The Making of a School Teacher

There is today much hypothesizing about how to train teachers.   In my three decades in the classroom, I have supervised student teachers from a variety of universities.   I am certain that the qualities, which enable this career, at least in part are found in erudition, skill and emotional discern­ment.   Regardless of how teacher education is rendered, a truly successful educator answers in the affirmative the following questions, questions more easily asked than answered.

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          1) Does the teacher have a scholarly understanding of the field?

2) Can the teacher adequately plan, and capably deliver, a lesson?

3) Has the instructor mastered the skills of respectfully, but firmly, ordering a class and disciplining an individual?

4) Can this instructor find appropriate means to comfort him or herself during times of great anxiety?

5) Does the teacher love the students?

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Filed under: Prose, Publius