The Power of an Effective Teacher

The impact of teacher effectiveness

Studies conducted at the University of Tennessee on the importance of teachers and learning, found there was a 52% difference between students who had high-performing teachers and those who had low-performing teachers. Students in grade 3, who were provided with high-performing teachers, accomplished a 96% average by the time they reached the 5^th grade. In comparison, students in the 3^rd grade who were provided with low-performing teachers acquired a 44% average in the 5^th grade.

Teachers are one of the primary exemplars in a child’s development. By advancing the effectiveness of teachers, parents will notice a marked improvement in their child’s capabilities; otherwise a sense of failure and hopelessness for both parent and child could possibly prevail.

Research conducted in Dallas shows a noticeable effect of low-performing teachers encourage a situation in which “lower-achieving students are more likely to be put with lower effectiveness teachers…” thus inhibiting any possibility of the child improving their chances of a quality education.

What are the defining elements of an effective teacher? 

A genuine passion, intense interest and care for each pupil are imperative attributes each teacher should possess, as it is important to understand that every child, in their own right, is an individual.

“This is the value of the teacher, who looks at a face and says there’s something behind that and I want to reach that person, I want to influence that person, I want to encourage that person, I want to enrich, I want to call out that person who is behind that face, behind that color, behind that language, behind that tradition, behind that culture. I believe you can do it. I know what was done for me.” —Maya Angelou

Effective teachers are commonly those who encompass the following:

• Trained in teacher preparation and hold a certificate that states they are accredited within a particular field.
• Minimum of 3 years experience.
• Ensure quality time is spent on instructional preparation and reflection.
• Lessons should be organised in advance and a strong implementation of classroom management is imperative.
• Learning strategies, activities and assignments should constantly be revised and adjusted in order to hold the attention and interest of all students.
• Content should be presented to the pupils in such a way they will be able to relate and therefore, cultivate understanding.
• Informative feedback must be provided to parents on a regular basis.
• Extra time and explanation must be provided for those pupils who require it.
• Student’s progression must be monitored by current and past assessments.
• Constant encouragement, unlimited patience and understanding.

How to cultivate effective teachers

Feedback on teaching methods and the preferential teaching processes chosen, produce the most impartial results. It should be a prerequisite for each educational institution to endorse teacher evaluation programs that furnish the school and parents with the effectiveness of the methods chosen by their child’s teacher. In this way, teachers will be held accountable and will be required to perhaps re-evaluate their methods and invest further interest in their pupils. This feedback can be generated in numerous ways, one-of-which is frequent and unscheduled classroom observations.

Without feedback and accountability, our educational institutions will fail to produce influential youth, who in return, infiltrate all social and business sectors.

It is a crippling issue, but with the correct measures taken to provide feedback, the situation could drastically be improved.