Identifying the best qualities for high school teachers

Looking across a sea of faces of high school teacher trainees filling our small auditorium at San Francisco State University during orientation to the program, I used to say before my retirement that I hoped each of them loved adolescents and that if they didn't, they probably shouldn't be there.

This was advice that, in the long run, would be helpful to them and to the many students they'd potentially be teaching.

For high school teachers, liking and caring about adolescents is a must. You can't reach and motivate students if you don't know and care about who they are. They will read that quickly. Any candidate who shares the attitude of some parents, “I dread my kids becoming adolescents,” shouldn't teach high school.

It's conventional wisdom that hiring excellent teachers is one of the most important challenges of every school. Here's my description of each of the other qualities that mark good high school teachers. I base this on my experience as a high school teacher and a teacher educator, and on the literature researching the qualities of good teachers.

It's a given that subject-matter competency should be a priority on the list. With that competency, teachers can then address the challenges of motivation, teaching methods and classroom management. Without it, a teacher will not have adequate time for the important fine points of teaching.

Next on my list is resilience and flexibility. Every class is different. Every new group of students is different. Leaning on the expectation that students should adapt to the teacher is a mistake. The best teachers can both read students and adapt to them.

I did a research study of classroom environments as perceived by students. I interviewed the teacher whose students rated highest and asked him what his secret was. His answer was simple: “I just adapted to them. They'd been together for three years and brought their environment with them.” That approach is simple and perfect.

Motivating students is the critical first directive for instruction. Without motivation, boredom trumps learning. An entertaining short lecture can be effective, but a lecture-dominated classroom will likely lose student attention. Today's adolescents are accustomed to fast moving video images. If I observed a qualified candidate using emotionally engaging techniques to start each lesson (what I call “grabbers” or “wake-up exercises”), I'd select that candidate.

Good teachers grab the attention of students and then hold it.

They can instill love of the subject and of learning.

A teacher with a sense of humor will help create a more enjoyable class. This means being able to laugh at oneself and laugh at absurd situations in the class, often in concert with student laughter.

There is no contradiction between being serious about learning and having a classroom that is relaxed and fun.

Teachers must also have a handle on classroom management, a subject that has prompted numerous books and workshops.

First, there are fewer discipline problems in classes where students love being there. Then, good discipline features setting limits and showing care. It also requires never personalizing student actions.

As an example, I watched a student yelling “you really are stupid” at a teacher. A typical response might be punitive or defensive. This teacher said “You know, sometimes my wife says that to me. So let's talk when you have the time and you can explain to me why you think that.” It prompted laughter, not anger. That's perfect.

Of course, good classroom management is more complex than that. But teachers who exhibit each of these behaviors are far more likely to avoid major discipline problems.

This list is not all-inclusive and you may have ones you'd add, but administrators and others involved in hiring should at least key in all of these as they assess teaching position applicants.

And parents should keep all of these in mind as they listen to their teens' stories about their teachers.