher also becomes a role model in the eyes of the student. As stated by Martin Luther King, Jr. "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." And how else to reach that goal if the teachers don't have the character and morals they have to teach. Many great teachers may have even more amazing qualities like organizing and preparation skills, a good sense of humor, leadership, classroom management and so much more, but I believe that the most fundamental personal qualities a teacher must have are to be a good communicator, knowledgable, able to adapt to the needs of the student, a good listener, friendly and passionate about his job, and to be patient and gentle with the student.
