5 Qualities of a Good Educator
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5 Qualities of a Good Educator
Louis A. Villanueva
Department of Education, Greenville University
EDUC.532OLB1
Dr. Vanda Underwood
August 20, 2021
5 Qualities of a Good Educator
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5 Qualities Of A Good Educator
Creating a positive environment for students is above all the most important attribute that every
educator should strive to utilize. There is a certain amount of responsibility that teachers must
adhere to, responsibilities that stretch far beyond the classroom and the paperwork. There is an
emotional and empathetic duty that educators need to cling to in order to help our students grow
as learners and as human beings. This paper will characterize the 5 characteristics that an
educator must possess in order to be considered a great educator. Empathy, communication
skills, inclusivity, knowledge of technology and of conflict resolution are the 5 characteristics
that each educator should at least try to acquire in their professional journeys. With these tools,
any teacher can give any student the feeling of a comfortable learning environment where they
can grow and succeed as students in our modern education system. As all of these qualities are of
great importance, this paper will categorize these qualities in order from greatest of importance
to least.
Empathy
Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler states “Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening
with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.” Everyday, teachers come across
children that have led or are leading different lives than themselves. Teachers should have the
ability to recognize the differences within their students but also treat them with respect, empathy
and remain objective in how they treat their students. The authors describe this as “feeling with,”
wherein one does not feel for or act on behalf of an individual; rather, one is with the individual
in a nonjudgmental fashion. This type of empathy has also been referred to as altruism.
(McAllister & Irvine, 2002) Giving the student the opportunity to feel accepted, even in times
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where they may have done something wrong, teaches empathy. These actions can also create a
more solid bond between the student and the teacher.
Some research suggests that employees with an awareness of Emotional Intelligence will
perform better at their jobs. In the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Ernest O’Boyle, Jr. states
“Recent research highlights the importance of Emotional Intelligence as a predictor in important
domains such as academic performance, job performance, negotiation, leadership, emotional
labor, trust, work-family conflict and stress”. (O’Boyle, 2011, p. 789) Emotional intelligence and
altruism can all be factored in with empathy as necessary qualities of a good educator.
Communication
Communication skills should be recognized as an important characteristic of an educator.
Knowing your audience is a big step to understand how to approach a situation. Maybe
sometimes punishing tones of voice, anger or penalizing techniques are not the route a teacher
should take. There is a counterproductive role that power and punishment currently play in
schools, this treatise challenges educators to inspire cooperation without using demands,
strengthening student interest and classroom community from within.
If we ask two questions of ourselves, we will see that punishment never works. 1)
What do we want the other person to do? 2) What do we want the other person’s
reasons to be for doing as we request? Now for most people raised in our culture,
they can’t imagine what a world would look like without punishment...It’s a hard
concept to let go of until you really get clear about those two questions. If you
don’t get clear about those two questions, you can often end up thinking
punishment works when it really doesn’t. (Rosenburg, 2004, p. 12-14)
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There is not any lesson learned if the only reason for doing something is out of fear of
punishment instead of inherent practicality of doing the act in the first place. Emotional support
through communication is also important for the teacher and student relationship. There is a
feeling of improved mental health when communication between two people is designed to help
instead of criticize.
It seems obvious that the formation of personal, supportive teacher–student
relationships inherently demands emotional involvement from teachers. For
students, it is evident that the effective quality of the teacher–student relationship
is an important factor in their school engagement, wellbeing, and academic
success. (Split, Kooman & Thijs, 2011)
A good educator can open up the highways of communication with students and colleagues alike
and increase the level of engagement and comfortability within the culture of their classroom.
Inclusivity
In order to create an authentic cultural dialogue in the high school setting, parents need to
accept that children’s books do not always give an accurate representation of each culture. It is
the duty of the educator to recognize and counter this issue within their classrooms. This
awareness of inclusivity must be a part of the list of qualities for a good educator because
denying the struggle of inclusivity is denying the emotions of one hundred percent of your
student body. “Children’s literature is profoundly influential in the lives of students and is
widespread throughout schools, libraries, and homes. However, the field of children’s literature
lacks diversity across several domains, particularly race, gender, and ability. Educators must be
knowledgeable on how to use diverse children’s literature as a tool to teach about diversity, as
they strive to foster inclusive classroom environments.” (Leahy & Foley, 2018) According to the
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book Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents, the author has based the concept of
multicultural education on the premise that people from culturally different backgrounds enrich
the United States and that a better understanding of people and their differences leads to higher
levels of acceptance and respect for all people. (Manning, 2017) At the end of the day,
inclusivity perpetuates respect amongst all individuals. This is a concept that educators need to
address early on in a child’s career as a student.
Knowledge of Technology
Technology is important in the classrooms for many reasons. In particular, it supplements lessons
with more material for a healthier understanding of the content. It also prepares students for their
futures in the job market as well as builds self esteem in the classroom. In the Journal of
Marketing Education, the author states that students have a tendency to be more open and
confident when engaging online or through mobile technology. Teachers that can utilize the use
of technology, either with a computer or mobile devices, will tend to have students that are more
capable of opening up to rhetoric and lessons. (Florenthal, 2019) In a world where technology
sits at the forefront of all or even most money making positions, students should begin as
children to understand the dynamic and strategy that technology can offer.
The educator should have all of the potential abilities to transcend this knowledge
in the classroom and to their students. (a) strong school support, (b) robust
technology infrastructure, (c) sustained professional development opportunities,
(d) positive teacher attitude toward technology, and (e) ample personal use of
technology. We theorize that these five conditions allow teachers to create
sustainable digital ecosystems that will support technology integration into the
gifted education classroom. (Besnoy, Dantzler & Siders, 2012)
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This is an opportunity for the teacher to give his students the “real world” skills and tools that
exist outside of their regular content.
Conflict Resolution
According to David Johnson and Roger Johnson, if an educator can focus on confuciun
philosophy of meditation and moral persuasion, he or she can deescalate intense or pre-violent
situations. They also explain a program they created in the nineties called the Peacemakers. With
this program they would offer conflict resolution trainging for other students to help with, well,
other students. (Johnson & Johnson, 1995) Management of the classroom is the first effective
quality to maintain conflict resolution in the classroom. Setting boundaries and being consistent
will give the teacher a better chance at bringing down the intensity of a conflict if they arise.
“High dominance is characterized by clarity of purpose and strong guidance. The purpose and
guidance provided by the teacher should be both academic and behavioral—that is, the teacher
provides purpose and guidance relative to the content addressed in class as well as the behavior
expected in class.” High dominance and high cooperation is the key. (Marzano & Gaddy, 2005,
p. 41-44)
To conclude, these are the highly valuable characteristics of an effective teacher, a good
educator. Empathy and understanding should be thought of in any line of work or any type of
relationship, either professional or personal. Guiding students toward this understanding is
tantamount to building, not only a better classroom, but also a better society.
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References:
Besnoy, Kevin D, John A Dantzler, and James A Siders. “Creating a Digital Ecosystem for the
Gifted Education Classroom.” Journal of Advanced Academics 23.4 (2012): 305–325.
Web.
David Johnson, & Roger Johnson. (1995). Reducing School Violence Through Conflict
Resolution. ASCD.
Florenthal, Bela. “Students’ Motivation to Participate via Mobile Technology in the Classroom:
A Uses and Gratifications Approach.” Journal of Marketing Education 41.3 (2019):
234–253. Web.
Leahy, M. A., & Foley, B. C. (2018). Diversity in Children’s Literature. World Journal of
Educational Research, 5(2), 172. https://doi.org/10.22158/wjer.v5n2p172
Manning, M. Lee. “Multicultural Education.” Middle school Journal 21.1 (1989): 14–16. Web.
McAllister, G., & Irvine, J. J. (2002). The Role of Empathy in Teaching Culturally Diverse
Students: A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Beliefs. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(5),
433–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248702237397
O’Boyle Jr, Ernest H et al. “The Relation Between Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance:
A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 32.5 (2011): 788–818. Web.
Robert J. Marzano, & Barbara B. Gaddy. (2005). A Handbook for Classroom Management That
Works. ASCD.
Rosenberg, Marshall B. Teaching Children Compassionately How Students and Teachers Can
Succeed with Mutual Understanding . Encinitas, Calif: PuddleDancer Press, 2004. Print.
5 Qualities of a Good Educator
Spilt, J. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., & Thijs, J. T. (2011). Teacher Wellbeing: The Importance of
Teacher–Student Relationships. Educational Psychology Review, 23(4), 457–477.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-011-9170-y
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