The quality of education in Indonesia generally still was becoming homework that was not yet finished. The low level of the quality of our education could be seen from: (1) the HDI data (Human Development Index) in 2005, where Indonesia occupied the level 110 from 117 countries that were surveyed. (2) the IEA Report (International Educational Achievement) mentioned the capacity read the student the Indonesian PRIMARY SCHOOL was in the place 38 from 39 countries that in the survey, and (3) the PISA Data (Programmed for International Student Assessment) in 2003, placed the academic quality of the IPA field in the level 38, whereas the mathematical field and the capacity read occupied the level 39 from 41 countries that in the survey.
Various steps were followed by the government to improve the quality of our education, among them the changing frequency of the educational curriculum of each changing time the minister, programmed him the National Standard school and the International Standard, the ICT program was to the program increased by him the value of the National Exam of the passing. But this step still met kebuntuan or to be precise did not yet have the big benefit in boosting up our education.

THE PROBLEM
Why was our education still being buried? The problem actually not was located to the educational curriculum that often changed each changing time the minister, not in the increase program in the quality of the school/the quality of education went through SNSI that uptil now became the Depdiknas policy target, and not also was located in the Nasional value of the Exam that always increased each year that precisely to polemic between the government and the community. According to the writer of the most important problem in fact was to be located in was not owned by him standard competence or did not yet satisfy him the teacher's professionalism as the symbol of profession idealism, as that was entrusted in No. UU 14 in 2005 about the teacher and the lecturer.

THE TEACHER'S PROFESSIONALISM
Bambang Sudibyo (Mendiknas-2004), had proclaimed that “pekerjaan the teacher was as the profession as in the case of the doctor, the reporter and the profession lainnya”. Like the doctor then the teacher then in demanded had competence and the academic capacity that were adequate in carrying out his profession. Not everyone could act as the doctor because menyangut the safety someone, in spite of that with the teacher's profession: not everyone could act as the teacher because meyangkut the nation's future. still the number of teachers taught was not in accordance with the background of education or kelimuan him was one of the real proof not terstandar him the quality of the educator. According to Sumargi, (1996) “Profesionalisme the teacher and the educational power did still not satisfy especially in the matter of his scientific field. For example the teacher Biology could teach Chemistry or Physics. Or the teacher IPS could teach the Indonesia” Language.
Seen from the feasibility spectacles pembelajaran could be was said did not have problems, but from the completeness spectacles or the demand of the curriculum possibly the concept pegajaran him became the ray, ngambang, and was not directed because of might be material that was taught to the student was limited by what in knew the teacher then. This condition that encouraged the teacher developed the concept of the origin taught and mengugurkan the task, without wanting to know the curriculum target that was programed.
According to the writer, the weakness of the teacher was (1) Still many teachers who had an unprofessional attitude as being not owned by him the creative and innovative spirit in sending lesson material, the frequency of the teacher extended-extended time studying-taught, or situational the teacher who felt confused and was not yet ready to teach. (2) Most teachers felt Most teachers was enough scientifically that has they could in the classroom, so as the teaching program that increased would always like that and will continue to like that, in fact the development of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY of each kind of time always changed in the calculation of the second, in spite of that with the demand of the student's competence of each kind of time always increased together with the development of information technology. This weakness that escorted the teachers to gagap towards technology and knowledge that up to date. (3) Most teachers taught without the program that was clear on the basis of them felt memorized apart from the head against material that would in delivered. This view that made the teacher taught not systematize and far from the method of thinking analytical that his tips will have an impact on the decline in the studying interest of the student.
Idealism and the constructive commitment of the teacher's profession were the key to the answer from the problem of education that in faced uptil now. The implementation of No. UU 14 in 2005 became strongest hope in boosting up education to the side of that more went up, so as to be able to equate himself with the other country, like the year era set where Indonesian education was far more better from Malaysia. According to the writer, apart from the educational qualification, the teacher's professionalism could in saw from: (1) the height of the feeling of responsibility and the teacher's commitment in developing high-quality education; (2) the existence of the will and the teacher's seriousness to develop the educational potential or basic competence in accordance with the demand of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; (3) the capacity to think analytical, systematic and had an active attitude, creative as well as innovative in developing the educational program; and (4) the capacity to develop the studying concept was significant, interesting and pleasant by making use of the sophistication of information technology.

The quality of education in Indonesia generally still was becoming homework that was not yet finished. The low level of the quality of our education could be seen from: (1) the HDI data (Human Development Index) in 2005, where Indonesia occupied the level 110 from 117 countries that were surveyed. (2) the IEA Report (International Educational Achievement) mentioned the capacity read the student the Indonesian PRIMARY SCHOOL was in the place 38 from 39 countries that in the survey, and (3) the PISA Data (Programmed for International Student Assessment) in 2003, placed the academic quality of the IPA field in the level 38, whereas the mathematical field and the capacity read occupied the level 39 from 41 countries that in the survey.
Various steps were followed by the government to improve the quality of our education, among them the changing frequency of the educational curriculum of each changing time the minister, programmed him the National Standard school and the International Standard, the ICT program was to the program increased by him the value of the National Exam of the passing. But this step still met kebuntuan or to be precise did not yet have the big benefit in boosting up our education.

THE PROBLEM
Why was our education still being buried? The problem actually not was located to the educational curriculum that often changed each changing time the minister, not in the increase program in the quality of the school/the quality of education went through SNSI that uptil now became the Depdiknas policy target, and not also was located in the Nasional value of the Exam that always increased each year that precisely to polemic between the government and the community. According to the writer of the most important problem in fact was to be located in was not owned by him standard competence or did not yet satisfy him the teacher's professionalism as the symbol of profession idealism, as that was entrusted in No. UU 14 in 2005 about the teacher and the lecturer.

THE TEACHER'S PROFESSIONALISM
Bambang Sudibyo (Mendiknas-2004), had proclaimed that “pekerjaan the teacher was as the profession as in the case of the doctor, the reporter and the profession lainnya”. Like the doctor then the teacher then in demanded had competence and the academic capacity that were adequate in carrying out his profession. Not everyone could act as the doctor because menyangut the safety someone, in spite of that with the teacher's profession: not everyone could act as the teacher because meyangkut the nation's future. still the number of teachers taught was not in accordance with the background of education or kelimuan him was one of the real proof not terstandar him the quality of the educator. According to Sumargi, (1996) “Profesionalisme the teacher and the educational power did still not satisfy especially in the matter of his scientific field. For example the teacher Biology could teach Chemistry or Physics. Or the teacher IPS could teach the Indonesia” Language.
Seen from the feasibility spectacles pembelajaran could be was said did not have problems, but from the completeness spectacles or the demand of the curriculum possibly the concept pegajaran him became the ray, ngambang, and was not directed because of might be material that was taught to the student was limited by what in knew the teacher then. This condition that encouraged the teacher developed the concept of the origin taught and mengugurkan the task, without wanting to know the curriculum target that was programed.
According to the writer, the weakness of the teacher was (1) Still many teachers who had an unprofessional attitude as being not owned by him the creative and innovative spirit in sending lesson material, the frequency of the teacher extended-extended time studying-taught, or situational the teacher who felt confused and was not yet ready to teach. (2) Most teachers felt Most teachers was enough scientifically that has they could in the classroom, so as the teaching program that increased would always like that and will continue to like that, in fact the development of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY of each kind of time always changed in the calculation of the second, in spite of that with the demand of the student's competence of each kind of time always increased together with the development of information technology. This weakness that escorted the teachers to gagap towards technology and knowledge that up to date. (3) Most teachers taught without the program that was clear on the basis of them felt memorized apart from the head against material that would in delivered. This view that made the teacher taught not systematize and far from the method of thinking analytical that his tips will have an impact on the decline in the studying interest of the student.
Idealism and the constructive commitment of the teacher's profession were the key to the answer from the problem of education that in faced uptil now. The implementation of No. UU 14 in 2005 became strongest hope in boosting up education to the side of that more went up, so as to be able to equate himself with the other country, like the year era set where Indonesian education was far more better from Malaysia. According to the writer, apart from the educational qualification, the teacher's professionalism could in saw from: (1) the height of the feeling of responsibility and the teacher's commitment in developing high-quality education; (2) the existence of the will and the teacher's seriousness to develop the educational potential or basic competence in accordance with the demand of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; (3) the capacity to think analytical, systematic and had an active attitude, creative as well as innovative in developing the educational program; and (4) the capacity to develop the studying concept was significant, interesting and pleasant by making use of the sophistication of information technology.

Did I really love my profession? If I turned again time that passed by, was I still choosing the profession as the teacher? Initially was hesitant enough, I carried out this profession, I well-off? Because I went to class in the technological faculty with the Information System route. Earlier indeed not 100% were certain of my choice, in my marrow in fact I wanted to go to class the route akuntasi, but his university far from my residence and my workplace, moreover all of us knew that his route of cost accountancy quite expensive. Finally was severed by me to take the Information System route in a private university that his location off the residence and my workplace.
Exact in the semester of five, there was the teacher's TIK vacancy for the level of the PRIMARY SCHOOL in the Foundation Ms the Kudus Heart, I tried applied, and I was received. I began to undergo the profession as a teacher. I must often study about how taught. Evidently pleasant also, I felt I was needed by very funny and very plain children. I became someone who held the control in the class, could communicate with parents of the pupil, spent time all day long with children. It seems very varying lived this. To a teacher was the special challenge. Moreover now I was believed to teach the level of SMA. I think very happy….. bore he replied. Sometimes I felt could not but apaboleh for that was the belief, and I must try to undertake the belief. I must try to make my pupil understand what was taught by me. Moreover for the level of this SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL I must think and do to prepare my pupil who could not continue to go to class to had skill or skills to look for the work or other efforts, not merely taught and taught.
How with professional colleagues, had doubted the teacher's profession as the choice of the exact profession? Please renungkan and thought again about your reason for choosing to become the teacher the first time. If you were someone who liked to study new and happy to help the other person by teaching new matters to them, matters meant the career as a teacher was the career that was exact for you. After my seven years were involved in my profession and knew that someone who had been taught by me to become someone who succeeded in being the extraordinary gift and being unlimited he thought. It seems was not in vain if I previously with great difficulty led him.

Did I really love my profession? If I turned again time that passed by, was I still choosing the profession as the teacher? Initially was hesitant enough, I carried out this profession, I well-off? Because I went to class in the technological faculty with the Information System route. Earlier indeed not 100% were certain of my choice, in my marrow in fact I wanted to go to class the route akuntasi, but his university far from my residence and my workplace, moreover all of us knew that his route of cost accountancy quite expensive. Finally was severed by me to take the Information System route in a private university that his location off the residence and my workplace.
Exact in the semester of five, there was the teacher's TIK vacancy for the level of the PRIMARY SCHOOL in the Foundation Ms the Kudus Heart, I tried applied, and I was received. I began to undergo the profession as a teacher. I must often study about how taught. Evidently pleasant also, I felt I was needed by very funny and very plain children. I became someone who held the control in the class, could communicate with parents of the pupil, spent time all day long with children. It seems very varying lived this. To a teacher was the special challenge. Moreover now I was believed to teach the level of SMA. I think very happy….. bore he replied. Sometimes I felt could not but apaboleh for that was the belief, and I must try to undertake the belief. I must try to make my pupil understand what was taught by me. Moreover for the level of this SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL I must think and do to prepare my pupil who could not continue to go to class to had skill or skills to look for the work or other efforts, not merely taught and taught.
How with professional colleagues, had doubted the teacher's profession as the choice of the exact profession? Please renungkan and thought again about your reason for choosing to become the teacher the first time. If you were someone who liked to study new and happy to help the other person by teaching new matters to them, matters meant the career as a teacher was the career that was exact for you. After my seven years were involved in my profession and knew that someone who had been taught by me to become someone who succeeded in being the extraordinary gift and being unlimited he thought. It seems was not in vain if I previously with great difficulty led him.

ALTHOUGH only one, but prila I deviated elements of the available teacher in this area, joined in urged increasingly dropped him morali­tas the teacher generally. At least, what was shown off by an element of the teacher who was 'arrested wet' in a hotel in Padang, increased long the list of the element of the teacher that encored kemu­liaan his profession. The teacher was the noble noose. The teacher became noble because he peletak the base and the development of human resources. Because of the teacher so, the world was still advancing. Because of our teacher so knew bad and good, because our teacher knew the reward and the sin, because of our teacher could process nature into the potential that was useful to increase welfare of humankind. Because of noble him the teacher, no-one that might insult and humiliated they dedicated.

How if martabat that was humiliated and insulted personally by the element of the teacher, like that was made by the element of the sport teacher to one of the junior high school in the Padang City? Here we were in the position complicated to give the certain answer. On the one hand, we were required guarded martabat the teacher, but on the other side, the element of the teacher personally that humiliated martabat him. Must was realised by us, the teacher was the educational champion, from kakok the hands of the teacher were born the president, the minister, the governor, the conglomerate, the trader, the driver, the professor, the rector, the dean et cetera. Therefore, the teacher did not deserve humiliated martabat him himself.
Scrutinises the world situation of our education today, actually we began to be hesitant, morality has begun dinomorsekiankan in appointing someone to be appointed was the teacher. As dike­tahui, lately the teacher's profession began to be interesting the circle maha­siswa and some people that graduate from pendidi­kan him in the tertiary institution. Because, the teacher's profession was one of the works that still was opening space that was quite wide to be able to be accepted was the civil servant (PNS).
Yun-duyun the person took the certificate taught the IV Certificate to educational broad tertiary institutions, certainly not something that was extraordinary. Unfortunately, agencies that gave the legality someone to be able to have the teacher's profession, too much did not put the element forward mora­litas in the process of his education. Therefore, natural if if out put--him often produced the tattered teacher, the asymmetrical teacher, the teacher who controlled education knowledge, but not the teacher that berlapiskan moral, not the appropriate teacher ditirutelada­ni. Elements of the teacher like this, already is not considered to be the amount now.
A connection with increasingly the number of elements of the teacher who broke through the morality gate, the element of the teacher that menghinakan his noble profession personally, certainly we were concerned. We made a plea, especially to still thoughtful teachers clear, motivated pure to educate and taught, honored the field of education, in order to continue menjun­jung morality. With so we could say, that this country was still having the teacher who deserved to be honored and honored. If being just the same with the crowd, certainly has been did not deserve again we placed the teacher in the noble profession. Placed the profession in line with the other profession, the driver, the parking attendant, the thug et cetera.
For elements who polluted the good reputation of the teacher, we urged to related sides in order to take decisive actions. Officially Pendidikan might not maintain teachers that not ber­moral. Officially Pendidikan might not also appoint moral scholars dilapidated to be the teacher. It is hoped the teacher continue to the teacher, the tall worshipper the moral and morality.

ALTHOUGH only one, but prila I deviated elements of the available teacher in this area, joined in urged increasingly dropped him morali­tas the teacher generally. At least, what was shown off by an element of the teacher who was 'arrested wet' in a hotel in Padang, increased long the list of the element of the teacher that encored kemu­liaan his profession. The teacher was the noble noose. The teacher became noble because he peletak the base and the development of human resources. Because of the teacher so, the world was still advancing. Because of our teacher so knew bad and good, because our teacher knew the reward and the sin, because of our teacher could process nature into the potential that was useful to increase welfare of humankind. Because of noble him the teacher, no-one that might insult and humiliated they dedicated.

How if martabat that was humiliated and insulted personally by the element of the teacher, like that was made by the element of the sport teacher to one of the junior high school in the Padang City? Here we were in the position complicated to give the certain answer. On the one hand, we were required guarded martabat the teacher, but on the other side, the element of the teacher personally that humiliated martabat him. Must was realised by us, the teacher was the educational champion, from kakok the hands of the teacher were born the president, the minister, the governor, the conglomerate, the trader, the driver, the professor, the rector, the dean et cetera. Therefore, the teacher did not deserve humiliated martabat him himself.
Scrutinises the world situation of our education today, actually we began to be hesitant, morality has begun dinomorsekiankan in appointing someone to be appointed was the teacher. As dike­tahui, lately the teacher's profession began to be interesting the circle maha­siswa and some people that graduate from pendidi­kan him in the tertiary institution. Because, the teacher's profession was one of the works that still was opening space that was quite wide to be able to be accepted was the civil servant (PNS).
Yun-duyun the person took the certificate taught the IV Certificate to educational broad tertiary institutions, certainly not something that was extraordinary. Unfortunately, agencies that gave the legality someone to be able to have the teacher's profession, too much did not put the element forward mora­litas in the process of his education. Therefore, natural if if out put--him often produced the tattered teacher, the asymmetrical teacher, the teacher who controlled education knowledge, but not the teacher that berlapiskan moral, not the appropriate teacher ditirutelada­ni. Elements of the teacher like this, already is not considered to be the amount now.
A connection with increasingly the number of elements of the teacher who broke through the morality gate, the element of the teacher that menghinakan his noble profession personally, certainly we were concerned. We made a plea, especially to still thoughtful teachers clear, motivated pure to educate and taught, honored the field of education, in order to continue menjun­jung morality. With so we could say, that this country was still having the teacher who deserved to be honored and honored. If being just the same with the crowd, certainly has been did not deserve again we placed the teacher in the noble profession. Placed the profession in line with the other profession, the driver, the parking attendant, the thug et cetera.
For elements who polluted the good reputation of the teacher, we urged to related sides in order to take decisive actions. Officially Pendidikan might not maintain teachers that not ber­moral. Officially Pendidikan might not also appoint moral scholars dilapidated to be the teacher. It is hoped the teacher continue to the teacher, the tall worshipper the moral and morality.

one of Education Minister's work programs (Mendiknas) Bambang Sudibyo that will be realised early December this was the proclamation and the stabilisation of the teacher as the profession. Through the motto ”Guru as Profesi” Depdiknas planned to increase the quality of the teacher and to at the same time develop the teacher's profession in line with the other profession that it was considered ”terhormat” in the middle of the community. Uptil now in the community's view - especially the urban community, or the area that his territory experienced the progress of economics - the work of the teacher it was considered did not promise the future. For the alumnus of the tertiary institution, the teacher's profession only the work ”sambilan”, than completely was unemployed. In the area of rural areas that the IQ in general the community still ”rendah” the teacher was honored, but this appreciation was felt by appearance. Because of the community will be far honored the richer village elite in a manner material and had the power in the government in the village.
the idea mendiknas Bambang Sudibyo to consolidate ”guru as profesi” was the idea that was constructive for the increase in the teacher's Indonesian professionalism that uptil now was very worrying. The teachers in Indonesia - that was the core component pembelajaran in the school - for the last two decades increasingly dihanyuti culture of pragmatism. Culture of laziness to continue to learn to develop knowledge and the social concept, culture of the charm mumpung by being involved in the practice ”korupsi” small-scale in the school (gave the private course with compensation ”uang” and thought, active as the broker of textbooks, through to the business of the student's uniform), as well as culture ”birokratis” that was so obedient to the superior and the educational bureaucrat so that fast was promoted. As well as many other subjective behaviours that did not reflect the character ”ideal” as the educator's noose and the teacher that necessarily high integrity.

one of Education Minister's work programs (Mendiknas) Bambang Sudibyo that will be realised early December this was the proclamation and the stabilisation of the teacher as the profession. Through the motto ”Guru as Profesi” Depdiknas planned to increase the quality of the teacher and to at the same time develop the teacher's profession in line with the other profession that it was considered ”terhormat” in the middle of the community. Uptil now in the community's view - especially the urban community, or the area that his territory experienced the progress of economics - the work of the teacher it was considered did not promise the future. For the alumnus of the tertiary institution, the teacher's profession only the work ”sambilan”, than completely was unemployed. In the area of rural areas that the IQ in general the community still ”rendah” the teacher was honored, but this appreciation was felt by appearance. Because of the community will be far honored the richer village elite in a manner material and had the power in the government in the village.
the idea mendiknas Bambang Sudibyo to consolidate ”guru as profesi” was the idea that was constructive for the increase in the teacher's Indonesian professionalism that uptil now was very worrying. The teachers in Indonesia - that was the core component pembelajaran in the school - for the last two decades increasingly dihanyuti culture of pragmatism. Culture of laziness to continue to learn to develop knowledge and the social concept, culture of the charm mumpung by being involved in the practice ”korupsi” small-scale in the school (gave the private course with compensation ”uang” and thought, active as the broker of textbooks, through to the business of the student's uniform), as well as culture ”birokratis” that was so obedient to the superior and the educational bureaucrat so that fast was promoted. As well as many other subjective behaviours that did not reflect the character ”ideal” as the educator's noose and the teacher that necessarily high integrity.

More than 20 school years, the teacher's profession had almost been not in my marrow. But apparently I had met various characters of the teacher or dosen,. From that greated really, that was really good, that the understanding, that was enthusiastic and his concept was wide, that was really devout and "by the book", that was really unique and "super improved", that was unfriendly and stern, that killer and liked to damage the thing if angry, that was straight and ga wanted busy, that was flirtatious or cunihin, that ngajar him that again-that again, or that ngajar him was really fast like ngejer the deposit, that often was in a dazed him, or that if being trapped ga once ngajar…dll. Just for the last 2 years my educational period met lecturers that asik… that also could make me think and be tempted to teach was finished I the school later, because I want to be able to as they, most did not produce the studying atmosphere like that. His atmosphere was relaxed, like discussions between the colleague a work, and his class small made me wanted did not want 'must appear'. I did not feel I was taught in the passive meaning/was dictated, but in my class as attending the forum for discussions that made my ideas springing.
For the last 3 year because my child began to be school, but especially after being active in the world of the child and education, I again observed the world of the school, including also his teachers. It was re-that I met the heterogenous pre-school teachers; that was calm, that was busy, that was creative, that was stiff, that gloomy, that was spontaneous, that was cheerful, etc.. The world of education that I thought still same evidently has been far changed. Especially in the level of preschool education and the foundation. The teacher no longer just sends knowledge that was same from the year to the year and makes the pattern uniform thought like the Oemar Bakrie time, but was demanded to want to develop and learn to continue, as well as more personal in facing his pupil that each one of them was the unique individual.
I just afterwards began understood that the good teacher the call, so as they could enjoy/liked what was done by them every day. That the teacher that greated that the talent, so as they could make the atmosphere study that was interactive and pleasant; made the person be interested to find out more far, gave knowledge clearly without felt menggurui…
that the good teacher the good friend also; the playing friend for children (because playing was the affair was most serious for children), the friend chatted n the place said (because when being heard and appreciated by each child will have the story that a great number). He also a person comforter that could understand, afterwards helped the child to face the feeling of being sick both physical and emotions. And he also a person role the model because of the child often will study by pay attention to and following the teacher. That taught that needed the continuous long process that was far more long and complex from what happened in the class then.
In Smipa, our teachers called the older brother, to more constructive the atmosphere of the studying house that was not too formal. By this second academic year had 5 older brothers as the official teacher. All of them were the young teacher who had the intention that was high to become the teacher, and definitely still must study many to be able to become the older brother at the same time the teacher that baik.Tapi evidently I myself also often learned from these older brothers. I was still beginning to understand what was meant with the hero's term without the sign jasa… the Statement that was felt really the cliche, that often was heard by me without really understood whether his intention. But now I felt that the good teacher, quite like that adanya…
In time 6 months went in Smipa, many changes happened without being realised; the child that earlier hesitant and embarrassed to have dared to appear, the child who earlier was busy and mischievous could have taken part in the activity calmly was trapped, the child who earlier must be accompanied by the mother or Mbak could have entered personally, the child that earlier slavishly the friend could have had the idea and the opinion personally, the child who earlier still could not hold the stationery correctly so liked menggambar… still was also that still was liking to ask "today me the school ga Ma?" but afterwards the time came home he will sulk, ga wanted pulang… but that was deepest for me was when the child that earlier not pedulian, liked ngambek, liked struck and could not be asked by communication to change to the child who could be asked to speak, liked the story, spontaneous apologised if being wrong, no longer struck the friend or the older brother, and liked tertawa… renyah very much: It Seems without the understanding and love that was sincere the change will like that be difficult very much happened.
Yes his name the teacher yes indeed must him begitu… possibly would many people every like that, but whether already all the teachers like that? If remembering the importance of the role of the teacher as the figure that was listened to by a child from since he learned to go, speak, think and act, that indeed became the consequences of the teacher's profession. Heavy responsibility indeed. But when being undertaken sincerely and pleasure apparently will produce results. Quoted few words from the poem of Prof. Winarno Surahman, [When our school better than the chicken coop? ] "without a falseness" of the "teacher meaning that religious duties." Without a hypocrisy of all the pledging teachers served humanity...

More than 20 school years, the teacher's profession had almost been not in my marrow. But apparently I had met various characters of the teacher or dosen,. From that greated really, that was really good, that the understanding, that was enthusiastic and his concept was wide, that was really devout and "by the book", that was really unique and "super improved", that was unfriendly and stern, that killer and liked to damage the thing if angry, that was straight and ga wanted busy, that was flirtatious or cunihin, that ngajar him that again-that again, or that ngajar him was really fast like ngejer the deposit, that often was in a dazed him, or that if being trapped ga once ngajar…dll. Just for the last 2 years my educational period met lecturers that asik… that also could make me think and be tempted to teach was finished I the school later, because I want to be able to as they, most did not produce the studying atmosphere like that. His atmosphere was relaxed, like discussions between the colleague a work, and his class small made me wanted did not want 'must appear'. I did not feel I was taught in the passive meaning/was dictated, but in my class as attending the forum for discussions that made my ideas springing.
For the last 3 year because my child began to be school, but especially after being active in the world of the child and education, I again observed the world of the school, including also his teachers. It was re-that I met the heterogenous pre-school teachers; that was calm, that was busy, that was creative, that was stiff, that gloomy, that was spontaneous, that was cheerful, etc.. The world of education that I thought still same evidently has been far changed. Especially in the level of preschool education and the foundation. The teacher no longer just sends knowledge that was same from the year to the year and makes the pattern uniform thought like the Oemar Bakrie time, but was demanded to want to develop and learn to continue, as well as more personal in facing his pupil that each one of them was the unique individual.
I just afterwards began understood that the good teacher the call, so as they could enjoy/liked what was done by them every day. That the teacher that greated that the talent, so as they could make the atmosphere study that was interactive and pleasant; made the person be interested to find out more far, gave knowledge clearly without felt menggurui…
that the good teacher the good friend also; the playing friend for children (because playing was the affair was most serious for children), the friend chatted n the place said (because when being heard and appreciated by each child will have the story that a great number). He also a person comforter that could understand, afterwards helped the child to face the feeling of being sick both physical and emotions. And he also a person role the model because of the child often will study by pay attention to and following the teacher. That taught that needed the continuous long process that was far more long and complex from what happened in the class then.
In Smipa, our teachers called the older brother, to more constructive the atmosphere of the studying house that was not too formal. By this second academic year had 5 older brothers as the official teacher. All of them were the young teacher who had the intention that was high to become the teacher, and definitely still must study many to be able to become the older brother at the same time the teacher that baik.Tapi evidently I myself also often learned from these older brothers. I was still beginning to understand what was meant with the hero's term without the sign jasa… the Statement that was felt really the cliche, that often was heard by me without really understood whether his intention. But now I felt that the good teacher, quite like that adanya…
In time 6 months went in Smipa, many changes happened without being realised; the child that earlier hesitant and embarrassed to have dared to appear, the child who earlier was busy and mischievous could have taken part in the activity calmly was trapped, the child who earlier must be accompanied by the mother or Mbak could have entered personally, the child that earlier slavishly the friend could have had the idea and the opinion personally, the child who earlier still could not hold the stationery correctly so liked menggambar… still was also that still was liking to ask "today me the school ga Ma?" but afterwards the time came home he will sulk, ga wanted pulang… but that was deepest for me was when the child that earlier not pedulian, liked ngambek, liked struck and could not be asked by communication to change to the child who could be asked to speak, liked the story, spontaneous apologised if being wrong, no longer struck the friend or the older brother, and liked tertawa… renyah very much: It Seems without the understanding and love that was sincere the change will like that be difficult very much happened.
Yes his name the teacher yes indeed must him begitu… possibly would many people every like that, but whether already all the teachers like that? If remembering the importance of the role of the teacher as the figure that was listened to by a child from since he learned to go, speak, think and act, that indeed became the consequences of the teacher's profession. Heavy responsibility indeed. But when being undertaken sincerely and pleasure apparently will produce results. Quoted few words from the poem of Prof. Winarno Surahman, [When our school better than the chicken coop? ] "without a falseness" of the "teacher meaning that religious duties." Without a hypocrisy of all the pledging teachers served humanity...

Training this was held because uptil now the concepts that were accepted by the teacher in his education were too abstract to be applied. For example the concept 'honored the requirement' for the 'pupil', 'education afektif', 'humanistic education', the 'two-way communication', etc.. These concepts were true, but to avoid confusion was needed by the explanation that 'returned to earth' and 'was' practised'. In training this the teacher was supplied with skills and the method through to his relations with the other person, in this case the pupil, could create an aim himself (self direction), responsibility to himself (self responsibility), the self-determination (self determination), the controlling himself (self control) and evaluated himself (self evaluation). The method that was developed was the alternative to the game hoop-jump-biscuit where the pupil who succeeded in jumping until the certain height got the biscuit gift. This game indeed caused the motivation to the pupil, but the pupil's response could differ. A pupil possibly regarded that jumping too much was difficult for him so as he refused to jump. The other pupil could be still leaving the game because of his friend who could jump higher will ridicule him as the weak person.
The core from training this was relations between the teacher and the pupil. Must be paid attention to that the pupil, with the IQ difference, the origin, the color of skin, the capacity, the social status and economics, had one important similarity. They were humankind that had the characteristics of humankind, the feeling of humankind and the human response. So left classified, tested, evaluated, gave the label and grouped the pupil in certain stereotypes as the doctor gazed at his patient. Remembered with this method the teacher will become the effective teacher, not the upholder of discipline.
In seeing the relations model teacher-pupil that was effective before a teacher must leave the myth about the good teacher. The teacher was also humankind with all the surpluses and his lack, with all the feelings of his humanity. Don't developed two identities, one identity to teach (close) and his one again to control. In gazing at the behaviour of our pupil could mengangankan a behaviour quadrangle of the pupil, both that we received and not. Must be remembered that the line that restricted the acceptable behaviour with the unacceptable behaviour could keep changing because of the matter along with: * Perubahan in himself (the teacher), for example during the day (tired) more behaviours were unacceptable. * the Difference of the feeling towards the different pupil, was humane enough like why chose X as the wife not Y. * the Influence of the situation or the environment, for example to shout in the page be different from in the classroom.
Pretence, in received or refused, must be avoided because the pupil will become confused or felt the existence of the falseness. The pupil could comprehend the verbal message, the "body centipede", and more trusted him. In saw the problem that obstructed the process studying-taught also must be paid attention to who the owner of the problem. Certainly his handling will be different. If the problem was property of the pupil, like Great often escaped, Mira daydreamt in the class, the teacher should not send the centipede that communicated that the action was unacceptable so as the teacher wanted the child to change or do seem like-by did not have the problem. This refusal language, that was the obstacle komuikasi, could be grouped in 12 categories as follows: (remembered this was the obstacle if the pupil experienced the problem, to the free area of the problem of the bad influence of matters below this far decreased. )

Training this was held because uptil now the concepts that were accepted by the teacher in his education were too abstract to be applied. For example the concept 'honored the requirement' for the 'pupil', 'education afektif', 'humanistic education', the 'two-way communication', etc.. These concepts were true, but to avoid confusion was needed by the explanation that 'returned to earth' and 'was' practised'. In training this the teacher was supplied with skills and the method through to his relations with the other person, in this case the pupil, could create an aim himself (self direction), responsibility to himself (self responsibility), the self-determination (self determination), the controlling himself (self control) and evaluated himself (self evaluation). The method that was developed was the alternative to the game hoop-jump-biscuit where the pupil who succeeded in jumping until the certain height got the biscuit gift. This game indeed caused the motivation to the pupil, but the pupil's response could differ. A pupil possibly regarded that jumping too much was difficult for him so as he refused to jump. The other pupil could be still leaving the game because of his friend who could jump higher will ridicule him as the weak person.
The core from training this was relations between the teacher and the pupil. Must be paid attention to that the pupil, with the IQ difference, the origin, the color of skin, the capacity, the social status and economics, had one important similarity. They were humankind that had the characteristics of humankind, the feeling of humankind and the human response. So left classified, tested, evaluated, gave the label and grouped the pupil in certain stereotypes as the doctor gazed at his patient. Remembered with this method the teacher will become the effective teacher, not the upholder of discipline.
In seeing the relations model teacher-pupil that was effective before a teacher must leave the myth about the good teacher. The teacher was also humankind with all the surpluses and his lack, with all the feelings of his humanity. Don't developed two identities, one identity to teach (close) and his one again to control. In gazing at the behaviour of our pupil could mengangankan a behaviour quadrangle of the pupil, both that we received and not. Must be remembered that the line that restricted the acceptable behaviour with the unacceptable behaviour could keep changing because of the matter along with: * Perubahan in himself (the teacher), for example during the day (tired) more behaviours were unacceptable. * the Difference of the feeling towards the different pupil, was humane enough like why chose X as the wife not Y. * the Influence of the situation or the environment, for example to shout in the page be different from in the classroom.
Pretence, in received or refused, must be avoided because the pupil will become confused or felt the existence of the falseness. The pupil could comprehend the verbal message, the "body centipede", and more trusted him. In saw the problem that obstructed the process studying-taught also must be paid attention to who the owner of the problem. Certainly his handling will be different. If the problem was property of the pupil, like Great often escaped, Mira daydreamt in the class, the teacher should not send the centipede that communicated that the action was unacceptable so as the teacher wanted the child to change or do seem like-by did not have the problem. This refusal language, that was the obstacle komuikasi, could be grouped in 12 categories as follows: (remembered this was the obstacle if the pupil experienced the problem, to the free area of the problem of the bad influence of matters below this far decreased. )

Already this month, we were affected by the fever made the bracelet from the thread, and so one of the we ngasih the idea to hold fund raising with bracelet merchandise. *halah*. In fact I had learnt to make this kind bracelet PRIMARY SCHOOL time and the JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, but forgot bo, his method. The fever already through – for other people – but not yet for me. Now I still liked for the fun of it berprakarya and hard-working patrolled loja* Rose in the Colmera road to buy various colours of the thread,
Really the opium. And I always blamed Suze, one of the friends who taught us to make the bracelet from the thread. Anyway, made the bracelet from the thread be easy and to improved was easy because of the Suze teaching method, the professor, pleasant. Only very much gave the example, we immediately could. And that was most impressive was, every time we succeeded in following what was demonstrated by him, he will always say, ‘You can do it,’, ‘Good job! Keep going! ’ and when being finished, he always every; ‘This Is nice. You’re great! ’. Urging that made ‘para murid’ competed to complete their tapeworm. The case prakarya the bracelet has from this thread been seen by us since two months ago, when having the person who was engrosseding in making the thread with colours pastel that was interesting. Spontaneously several friends asked how to make him.
This person afterwards taught us. But his method taught that right, not greated. Apart from not sabaran, he often very much every ‘Gampang gini how come not could! ” and was here, that more ngeselin ‘Cuma people with intelligence above in general then that could quickly the technique tied the thread like this. Gusrak. She’s definitely the note a good teacher. The proof is, not there is even one of the we who succeeded in controlling the technique that he taught, because on the way we one by one went [while misuh-misuh]. Not because his technique was difficult, but because of his teaching method that made lazy.

Already this month, we were affected by the fever made the bracelet from the thread, and so one of the we ngasih the idea to hold fund raising with bracelet merchandise. *halah*. In fact I had learnt to make this kind bracelet PRIMARY SCHOOL time and the JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, but forgot bo, his method. The fever already through – for other people – but not yet for me. Now I still liked for the fun of it berprakarya and hard-working patrolled loja* Rose in the Colmera road to buy various colours of the thread,
Really the opium. And I always blamed Suze, one of the friends who taught us to make the bracelet from the thread. Anyway, made the bracelet from the thread be easy and to improved was easy because of the Suze teaching method, the professor, pleasant. Only very much gave the example, we immediately could. And that was most impressive was, every time we succeeded in following what was demonstrated by him, he will always say, ‘You can do it,’, ‘Good job! Keep going! ’ and when being finished, he always every; ‘This Is nice. You’re great! ’. Urging that made ‘para murid’ competed to complete their tapeworm. The case prakarya the bracelet has from this thread been seen by us since two months ago, when having the person who was engrosseding in making the thread with colours pastel that was interesting. Spontaneously several friends asked how to make him.
This person afterwards taught us. But his method taught that right, not greated. Apart from not sabaran, he often very much every ‘Gampang gini how come not could! ” and was here, that more ngeselin ‘Cuma people with intelligence above in general then that could quickly the technique tied the thread like this. Gusrak. She’s definitely the note a good teacher. The proof is, not there is even one of the we who succeeded in controlling the technique that he taught, because on the way we one by one went [while misuh-misuh]. Not because his technique was difficult, but because of his teaching method that made lazy.

Entered the age to our 21 faced big changes and very fundamental dilingkungan global. The change in the strategic environment in this global order was reflected in the formation of forums like GATT, the WTO, and APEC, NAFTA and AFTA, IMG-GT, IMS-GT, BIMP-EAGA, and SOSEKMALINDO that were efforts to welcome free trade where definitely will take place the level of the very tight competition. A change in the regulation that originally the monopoly (monopoly) became the free competition (free competition). Likewise, happened to the market that initially was oriented to the product (product oriented) changed in the orientation of the market (market driven), as well as from the protection (protection) moved to the free market (free market).
The progress of economics diberbagai the country, really was related to the quality of human resources. For example Singapore and Japan. Although nature resources that were owned by him limited, but because the quality of his human resources was superior, the two countries became the leader of economics in the Asian region. So must anticipate this situation by reinforcing the competitive capacity diberbagai the field with the development of human resources. Unfortunately our human resources at this time worrying, according to UNDP. Indonesia occupied the level 109 from 174, the level of competitiveness to –46 that was lowest in the South-East Asian region, Singapore the 2, Malaysia the 27. Phillipina to –32, and Tailand to –34, and including the most corrupt country in the world.
Towards the increase in human resources, the role of quite prominent education. From the experience of several countries showed that in heading the structural change, with the increase in the development of economics happened the proportion of manpower under basic education that increasingly became smaller, whereas the proportion tengan the work was educated middle and high increasingly increased. Was different from the other country that experienced remained at the base, the educated proportion the foundation and middle in Korea mid the 70 's was big enough that is 19 percent to be not educated, 43 percent were educated the foundation, 31 percent were educated middle and 7 percent were educated high (Macharany, 1990). Further, Swasono judo and Boediono (Macharany, 1990) said that the structure of Indonesian manpower during 1985 was 53 percent was not educated, 34 percent were educated the foundation, 11 percent berpendidiian middle and 2 percent were educated high. When we want to reached remained at the base like Korea, it was estimated the structure of manpower according to education in three growth scenarios of the GDP per capita, that is low 6 percent, while 7 percent, and high 8 on 2019.
In the autonomy era of the area of the strategic policy that was taken by Directorate General Pendidikan Dasar and Middle in increasing the quality of education to develop human resources was: (1) the Management of the increase in the based quality of the school (school based management) where the school was given by the authority to plan personally increase efforts in the quality on the whole; (2) Education that have as a base in the community's participation (community based education) where the interaction that was positive between the school happening to the community, the school as community learning center; and (3) By using the studying paradigm or learning paradigm that will make students or learner became humankind that was empowered. Moreover to the government announced a national movement for the increase in the quality of education, at the same time delivered the expansion of the Broad Base Education System approach (BBE) that gave the provisioning to the student to be ready to work built the prosperous family. With the approach of each student was expected to get the provisioning life skills that contained the understanding that was wide and deep about the environment and his capacity so that close and gave mutual benefits.

Entered the age to our 21 faced big changes and very fundamental dilingkungan global. The change in the strategic environment in this global order was reflected in the formation of forums like GATT, the WTO, and APEC, NAFTA and AFTA, IMG-GT, IMS-GT, BIMP-EAGA, and SOSEKMALINDO that were efforts to welcome free trade where definitely will take place the level of the very tight competition. A change in the regulation that originally the monopoly (monopoly) became the free competition (free competition). Likewise, happened to the market that initially was oriented to the product (product oriented) changed in the orientation of the market (market driven), as well as from the protection (protection) moved to the free market (free market).
The progress of economics diberbagai the country, really was related to the quality of human resources. For example Singapore and Japan. Although nature resources that were owned by him limited, but because the quality of his human resources was superior, the two countries became the leader of economics in the Asian region. So must anticipate this situation by reinforcing the competitive capacity diberbagai the field with the development of human resources. Unfortunately our human resources at this time worrying, according to UNDP. Indonesia occupied the level 109 from 174, the level of competitiveness to –46 that was lowest in the South-East Asian region, Singapore the 2, Malaysia the 27. Phillipina to –32, and Tailand to –34, and including the most corrupt country in the world.
Towards the increase in human resources, the role of quite prominent education. From the experience of several countries showed that in heading the structural change, with the increase in the development of economics happened the proportion of manpower under basic education that increasingly became smaller, whereas the proportion tengan the work was educated middle and high increasingly increased. Was different from the other country that experienced remained at the base, the educated proportion the foundation and middle in Korea mid the 70 's was big enough that is 19 percent to be not educated, 43 percent were educated the foundation, 31 percent were educated middle and 7 percent were educated high (Macharany, 1990). Further, Swasono judo and Boediono (Macharany, 1990) said that the structure of Indonesian manpower during 1985 was 53 percent was not educated, 34 percent were educated the foundation, 11 percent berpendidiian middle and 2 percent were educated high. When we want to reached remained at the base like Korea, it was estimated the structure of manpower according to education in three growth scenarios of the GDP per capita, that is low 6 percent, while 7 percent, and high 8 on 2019.
In the autonomy era of the area of the strategic policy that was taken by Directorate General Pendidikan Dasar and Middle in increasing the quality of education to develop human resources was: (1) the Management of the increase in the based quality of the school (school based management) where the school was given by the authority to plan personally increase efforts in the quality on the whole; (2) Education that have as a base in the community's participation (community based education) where the interaction that was positive between the school happening to the community, the school as community learning center; and (3) By using the studying paradigm or learning paradigm that will make students or learner became humankind that was empowered. Moreover to the government announced a national movement for the increase in the quality of education, at the same time delivered the expansion of the Broad Base Education System approach (BBE) that gave the provisioning to the student to be ready to work built the prosperous family. With the approach of each student was expected to get the provisioning life skills that contained the understanding that was wide and deep about the environment and his capacity so that close and gave mutual benefits.

According to me, the good teacher was the teacher could identify the aim study him well, afterwards used the strategy that was effective to achieve the aims this study. To succeed in in the two matters on the teacher must prepare examples that will help the student to receive the understanding that was deep about the topic that was presented by him. The teacher must also trigger the student to be involved in a manner was active in study that the implementation.

The student will take part in being involved actively and will give engagement time if the teacher helped them by giving the positive and proaktif orientation was based on the belief and the conviction the teacher that all the student can be successful in thus study. Further the teacher must also have the feeling of responsibility so that all of his student could achieve the potential for their maximum was their respective. The good teacher showed the existence of the important characteristics that were very essential to trigger a climate of the class that could increase studied and his student's motivation. These essential characteristics for example, the teacher must have the enthusiasm, the warmth and empathy, as well as hope was positive towards his student.
The teacher who had the enthusiasm really cared about what was taught by them and explained to his students that what was studied by them at that time was something that was very important. The teacher could show the existence of the enthusiasm towards the lesson by using the voice, the eyes, the gesture, the movement of the body. The teacher who had the warmth and empathy would with all of a sudden gave greetings, addressed to his students during the first time taking a step entered his classrooms. Or even showed the warmth and empathy when asking Anita to take the lime or to remove the blackboard. The warmth of a teacher could be demonstrated with the interest in the student and really regarded that the student also ‘Human’. The teacher who had empathy all of a sudden will understand the feeling of his student, how the view or the pattern thought his student.
It was to be difficult to become the good teacher if we did not care about our students. The student could possibly accept the difference of the identity of each teacher who taught them, but the climate and aura the negative class that was created by the teacher who did not have heart (did not have antusisme towards the lesson that was taught by him, did not have the warmth and empathy against his students).

According to me, the good teacher was the teacher could identify the aim study him well, afterwards used the strategy that was effective to achieve the aims this study. To succeed in in the two matters on the teacher must prepare examples that will help the student to receive the understanding that was deep about the topic that was presented by him. The teacher must also trigger the student to be involved in a manner was active in study that the implementation.

The student will take part in being involved actively and will give engagement time if the teacher helped them by giving the positive and proaktif orientation was based on the belief and the conviction the teacher that all the student can be successful in thus study. Further the teacher must also have the feeling of responsibility so that all of his student could achieve the potential for their maximum was their respective. The good teacher showed the existence of the important characteristics that were very essential to trigger a climate of the class that could increase studied and his student's motivation. These essential characteristics for example, the teacher must have the enthusiasm, the warmth and empathy, as well as hope was positive towards his student.
The teacher who had the enthusiasm really cared about what was taught by them and explained to his students that what was studied by them at that time was something that was very important. The teacher could show the existence of the enthusiasm towards the lesson by using the voice, the eyes, the gesture, the movement of the body. The teacher who had the warmth and empathy would with all of a sudden gave greetings, addressed to his students during the first time taking a step entered his classrooms. Or even showed the warmth and empathy when asking Anita to take the lime or to remove the blackboard. The warmth of a teacher could be demonstrated with the interest in the student and really regarded that the student also ‘Human’. The teacher who had empathy all of a sudden will understand the feeling of his student, how the view or the pattern thought his student.
It was to be difficult to become the good teacher if we did not care about our students. The student could possibly accept the difference of the identity of each teacher who taught them, but the climate and aura the negative class that was created by the teacher who did not have heart (did not have antusisme towards the lesson that was taught by him, did not have the warmth and empathy against his students).

TEACHERS ARE born and not made. A teacher is a social entity. A poor teacher tells. A good teacher teaches. An excellent teacher demonstrates. An outstanding teacher motivates. Time and again we hear these proverbial sayings from various sources at different occasions, especially as we near a teacher's day. If any of the above is correct, how can one find a teacher through a test, whether it is conducted by the UGC (National eligibility test) or by the States ( state eligibility test)?

In a democratic country like India, any one with a medical degree from a recognised institution and medical council's registration can practise as a doctor. One can practise as a lawyer, if he has degree in law and completes the formalities of bar council. Engineers can get a job right away from the college campus through campus placement cells. But to become a teacher a person has to write a minimum of three examinations. A post-graduate degree examination followed by one for a degree in teaching and then the so-called eligibility tests. Even this does not get one a job, but only qualifies one for it!

Teaching needs three qualities. Knowledge is the first. The ability to pass it on to others, what we usually call communication skill, is the next. Aptitude is the third. Which quality of a teacher is tested in the so-called eligibility tests? Is it the first one? That is unbelievable. Any recognized educational institution in India offers a post-graduate degree after completion of a minimum of semester course. The incumbent is then examined at the end of each semester by a qualified and experienced faculty appointed directly by the supreme body of the university called the syndicate. One has to prove the ability before these examiners. A post-graduate paper is valued independently by two experts. If necessary, there will be a third evaluation as well. In science subjects, the performance in the practical examinations has to be satisfactory. There will be a project evaluation. And then, there is the viva-voce test. One has to go through all these complex and difficult manoeuvres before getting the degree. Then, which knowledge not proved in the above is tested in the eligibility test in just around three hours, even if it is a UGC standard test or eligibility tests run by the states?

We must also recall that these tests, in at least some states, are reduced to the level of an ordinary entrance examination for engineering and medicine. There is a group of expert educationalists who believe that an objective model entrance test is inadequate even for engineering and medicine. They recommend IIT model entrance tests. Then, how can we justify the objective model teacher eligibility tests now in force in some states?

The second quality, that is, communication skill, cannot be found through a test either. It would be like studying acting through post. Either you have it or you do not. It is as simple as that. One can never create this. You can only discover whether you have it or not. But if it is within you, it grows with experience. So to have this you have to become a teacher. But to become a teacher you need this. Looks like a vicious circle, isn't it?

Which component of the teaching is more important? Is it the knowledge or the ability to pass it on? Well, it very much depends on the class one is teaching. If you are in a post-graduate class, knowledge is more important than presentation. The students of the class are filtered stuff. They expect information from the teacher. Half the knowledge is where to find it. If this it true, they need only know where to find things much more than the thing itself. But if one is teaching in a school or plus two class, the ability to communicate is more important than the knowledge itself. Here `teaching is innovation' become true.

We have to find independent, natural and new methods for presentation of the subject and the topics. The emphasis has to be more on how to tell than what to tell. The classes have to be interactive. Teaching has to be a dialogue and not a monologue. This would mean we should have patience towards questions, no matter how silly they are. Those who are successful in these respects alone can become good teachers at this stage. Even with a limited knowledge a person can become a good teacher, if he/she has these abilities. Here you study to teach and then teach to study more.

The aptitude for teaching too cannot be found through a test. It can be decided only by the persons themselves. Here again, it comes to your mind that you want to become a teacher, or you would never. Only those motivated to this profession opt for it. Others withdraw from the race. The motivation sets in early. Sitting in a good teacher's class, those with aptitude always probe whether they can teach like this and then believe they can. Similarly, sitting in a poor teacher's class, the experience might dissuade even those with possible aptitude to opt out of the profession. Thus our aptitude is well influenced by the classes we sit in and the teachers who teach us in our student days from primary school to college.

So these tests cannot really test knowledge. They cannot test communication skills or aptitude either. The tests are reduced to the level of a mere common test for various people who come from different streams and who have obtained degrees from different institutions. But if we have a method to measure marks obtained from different recognised institutions by the same yardstick, these tests become superfluous.

The Birla Institute of Technology, commonly known as BITS Pilani, is one of the country's leading educational institutions. There is no entrance test for admission to courses here. They have got a method to standardise marks from different institutions. We should adopt something like this to dispense with eligibility tests. These tests never determine any eligibility. If ever they do test anything, it is only the luck and time of the person.

Didn't we have famous devoted teachers before entrance and eligibility tests were even thought of? They live in our minds for ever. What eligibility test did they write? This leads us to a simple straightforward truth.

No matter who conducts the tests be it the state or the UGC and no matter how transparent and credible it is, the ability of a teacher is decided in class rooms and that too by students and not by entrance and eligibility tests.

TEACHERS ARE born and not made. A teacher is a social entity. A poor teacher tells. A good teacher teaches. An excellent teacher demonstrates. An outstanding teacher motivates. Time and again we hear these proverbial sayings from various sources at different occasions, especially as we near a teacher's day. If any of the above is correct, how can one find a teacher through a test, whether it is conducted by the UGC (National eligibility test) or by the States ( state eligibility test)?

In a democratic country like India, any one with a medical degree from a recognised institution and medical council's registration can practise as a doctor. One can practise as a lawyer, if he has degree in law and completes the formalities of bar council. Engineers can get a job right away from the college campus through campus placement cells. But to become a teacher a person has to write a minimum of three examinations. A post-graduate degree examination followed by one for a degree in teaching and then the so-called eligibility tests. Even this does not get one a job, but only qualifies one for it!

Teaching needs three qualities. Knowledge is the first. The ability to pass it on to others, what we usually call communication skill, is the next. Aptitude is the third. Which quality of a teacher is tested in the so-called eligibility tests? Is it the first one? That is unbelievable. Any recognized educational institution in India offers a post-graduate degree after completion of a minimum of semester course. The incumbent is then examined at the end of each semester by a qualified and experienced faculty appointed directly by the supreme body of the university called the syndicate. One has to prove the ability before these examiners. A post-graduate paper is valued independently by two experts. If necessary, there will be a third evaluation as well. In science subjects, the performance in the practical examinations has to be satisfactory. There will be a project evaluation. And then, there is the viva-voce test. One has to go through all these complex and difficult manoeuvres before getting the degree. Then, which knowledge not proved in the above is tested in the eligibility test in just around three hours, even if it is a UGC standard test or eligibility tests run by the states?

We must also recall that these tests, in at least some states, are reduced to the level of an ordinary entrance examination for engineering and medicine. There is a group of expert educationalists who believe that an objective model entrance test is inadequate even for engineering and medicine. They recommend IIT model entrance tests. Then, how can we justify the objective model teacher eligibility tests now in force in some states?

The second quality, that is, communication skill, cannot be found through a test either. It would be like studying acting through post. Either you have it or you do not. It is as simple as that. One can never create this. You can only discover whether you have it or not. But if it is within you, it grows with experience. So to have this you have to become a teacher. But to become a teacher you need this. Looks like a vicious circle, isn't it?

Which component of the teaching is more important? Is it the knowledge or the ability to pass it on? Well, it very much depends on the class one is teaching. If you are in a post-graduate class, knowledge is more important than presentation. The students of the class are filtered stuff. They expect information from the teacher. Half the knowledge is where to find it. If this it true, they need only know where to find things much more than the thing itself. But if one is teaching in a school or plus two class, the ability to communicate is more important than the knowledge itself. Here `teaching is innovation' become true.

We have to find independent, natural and new methods for presentation of the subject and the topics. The emphasis has to be more on how to tell than what to tell. The classes have to be interactive. Teaching has to be a dialogue and not a monologue. This would mean we should have patience towards questions, no matter how silly they are. Those who are successful in these respects alone can become good teachers at this stage. Even with a limited knowledge a person can become a good teacher, if he/she has these abilities. Here you study to teach and then teach to study more.

The aptitude for teaching too cannot be found through a test. It can be decided only by the persons themselves. Here again, it comes to your mind that you want to become a teacher, or you would never. Only those motivated to this profession opt for it. Others withdraw from the race. The motivation sets in early. Sitting in a good teacher's class, those with aptitude always probe whether they can teach like this and then believe they can. Similarly, sitting in a poor teacher's class, the experience might dissuade even those with possible aptitude to opt out of the profession. Thus our aptitude is well influenced by the classes we sit in and the teachers who teach us in our student days from primary school to college.

So these tests cannot really test knowledge. They cannot test communication skills or aptitude either. The tests are reduced to the level of a mere common test for various people who come from different streams and who have obtained degrees from different institutions. But if we have a method to measure marks obtained from different recognised institutions by the same yardstick, these tests become superfluous.

The Birla Institute of Technology, commonly known as BITS Pilani, is one of the country's leading educational institutions. There is no entrance test for admission to courses here. They have got a method to standardise marks from different institutions. We should adopt something like this to dispense with eligibility tests. These tests never determine any eligibility. If ever they do test anything, it is only the luck and time of the person.

Didn't we have famous devoted teachers before entrance and eligibility tests were even thought of? They live in our minds for ever. What eligibility test did they write? This leads us to a simple straightforward truth.

No matter who conducts the tests be it the state or the UGC and no matter how transparent and credible it is, the ability of a teacher is decided in class rooms and that too by students and not by entrance and eligibility tests.

Strip away all the rhetoric about whether teachers should be paid more and you leave one fact: Nebraska students consistently rank among the very best in the country in all measures of achievement.

For instance, in 1999, Nebraska students as a whole ranked 13th nationally on the ACT. When compared with other states where 70 percent or more students took the test, Nebraska was first.

On the 1998 SAT tests, Nebraska ranked 10th. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests for fourth grade, Nebraska students ranked ninth in the nation in 1992 and 10th in 1996. On those same NAEP tests for eighth grade, Nebraska students ranked fifth in both 1992 and 1996.

And the coup de grace: Using a composite of the NAEP, SAT and ACT scores, the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked Nebraska schools fifth overall in terms of academic achievement.


Those rankings, of course, relate right back to the quality of classroom instruction those students receive. Good teaching translates into that kind of high achievement.

NSEA's Jay Sears says such success is to be expected, given the quality of students that enter the 17 teacher education programs across the state and the quality of those programs.

"The candidates we get for teacher education programs are those who are taking all the courses they can in high school. They've already had four years of math in high school. They aren't starting with remedial math at the university when they've already had calculus," he said.

Sears, director of instructional advocacy for the NSEA, says it is a known fact that teacher quality is a key to good education.

"Most of our teachers are coming out of our high schools, so the process is just building on itself. Because we have quality going through our system, it regenerates and improves the quality we have in the classroom," he said.


But that culture of continuous improvement doesn't just happen. Becoming a teacher in Nebraska is a rigorous process, with quality control throughout.

To qualify for a teacher education program, a college student must carry a grade point average of 2.5 or better and then pass a basic skill test. After acceptance, those students must have 100 hours of supervised contact with students in a school setting. That's before their 14-week student teaching stint in their final year of college.

Perhaps the biggest quality factor, said Sears, is the state's demand that all teachers who have a grades 7-12 endorsement have a major in their certification area. Thus not only have they learned teaching skills, they have the content knowledge to back up those skills.

Equally a quality factor is the requirement that those at the elementary level enroll in as many hours as possible in all the subject areas they will teach. Many teachers with elementary endorsements have enough content to earn the equivalent of six or seven minors in college.

At all endorsement levels, "our people have qualified in both the content and the instruction piece," Sears said.

Nebraska also offers more than 90 certification areas and standards for those areas are very specific about the skills and knowledge teachers must have. Most states require only very broad certification areas.

"Our grads don't have any trouble getting certified in other states," Sears said.

Unfortunately, more and more Nebraska teachers are lured to other states by higher pay. But those who choose to teach in Nebraska must constantly improve their skills. Teachers must constantly learn in order to renew and update their certifications. And they must undergo constant evaluation.

"It's a whole culture of continuous improvement. You can't have started teaching in 1971 and keep teaching until 2021 without improving," Sears said.

Strip away all the rhetoric about whether teachers should be paid more and you leave one fact: Nebraska students consistently rank among the very best in the country in all measures of achievement.

For instance, in 1999, Nebraska students as a whole ranked 13th nationally on the ACT. When compared with other states where 70 percent or more students took the test, Nebraska was first.

On the 1998 SAT tests, Nebraska ranked 10th. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests for fourth grade, Nebraska students ranked ninth in the nation in 1992 and 10th in 1996. On those same NAEP tests for eighth grade, Nebraska students ranked fifth in both 1992 and 1996.

And the coup de grace: Using a composite of the NAEP, SAT and ACT scores, the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked Nebraska schools fifth overall in terms of academic achievement.


Those rankings, of course, relate right back to the quality of classroom instruction those students receive. Good teaching translates into that kind of high achievement.

NSEA's Jay Sears says such success is to be expected, given the quality of students that enter the 17 teacher education programs across the state and the quality of those programs.

"The candidates we get for teacher education programs are those who are taking all the courses they can in high school. They've already had four years of math in high school. They aren't starting with remedial math at the university when they've already had calculus," he said.

Sears, director of instructional advocacy for the NSEA, says it is a known fact that teacher quality is a key to good education.

"Most of our teachers are coming out of our high schools, so the process is just building on itself. Because we have quality going through our system, it regenerates and improves the quality we have in the classroom," he said.


But that culture of continuous improvement doesn't just happen. Becoming a teacher in Nebraska is a rigorous process, with quality control throughout.

To qualify for a teacher education program, a college student must carry a grade point average of 2.5 or better and then pass a basic skill test. After acceptance, those students must have 100 hours of supervised contact with students in a school setting. That's before their 14-week student teaching stint in their final year of college.

Perhaps the biggest quality factor, said Sears, is the state's demand that all teachers who have a grades 7-12 endorsement have a major in their certification area. Thus not only have they learned teaching skills, they have the content knowledge to back up those skills.

Equally a quality factor is the requirement that those at the elementary level enroll in as many hours as possible in all the subject areas they will teach. Many teachers with elementary endorsements have enough content to earn the equivalent of six or seven minors in college.

At all endorsement levels, "our people have qualified in both the content and the instruction piece," Sears said.

Nebraska also offers more than 90 certification areas and standards for those areas are very specific about the skills and knowledge teachers must have. Most states require only very broad certification areas.

"Our grads don't have any trouble getting certified in other states," Sears said.

Unfortunately, more and more Nebraska teachers are lured to other states by higher pay. But those who choose to teach in Nebraska must constantly improve their skills. Teachers must constantly learn in order to renew and update their certifications. And they must undergo constant evaluation.

"It's a whole culture of continuous improvement. You can't have started teaching in 1971 and keep teaching until 2021 without improving," Sears said.

Thailand abounds with English teaching positions. Adverts swamp the daily newspapers, and language schools outnumber McDonalds. Private academies and universities continue to increase their focus on English with positions opening all the time. And teaching English seems like a job that almost any English speaker can get. Backpackers with time and no money. Diploma-holders with career aspirations. Thais with English degrees. But like any profession, an English teacher needs qualifications, the least of which is being human. As one of the lowest paying, easiest-to-get expat jobs in the Kingdom, teaching attracts a hodgepodge of native speakers.

How do you spot a good one? Educational background could indicate a good candidate. Certainly someone with an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA-TESOL) sits high on a university's short list. At the other end stands the native speaker with a certificate in welding. Hardly ajarn material, but a Thai engineer might enjoy a conversation course taught by a fellow tradesman.

A variety of degrees, diplomas and certificates float around the English-teaching world. Someone with an MA in English or linguistics can discuss deconstruction philosophy, language acquisition theories, and Faulkner's use of the past tense. Thai's sometimes call these people "Experts." Education grads know things like monitoring and managing. A person with a bachelor's degree in anything should easily be able to follow a "Teacher's Book."

Educational background also reflects abilities in behind-the-classes work. University ajarns draw on theories and concepts to prepare upper-level classes. They must also design and assess materials, courses, textbooks and exams. However, not all English teaching in Thailand occurs at the university level.

Many businesses and individuals turn to language schools. This is where acronyms and initials run wild. Potentially, most native literates can teach some level of English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). After all, history abounds with examples of languages spreading without

EFL teachers. The Romans and British probably didn't staff their empires with teams of linguists specializing in ESL. However, in these modern times--this era of globalization--certified instructors teach English at international language institutes.

The alphabet soup of credentials sets the standards for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). At the base of this certification heap is acknowledgment from the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA). RSA certificate holders generally have a secondary education. Wavers of TESOL, TEFL and TESL papers answer to more rigid specs. Reputable language schools gobble these people up.

Unlike the university ajarns, these teachers travel around Bangkok and work odd hours. Some spend as much time on a bus as in the classroom. They can have a conversation course for salesmen at 7:00 a.m. in Bang Na and a student preparing for a university entrance exam at 6:00 p.m. on Silom. These instructors tend to use textbooks and cassettes from one of the popular series of general English courses. Specialized materials for English for telephoning, tourism and business also occupy language schools' shelves. Unfortunately, many of these books and teachers don't fulfill the needs of a particular industry or company.

For example, a construction firm's middle management writes a variety of documents in English. They also have to read material filled with technical jargon. A TESOL instructor could teach them how to write memos, elevate their vocabulary, and develop reading skills. Many exercises would be based on fictional scenarios. But these workers require classes and materials that focus on their particular needs. Enter English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

As the title suggests, an ESP course is not general English. Nor is it English by telepathy (although most non-Thai speakers have tried). It is a course specially tailored to fill the learner's needs. In the construction example, building-terminology learning might utilize the reading of relevant technical reports or engineering articles. A memo writing class could use previous situations encountered by the students. The teacher would have to create his or her materials and logically structure the course. This preparation takes much more time than teaching it.

To design such a course, knowledge in construction would help. A few years pounding nails or a minor degree in architecture wouldn't hurt. The same applies for any ESP class. Experience in the hospitality industry would give an edge in teaching a course for restaurant or hotel staff. Therefore, schools seek instructors with work experience on top of teaching qualifications. Although this may exclude some academics, ESP rewards career diversity and honors the Renaissance Man.

The ESP explosion has provided niches including English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), English for dScience and Technology (EST), English for Agricultural Technology (EAT), English for Business and Industry (EBI) and English for Information Technology (EIT).

This, in turn, has led to specialized teaching areas within the ESP arena. For example, the hotel industry is an ESP sector. Many Thai hotels hire full-time English teachers, and they receive stacks of CVs with entries like bartender and waitress. Some teachers design curriculums reflecting the English used in their hotels. Class materials employ hotel policy, facilities, menus, tours and theme. This may sound like overkill, but a five-star resort requires excellent English and no misunderstandings as part of their service.

However, it's one thing to teach a waiter or a guest receptionist. It's quite another to instruct a financial analyst on writing research in English or helping a fund manager to understand it. Business English contains loads of terminology and concepts not privy to laymen and has grown in demand in Thailand. It's a secret language. Many who know it, use it to make (or lose) lots of money.

A top-shelf business English teacher-or any advanced ESP teacher-instructs experts. Playing "Business Hangman" with a bank vice president might not be effective. Execs need English to cut billion-baht deals. Generally, the biggest deal an English teacher swings is a 4,500 baht-a-month rental agreement. Still, Thailand has teachers with a decent understanding of business, though successful brokers may not be racing to toss in the towel to teach. The best teachers don't just understand the meaning of business jargon, they comprehend basic economics and concepts used in big business. They follow business news and can carry on a decent conversation about business. Many have worked in large offices. Any familiarity with business is a plus as it helps keep the subject matter at a productive level.

Where does all this leave an inexperienced backpacker? Once, it was simple for random native speakers to get jobs teaching business English or otherwise. Educational background played a small role; a natural teacher can adapt. Qualifications consisted of simple preferences such as British vs. American speakers or women over men. Wages were--and still are--low, but come-ons like "It's cheap to live in Thailand" or "Live and learn Thai culture" enticed young travelers into short-term jobs. Backpackers looking for money to survive on Khao San Road played "Hello. How are you?" for 100-baht an hour. They fit the bill: energetic, young, and the able to have fun.

"Able to have fun" remains a prerequisite for successful teaching in Thailand, and the backpacker jobs have survived. Much has been written about "fun" in the Kingdom. The workplace, above all else, must be fun. Likewise, classes must be fun. Fun, in this sense, isn't uncorking champagne and singing karaoke. Fun means "not serious." Thai-taught classrooms may or may not be serious, but expats have "not serious" drilled into their heads. Therefore, an easy-going candidate should be more successful than the stereotypical nitpicking old maid.

A relaxed, patient and open-minded teacher avoids frustrations and tries to keep a light atmosphere in-and-out of class. Experience in Thailand helps refine these qualities so necessary in Thai classrooms which differ greatly from those in the West. Thai students filling those seats have worn uniforms and memorized formulas. A proclivity towards rote learning produced students who never asked, "Why?" Thai society also doesn't fit the sample exercises and conversations found in most textbooks. Cultural nuances often crop up during a lesson such as ranking expressions by politeness. A teacher experienced in Thailand can integrate different country's customs into the class.

For example, the front desk staff of a southern Thai hotel was learning how to handle complaints in English. The teacher asked what the class would say to an angry guest at two in the morning concerning loud music coming from the next room. The immediate response, "Is the noise coming from foreigners or Thais?" Thai staff would never dream of confronting a Thai guest. In the foreigner's case, diplomacy was okay.

This double standard might offend some Westerners, but a teacher who appreciates this cultural predicament can easily get through it with a sense of humor and flexibility. The students immediately saw this societal clash. No doubt many had played middleman in some awkward scenes. The teacher had never considered it. What the staff needed was a way to handle the problem in English. In other words, how could they satisfy the foreign guest without interrupting the Thai merrymakers? The teacher ad-libbed and guided role-playing through various "what-if" scenarios. Having lived several years in Thailand helps in teaching situations like these.

All these characteristics are vital when a teacher's workload can include several three-hour classes a week. Delivering marathon after marathon requires more than a stack of diplomas. Sitting through a half-day class can be excruciating for students. Enthusiasm keeps things rolling. Class interaction helps students stay awake. Careful preparation keeps the class flowing. A teacher with several long classes is like a musician who gives daily concerts. But unlike the musician, a teacher might have to perform a different show every day of every week. It requires endurance and the ability to entertain. Most of all, a teacher must capture the attention of the crowd.

Educational background, diverse knowledge and an easy-going personality are all ingredients for a good English teacher in Thailand. Living for years in the Kingdom is a bonus. But teaching experience carries plenty of weight. Forty years in a classroom, regardless of the subject, has advantages over an extroverted kid with a box of books. Time-tested teachers have put theories into practice and battled administrations. They've taught anxious learners, bored know-it-alls, inquisitive wizards, hopeless try-hards and emerging talents all in the same class. They've won some and lost some, and throughout, they, too, have learned.

But have they learned how to be good teachers or cynical lecturers? Teachers must instill knowledge. In the English teacher's case, that knowledge is language use. There are hundreds of methods for doing this from memorizing to following a structured curriculum to total immersion. What works for one teacher may not for another. The same goes for the students. The learner's ability to communicate is the ultimate judge of success.

No doubt, methodology affects a teacher's success. The easiest and most widely used approach follows lesson plans in standard textbooks from prominent series. Many exercises rehearse common structures allowing students to fill in the blanks. For example, "Where is the post office?" Additional vocabulary and patterns for situations like asking directions, going shopping, and making new friends raise a student's level from "Beginner" to "Intermediate" and finally "Advanced." There are also sub-levels like "Advanced Intermediate." Tests in the four skills--reading, writing, listening and speaking-assess their ability. Much of the stress is on grammar. The grand finale is passing the TOEFL test which Western universities and many businesses rely on as an English gauge.

One problem with this pattern-approach arises when someone leaves the pattern. A flight attendant interviewed by a graduate student commented that she had studied hard and scored high on the TOEFL test. The airline's English training course covered all conceivable verbal volleys an attendant and passenger might have on the flight. Her gripe was that travelers wanted to talk about the Thai economy or lifestyle and all she could do was offer them a magazine.

Rather than return to a language school, she watched VDOs with subtitles. Years later, the airline demanded another round of TOEFL tests. The attendant didn't study and received a higher grade.

Because of this, many teachers have adopted a "content-based" method. It concentrates more on vocabulary and getting the message across. Grammar can be refined along the way. Most passengers wouldn't mind a broader conversation in broken English. A boss might rather have a comprehensible memo with all the facts than a grammatically correct note without details. A tourist might learn more from a local guide uttering fragments than from a programmed, script-reciting escort. On the other hand, many times, foreigners mistake grammar ability for intelligence, however no hard statistics can back this up.

Also, as previously mentioned, there is the current ESP wave. Actually, this has been around much longer. Grocers taught American immigrants how to sell tomatoes. Sahib taught the Indian cook food terms. Experts have only begun to examine ESP as a viable tool for teaching. The less idealistic wonder where it will stop. English for Street Vendors, English for Noodle Shops, English for Tuk-Tuk Drivers. Imagination is the only limit.

Obviously, this is an incomplete list of teaching techniques. There is probably no "best" teaching method in the way that great baseball pitchers throw differently. This is where situations and materials come in. A person usually has a reason for learning grammar, syntax structures and reading skills. A geek may swim in a sea of scientific abstracts. A phone-toting woman might sell real estate in Bangkok. A construction veteran might write daily reports. There are scores of textbooks with chapters touching on these subjects. A good teacher can collect, modify and expand existing material to fit situations for specific students.

Some instructors are experimenting with authentic materials, another trend in English teaching circles. No one is exactly sure what qualifies as authentic. Is a recent science article used in a reading class more authentic than one from a collection sold in book form? Is an import/export document in a workbook any different than one sent from the Ministry of Commerce? The jury is still mumbling about that one.

Authenticity of materials and situations probably isn't black or white but something measured in degree. Everyone teaching business English is familiar with inventing and running a fictitious company using only English. But there is also the real-life supervisor who needs to write a memo on a problem now. If an English teacher happens to be around, their class content is 100% authentic. It is called "work."

And how does a Thai ajarn fit into this recipe for a good teacher? Can a Thai make as good an English teacher as a native speaker? After all, there are more Thai than foreign English teachers in Thailand. Thousands of English-using Thais never took a course from a native speaker. One resort hosted interns from Krabi's Technical College who had always learned English from Thais. These students spoke circles around some of the seasoned receptionists who mixed daily with real English speakers.

There could be many reasons for a Thai's success in teaching English. For one, they can explain things in Thai. A university class in English for Science and Technology uses some difficult vocabulary and advanced sentence structures. A native speaker will attempt to break concepts down to very simple English. When this doesn't work, they try pantomime. A Thai has the luxury of Thai.

In grade school, Thais usually teach English. This can follow through graduation from a university. A doctor, who had always studied with Thai teachers, practiced conversation with an American. In fact, before hiring the tutor, he had never spoken to a Westerner. His pronunciation was polished. Through classes, books and the media, he had gained an interesting and diverse command of the language. He could talk about anything. His tutelage was the last step before dropping into New York City's surgical district. From a language perspective, there was no problem. Unfortunately, he was shy around foreigners and refused to hold an authentic class at an expat gathering point.

In another case, an elementary school teacher in a tourist area sent students out to converse with foreigners. Timid, disarming groups crept up to vacationers in this right of language passage. After jostling and mumbling, one would blurt out a rehearsed introduction. It was a start. A kid learning German in Arkansas might not get this chance. For Thais, it could be a necessity. Long ago, Thais in tourist areas learned to translate English into baht.

Universities use mostly Thais to teach English. Many have degrees from Western universities. Like their native-speaking counterparts, they have varying degrees of success though possibly for different reasons. Students may view a Thai ajarn differently than a foreign one. Culture might also affect material presentation and classroom management. Expats tend to behave more like vaudeville characters in front of a class. Thais present material much more formally. A student with a problem usually approaches a Thai professor much more cautiously than a foreigner who may encourage them to speak freely. Cultural influences aside, many Thais make good teachers.

For someone looking for an English teacher, this brief look has probably caused more confusion than relief. Luckily, a good university or language institute has high standards in hiring and does their best to match the appropriate teacher with a specific class. Most universities publish their staffs' credentials and courses. It isn't poor taste to ask language schools about the qualifications of their teachers. First, one way to judge a school's quality is by the credentials of their staff. Further, a brief inquiry into the teacher allows you to shop for the best deal.

Look around. Inquire about education and work experience. Feel out a teacher's personality. Do their materials and method suit your expectations? Do you want a grammar person or a content person or someone to design an ESP course? Will a language-school teacher suffice or do you need a degree from a university?

Browse the dozens of daily advertisements that appear for teachers and pick the ones that describe a person you'd feel comfortable learning from. Notice which qualifications different schools seek. Different needs require different teachers. What makes a teacher good is matching their abilities with the students' needs.

Note: The author holds an MA in English from Binghamton University in New York. He currently lectures at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok and is a committee member of the Department's MA-EBI program. Using the ESP approach and authentic materials, he has designed and implemented various graduate courses in Business English.

Thailand abounds with English teaching positions. Adverts swamp the daily newspapers, and language schools outnumber McDonalds. Private academies and universities continue to increase their focus on English with positions opening all the time. And teaching English seems like a job that almost any English speaker can get. Backpackers with time and no money. Diploma-holders with career aspirations. Thais with English degrees. But like any profession, an English teacher needs qualifications, the least of which is being human. As one of the lowest paying, easiest-to-get expat jobs in the Kingdom, teaching attracts a hodgepodge of native speakers.

How do you spot a good one? Educational background could indicate a good candidate. Certainly someone with an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA-TESOL) sits high on a university's short list. At the other end stands the native speaker with a certificate in welding. Hardly ajarn material, but a Thai engineer might enjoy a conversation course taught by a fellow tradesman.

A variety of degrees, diplomas and certificates float around the English-teaching world. Someone with an MA in English or linguistics can discuss deconstruction philosophy, language acquisition theories, and Faulkner's use of the past tense. Thai's sometimes call these people "Experts." Education grads know things like monitoring and managing. A person with a bachelor's degree in anything should easily be able to follow a "Teacher's Book."

Educational background also reflects abilities in behind-the-classes work. University ajarns draw on theories and concepts to prepare upper-level classes. They must also design and assess materials, courses, textbooks and exams. However, not all English teaching in Thailand occurs at the university level.

Many businesses and individuals turn to language schools. This is where acronyms and initials run wild. Potentially, most native literates can teach some level of English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). After all, history abounds with examples of languages spreading without

EFL teachers. The Romans and British probably didn't staff their empires with teams of linguists specializing in ESL. However, in these modern times--this era of globalization--certified instructors teach English at international language institutes.

The alphabet soup of credentials sets the standards for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). At the base of this certification heap is acknowledgment from the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA). RSA certificate holders generally have a secondary education. Wavers of TESOL, TEFL and TESL papers answer to more rigid specs. Reputable language schools gobble these people up.

Unlike the university ajarns, these teachers travel around Bangkok and work odd hours. Some spend as much time on a bus as in the classroom. They can have a conversation course for salesmen at 7:00 a.m. in Bang Na and a student preparing for a university entrance exam at 6:00 p.m. on Silom. These instructors tend to use textbooks and cassettes from one of the popular series of general English courses. Specialized materials for English for telephoning, tourism and business also occupy language schools' shelves. Unfortunately, many of these books and teachers don't fulfill the needs of a particular industry or company.

For example, a construction firm's middle management writes a variety of documents in English. They also have to read material filled with technical jargon. A TESOL instructor could teach them how to write memos, elevate their vocabulary, and develop reading skills. Many exercises would be based on fictional scenarios. But these workers require classes and materials that focus on their particular needs. Enter English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

As the title suggests, an ESP course is not general English. Nor is it English by telepathy (although most non-Thai speakers have tried). It is a course specially tailored to fill the learner's needs. In the construction example, building-terminology learning might utilize the reading of relevant technical reports or engineering articles. A memo writing class could use previous situations encountered by the students. The teacher would have to create his or her materials and logically structure the course. This preparation takes much more time than teaching it.

To design such a course, knowledge in construction would help. A few years pounding nails or a minor degree in architecture wouldn't hurt. The same applies for any ESP class. Experience in the hospitality industry would give an edge in teaching a course for restaurant or hotel staff. Therefore, schools seek instructors with work experience on top of teaching qualifications. Although this may exclude some academics, ESP rewards career diversity and honors the Renaissance Man.

The ESP explosion has provided niches including English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), English for dScience and Technology (EST), English for Agricultural Technology (EAT), English for Business and Industry (EBI) and English for Information Technology (EIT).

This, in turn, has led to specialized teaching areas within the ESP arena. For example, the hotel industry is an ESP sector. Many Thai hotels hire full-time English teachers, and they receive stacks of CVs with entries like bartender and waitress. Some teachers design curriculums reflecting the English used in their hotels. Class materials employ hotel policy, facilities, menus, tours and theme. This may sound like overkill, but a five-star resort requires excellent English and no misunderstandings as part of their service.

However, it's one thing to teach a waiter or a guest receptionist. It's quite another to instruct a financial analyst on writing research in English or helping a fund manager to understand it. Business English contains loads of terminology and concepts not privy to laymen and has grown in demand in Thailand. It's a secret language. Many who know it, use it to make (or lose) lots of money.

A top-shelf business English teacher-or any advanced ESP teacher-instructs experts. Playing "Business Hangman" with a bank vice president might not be effective. Execs need English to cut billion-baht deals. Generally, the biggest deal an English teacher swings is a 4,500 baht-a-month rental agreement. Still, Thailand has teachers with a decent understanding of business, though successful brokers may not be racing to toss in the towel to teach. The best teachers don't just understand the meaning of business jargon, they comprehend basic economics and concepts used in big business. They follow business news and can carry on a decent conversation about business. Many have worked in large offices. Any familiarity with business is a plus as it helps keep the subject matter at a productive level.

Where does all this leave an inexperienced backpacker? Once, it was simple for random native speakers to get jobs teaching business English or otherwise. Educational background played a small role; a natural teacher can adapt. Qualifications consisted of simple preferences such as British vs. American speakers or women over men. Wages were--and still are--low, but come-ons like "It's cheap to live in Thailand" or "Live and learn Thai culture" enticed young travelers into short-term jobs. Backpackers looking for money to survive on Khao San Road played "Hello. How are you?" for 100-baht an hour. They fit the bill: energetic, young, and the able to have fun.

"Able to have fun" remains a prerequisite for successful teaching in Thailand, and the backpacker jobs have survived. Much has been written about "fun" in the Kingdom. The workplace, above all else, must be fun. Likewise, classes must be fun. Fun, in this sense, isn't uncorking champagne and singing karaoke. Fun means "not serious." Thai-taught classrooms may or may not be serious, but expats have "not serious" drilled into their heads. Therefore, an easy-going candidate should be more successful than the stereotypical nitpicking old maid.

A relaxed, patient and open-minded teacher avoids frustrations and tries to keep a light atmosphere in-and-out of class. Experience in Thailand helps refine these qualities so necessary in Thai classrooms which differ greatly from those in the West. Thai students filling those seats have worn uniforms and memorized formulas. A proclivity towards rote learning produced students who never asked, "Why?" Thai society also doesn't fit the sample exercises and conversations found in most textbooks. Cultural nuances often crop up during a lesson such as ranking expressions by politeness. A teacher experienced in Thailand can integrate different country's customs into the class.

For example, the front desk staff of a southern Thai hotel was learning how to handle complaints in English. The teacher asked what the class would say to an angry guest at two in the morning concerning loud music coming from the next room. The immediate response, "Is the noise coming from foreigners or Thais?" Thai staff would never dream of confronting a Thai guest. In the foreigner's case, diplomacy was okay.

This double standard might offend some Westerners, but a teacher who appreciates this cultural predicament can easily get through it with a sense of humor and flexibility. The students immediately saw this societal clash. No doubt many had played middleman in some awkward scenes. The teacher had never considered it. What the staff needed was a way to handle the problem in English. In other words, how could they satisfy the foreign guest without interrupting the Thai merrymakers? The teacher ad-libbed and guided role-playing through various "what-if" scenarios. Having lived several years in Thailand helps in teaching situations like these.

All these characteristics are vital when a teacher's workload can include several three-hour classes a week. Delivering marathon after marathon requires more than a stack of diplomas. Sitting through a half-day class can be excruciating for students. Enthusiasm keeps things rolling. Class interaction helps students stay awake. Careful preparation keeps the class flowing. A teacher with several long classes is like a musician who gives daily concerts. But unlike the musician, a teacher might have to perform a different show every day of every week. It requires endurance and the ability to entertain. Most of all, a teacher must capture the attention of the crowd.

Educational background, diverse knowledge and an easy-going personality are all ingredients for a good English teacher in Thailand. Living for years in the Kingdom is a bonus. But teaching experience carries plenty of weight. Forty years in a classroom, regardless of the subject, has advantages over an extroverted kid with a box of books. Time-tested teachers have put theories into practice and battled administrations. They've taught anxious learners, bored know-it-alls, inquisitive wizards, hopeless try-hards and emerging talents all in the same class. They've won some and lost some, and throughout, they, too, have learned.

But have they learned how to be good teachers or cynical lecturers? Teachers must instill knowledge. In the English teacher's case, that knowledge is language use. There are hundreds of methods for doing this from memorizing to following a structured curriculum to total immersion. What works for one teacher may not for another. The same goes for the students. The learner's ability to communicate is the ultimate judge of success.

No doubt, methodology affects a teacher's success. The easiest and most widely used approach follows lesson plans in standard textbooks from prominent series. Many exercises rehearse common structures allowing students to fill in the blanks. For example, "Where is the post office?" Additional vocabulary and patterns for situations like asking directions, going shopping, and making new friends raise a student's level from "Beginner" to "Intermediate" and finally "Advanced." There are also sub-levels like "Advanced Intermediate." Tests in the four skills--reading, writing, listening and speaking-assess their ability. Much of the stress is on grammar. The grand finale is passing the TOEFL test which Western universities and many businesses rely on as an English gauge.

One problem with this pattern-approach arises when someone leaves the pattern. A flight attendant interviewed by a graduate student commented that she had studied hard and scored high on the TOEFL test. The airline's English training course covered all conceivable verbal volleys an attendant and passenger might have on the flight. Her gripe was that travelers wanted to talk about the Thai economy or lifestyle and all she could do was offer them a magazine.

Rather than return to a language school, she watched VDOs with subtitles. Years later, the airline demanded another round of TOEFL tests. The attendant didn't study and received a higher grade.

Because of this, many teachers have adopted a "content-based" method. It concentrates more on vocabulary and getting the message across. Grammar can be refined along the way. Most passengers wouldn't mind a broader conversation in broken English. A boss might rather have a comprehensible memo with all the facts than a grammatically correct note without details. A tourist might learn more from a local guide uttering fragments than from a programmed, script-reciting escort. On the other hand, many times, foreigners mistake grammar ability for intelligence, however no hard statistics can back this up.

Also, as previously mentioned, there is the current ESP wave. Actually, this has been around much longer. Grocers taught American immigrants how to sell tomatoes. Sahib taught the Indian cook food terms. Experts have only begun to examine ESP as a viable tool for teaching. The less idealistic wonder where it will stop. English for Street Vendors, English for Noodle Shops, English for Tuk-Tuk Drivers. Imagination is the only limit.

Obviously, this is an incomplete list of teaching techniques. There is probably no "best" teaching method in the way that great baseball pitchers throw differently. This is where situations and materials come in. A person usually has a reason for learning grammar, syntax structures and reading skills. A geek may swim in a sea of scientific abstracts. A phone-toting woman might sell real estate in Bangkok. A construction veteran might write daily reports. There are scores of textbooks with chapters touching on these subjects. A good teacher can collect, modify and expand existing material to fit situations for specific students.

Some instructors are experimenting with authentic materials, another trend in English teaching circles. No one is exactly sure what qualifies as authentic. Is a recent science article used in a reading class more authentic than one from a collection sold in book form? Is an import/export document in a workbook any different than one sent from the Ministry of Commerce? The jury is still mumbling about that one.

Authenticity of materials and situations probably isn't black or white but something measured in degree. Everyone teaching business English is familiar with inventing and running a fictitious company using only English. But there is also the real-life supervisor who needs to write a memo on a problem now. If an English teacher happens to be around, their class content is 100% authentic. It is called "work."

And how does a Thai ajarn fit into this recipe for a good teacher? Can a Thai make as good an English teacher as a native speaker? After all, there are more Thai than foreign English teachers in Thailand. Thousands of English-using Thais never took a course from a native speaker. One resort hosted interns from Krabi's Technical College who had always learned English from Thais. These students spoke circles around some of the seasoned receptionists who mixed daily with real English speakers.

There could be many reasons for a Thai's success in teaching English. For one, they can explain things in Thai. A university class in English for Science and Technology uses some difficult vocabulary and advanced sentence structures. A native speaker will attempt to break concepts down to very simple English. When this doesn't work, they try pantomime. A Thai has the luxury of Thai.

In grade school, Thais usually teach English. This can follow through graduation from a university. A doctor, who had always studied with Thai teachers, practiced conversation with an American. In fact, before hiring the tutor, he had never spoken to a Westerner. His pronunciation was polished. Through classes, books and the media, he had gained an interesting and diverse command of the language. He could talk about anything. His tutelage was the last step before dropping into New York City's surgical district. From a language perspective, there was no problem. Unfortunately, he was shy around foreigners and refused to hold an authentic class at an expat gathering point.

In another case, an elementary school teacher in a tourist area sent students out to converse with foreigners. Timid, disarming groups crept up to vacationers in this right of language passage. After jostling and mumbling, one would blurt out a rehearsed introduction. It was a start. A kid learning German in Arkansas might not get this chance. For Thais, it could be a necessity. Long ago, Thais in tourist areas learned to translate English into baht.

Universities use mostly Thais to teach English. Many have degrees from Western universities. Like their native-speaking counterparts, they have varying degrees of success though possibly for different reasons. Students may view a Thai ajarn differently than a foreign one. Culture might also affect material presentation and classroom management. Expats tend to behave more like vaudeville characters in front of a class. Thais present material much more formally. A student with a problem usually approaches a Thai professor much more cautiously than a foreigner who may encourage them to speak freely. Cultural influences aside, many Thais make good teachers.

For someone looking for an English teacher, this brief look has probably caused more confusion than relief. Luckily, a good university or language institute has high standards in hiring and does their best to match the appropriate teacher with a specific class. Most universities publish their staffs' credentials and courses. It isn't poor taste to ask language schools about the qualifications of their teachers. First, one way to judge a school's quality is by the credentials of their staff. Further, a brief inquiry into the teacher allows you to shop for the best deal.

Look around. Inquire about education and work experience. Feel out a teacher's personality. Do their materials and method suit your expectations? Do you want a grammar person or a content person or someone to design an ESP course? Will a language-school teacher suffice or do you need a degree from a university?

Browse the dozens of daily advertisements that appear for teachers and pick the ones that describe a person you'd feel comfortable learning from. Notice which qualifications different schools seek. Different needs require different teachers. What makes a teacher good is matching their abilities with the students' needs.

Note: The author holds an MA in English from Binghamton University in New York. He currently lectures at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok and is a committee member of the Department's MA-EBI program. Using the ESP approach and authentic materials, he has designed and implemented various graduate courses in Business English.

What makes good yoga teachers? Is it the amount of time they devote to study or to their own daily practice or classroom teaching? Is it the number of workshops, teacher training courses, and certifications they have acquired over the years?

Surely, these quantitative expressions of teaching ability can have a positive effect on a teacher's individual development. A teacher's own daily practice comes especially to mind. But we should not attach too great an importance to such measures alone.

This is particularly true for certifications. Although teachers here at Sun & Moon Studio have received various certifications, I believe there is much wisdom in what French essayist, poet, and philosopher Paul Valery had to say about official certifications. "The diploma gives society a phantom guarantee and its holders phantom rights. The holder of a diploma [who] passes officially for possessing knowledge . . . comes to believe that society owes him something."

Good teachers possess much more than mere quantitative tokens of learning. The have a qualitative character that often expresses itself in boundless enthusiasm, or a passion for translating their knowledge into practical good for their students. Their positive energy makes them the kind of person we all enjoy being around.

They recognize their spiritual center and stay in touch with it on a daily basis. Feeling their poses and the effects from deep within, good teachers are able to exploit what they have learned about anatomy and physiology and combine it with these feelings and sensations to offer unique and particular insights to individual students. This capacity comes from developing a keen eye for each individual student's needs

Effectively communicating the benefits of yoga doesn't come automatically, nor is it guaranteed by virtue of what a teacher has learned. The catalyst for effective communication is that qualitative dimension that flows from the heart, not the didactic expression of what a teacher has learned through however many courses of instruction.

In my yogic career, I have studied with several teachers who possess that special gift of teaching from the heart. They have become quite popular teachers in their own right. I have also experienced teachers from whom I have learned a great deal. They had incredible knowledge to share; yet, something was lacking. I think it has something to do with not being able to let their students develop on their own after they have absorbed the knowledge they have offered. I am reminded by something I had written in my notes that Patricia Walden said last year at the Women's Retreat in New Orleans: "Sometimes you want to imitate the people who inspire you. That works for a while to a certain extent. Then, find what YOUR practice is so you're authentic."Francis Bacon probably comes closest to capturing what I believe are reciprocal responsibilities of teacher and student, when he said: "Disciples do owe their masters only a temporary belief, and a suspense of their own judgment till they be fully instructed; and not an absolute resignation nor perpetual captivity." Teachers may teach in a particular school or method only temporarily. Sooner or later they must become their own school or method and inspire their own students to do the same.

Sun &Moon Studio has a Teacher Certification program that involves one year of close study under my direction. Often, I reflect on why I'm trying to teach prospective teachers. I know that when I began teaching yoga nearly a decade GOOD teachers I spoke of before, and from my own heart. Those who begin the Teacher Certification program each fall start out knowing more than I knew when I began the process of becoming a teacher. Though I truly believe that the Teacher Certification program offered at Sun & Moon Studio is excellent, I don't kid myself by thinking that the teachers we turn out will all become truly good teachers. I know that only time will tell which ones shine, not just in imparting the knowledge they accumulate but in shining from the inside out.

What makes good yoga teachers? Is it the amount of time they devote to study or to their own daily practice or classroom teaching? Is it the number of workshops, teacher training courses, and certifications they have acquired over the years?

Surely, these quantitative expressions of teaching ability can have a positive effect on a teacher's individual development. A teacher's own daily practice comes especially to mind. But we should not attach too great an importance to such measures alone.

This is particularly true for certifications. Although teachers here at Sun & Moon Studio have received various certifications, I believe there is much wisdom in what French essayist, poet, and philosopher Paul Valery had to say about official certifications. "The diploma gives society a phantom guarantee and its holders phantom rights. The holder of a diploma [who] passes officially for possessing knowledge . . . comes to believe that society owes him something."

Good teachers possess much more than mere quantitative tokens of learning. The have a qualitative character that often expresses itself in boundless enthusiasm, or a passion for translating their knowledge into practical good for their students. Their positive energy makes them the kind of person we all enjoy being around.

They recognize their spiritual center and stay in touch with it on a daily basis. Feeling their poses and the effects from deep within, good teachers are able to exploit what they have learned about anatomy and physiology and combine it with these feelings and sensations to offer unique and particular insights to individual students. This capacity comes from developing a keen eye for each individual student's needs

Effectively communicating the benefits of yoga doesn't come automatically, nor is it guaranteed by virtue of what a teacher has learned. The catalyst for effective communication is that qualitative dimension that flows from the heart, not the didactic expression of what a teacher has learned through however many courses of instruction.

In my yogic career, I have studied with several teachers who possess that special gift of teaching from the heart. They have become quite popular teachers in their own right. I have also experienced teachers from whom I have learned a great deal. They had incredible knowledge to share; yet, something was lacking. I think it has something to do with not being able to let their students develop on their own after they have absorbed the knowledge they have offered. I am reminded by something I had written in my notes that Patricia Walden said last year at the Women's Retreat in New Orleans: "Sometimes you want to imitate the people who inspire you. That works for a while to a certain extent. Then, find what YOUR practice is so you're authentic."Francis Bacon probably comes closest to capturing what I believe are reciprocal responsibilities of teacher and student, when he said: "Disciples do owe their masters only a temporary belief, and a suspense of their own judgment till they be fully instructed; and not an absolute resignation nor perpetual captivity." Teachers may teach in a particular school or method only temporarily. Sooner or later they must become their own school or method and inspire their own students to do the same.

Sun &Moon Studio has a Teacher Certification program that involves one year of close study under my direction. Often, I reflect on why I'm trying to teach prospective teachers. I know that when I began teaching yoga nearly a decade GOOD teachers I spoke of before, and from my own heart. Those who begin the Teacher Certification program each fall start out knowing more than I knew when I began the process of becoming a teacher. Though I truly believe that the Teacher Certification program offered at Sun & Moon Studio is excellent, I don't kid myself by thinking that the teachers we turn out will all become truly good teachers. I know that only time will tell which ones shine, not just in imparting the knowledge they accumulate but in shining from the inside out.

By Dorothy Rich

If I were starting out as a teacher today, I'd have to be a different teacher from what I was in 1956. I thought I was really good then. I'd have to be a different kind of "good."

It used to be that we'd put a teacher, a set of books, and a set of tests in one room and say, "Go to it!" That's what happened to me as a beginning teacher. But teaching has become a much more complicated business. To woo and win students today involves a lot of words with "ing" endings--innovating, motivating, facilitating.

It's not all that hard to get kids moving along when they're starting out in school. Almost all of them come to kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd, even 3rd grade, fresh, eager, and wanting to please. But walk into a 4th grade classroom and immediately you sense the difference. It's puberty and more. It's the outside world barging into that classroom--like a beast devouring our children's attention and interest.

Not so many years ago, the school was the source of all information. Parents used to say to kids, "Ask your teacher." Today, thanks to the telecommunications revolution, information is not embedded in the school and then sent out to the rest of the community. We all get our data at the same time--and the pace at which it comes is mind-boggling, confusing, even frightening.

Let me describe what I'd have to do differently to be a good teacher today. I'm prepared to use myself as a "before" example.

When I walked into the classroom in my first teaching year more than 40 years ago, I assumed (actually had been taught to assume), that the students before me were ready to learn and that my job was to move them through the appointed steps to the next grade.

I can see those students even now. I was a 22-year-old teaching senior English. The students were barely four or five years younger than I was. But the difference in those days was enormous. I was the figure of authority; I was automatically supposed to get respect. The seats were arranged in straight lines; it didn't even dawn on me to change them. About the only thing I didn't do regimentally was to seat students alphabetically.

I was assigned the seniors, despite my inexperience, because even then it didn't matter much what kids did in the 12th grade. Their main event, the regents' exam (this was New York state), was taken in the 11th grade. That's where the experienced teacher was placed.

Today, if I walked into the same classroom facing the grandchildren of those same students, an important difference for me as a teacher would be that I'd have to assume that many of the students before me might not be ready to learn. Some would not have completed previous grades successfully. Some would be too tired or too hungry; some would be too discouraged, too distracted, too upset about what's going on in their lives outside the school walls.

As a teacher today, I'd have to do what most teachers didn't really do before. I'd need to pay far more attention to my students and what they brought to my classroom. In the '50s, I was all caught up with teaching, and not enough with learning. Even though I was considered a good teacher by all the usual measures, the unwritten ground rules in those old days were these: If the day went poorly, you blamed the students. If the day went well, you praised your teaching skills. When I walked into my classroom then, it was my domain. The door shut behind me, and I didn't talk to another adult all day. And I suffered from the traditional teacher affliction: I talked too much and used up too much class time and attention.

No, those "good old days" were not so good. Public opinion polls tell us that there are really few among us who enjoyed school then. When asked about a major disappointment in their lives, many adults tell pollsters "school." Should that be a surprise? When teachers get together, we sometimes tell a certain secret--that we went back to the classroom because we were the only ones who really liked school.

Teaching has always been a demanding job. Many of us, however, did not know how extraordinarily complex it was. Children and adults don't learn simply because they are taught. There isn't a parent or employer alive who doesn't know this. Yet somehow we have this faith that just because teachers cover the subject children are learning it.

Many parents ask me, "How can we know when our child has a good teacher?" It's an inevitable question and an important one, because it lays the base for judgments about the entire school experience. While there is a great desire to simplify education, to reduce it to formulas and test scores, education really is and always will be "messy." It's about relationships between people, hopes and dreams, and about a future we can't even envision. Kids need good test scores, but they need even more to be protected and prepared for the messy and exciting world in which they'll live.

For parents who ask the question: "Does my child have a good teacher?" and for teachers who ask themselves: "Am I a good teacher?" I've come up with a list of seven criteria. I'd like to call these the "Seven Pillars of Classroom Wisdom," but in less pompous terms, the compilation really is the "Watch Out for These" list. The list does not include bricks of technology. It asks us to look at what's happening between people, in and out of the classroom. This has always been the make-or-break measure in education and never more so than today.

Here, then, are my seven habits of good teachers:

1. Marketing the subject. The assumption used to be that schoolwork was known to be important and that everyone recognized this, coming ready to the classroom to do his or her best. Yet, today, the message from home may not reinforce the school, and the messages from the media are often anti-school. They say to children: Do it now, have it now, don't wait, rush, don't defer your gratification. School, in the older years, is often seen as an interruption in the real business of life.

Teachers today have to start out assuming that they must win over the hearts of their students. It is not an automatic buy-in. We can't just tell them school's important. We have to go beyond that to persuade them. Teachers sell through enthusiasm, making the subject's relevance clear for student's lives, if not now, then in the future. This future, we need to say, is not so far away. These points need to be made over and over, just as they are on the TV when students are being asked to buy a product. A good teacher has to be a good salesperson.

2. Knowing the subject: Teaching it with encouragement. Nothing takes the place of knowledge about and commitment to subject matter, whether it's teaching reading in the 1st grade or teaching Shakespeare in the 10th grade. But it's not enough to know the subject. We have to be able to put it across. What we've learned in recent years is that encouragement goes a long way. To meet high standards, children need a high level of encouragement.

Oh, how I remember those many English papers I graded and my sense of completion when I had circled in red every misspelled word. My standards were high, like many of my teaching colleagues'. And, also like many of my colleagues, I was not encouraging enough. How I would like to go back and mark those papers again. I would spend far more time looking for what the students did right and working to build on those strengths, rather than pointing to weaknesses.

Raising students' self-esteem, of course, is not enough either. Without solid content, it's like a house with a crumbling foundation. Solid standards mixed with encouragement is the cement for real learning.

3. Using a variety of teaching styles. I really didn't understand how we all learn in different ways. Today, we know so much more about the brain and a myriad of ways to reach different students. I lectured a lot in my early classroom days. I tried to use thought-provoking questions, but I did very little with small groups, or case studies, or role-playing. The use of audiovisual equipment was in its primeval stage then, and the machines never seemed to be available. Some of those problems still have not changed.

I ask parents to look for a variety of teaching techniques when visiting a classroom. Does the teacher use examples? Are students physically moving about? Does it look like children are paying attention? And I ask parents to respect their own gut feelings. Would they want to be in this classroom?

4. Building on family and outside-of-school experiences. As a beginning teacher, I had no idea what my students brought with them to class--if they worked at a job, if they collected stamps, or if there was a divorce going on at home. The word "family" was not mentioned. I knew nothing about their lives outside of school, except if by some happenstance someone mentioned it casually. Today, we know better. Major research studies indicate that readiness for learning, all through the grades, begins at home and that we've got to enlist all families as real partners in the education of their children.

As a good teacher today, my work would be to build a bridge -- connection between school and home so that information, ideas, and people move freely from one place to the other. The "hidden curriculum" of the home and community is not hidden anymore.

5. Involving students as learning partners. I used to leave the classroom exhausted at the end of the day. Actually, I was exhausted by noon. Teaching is hard work, but as I look back, I see now that I made it harder because I was doing almost all of the work in the classroom--my work and the students' too. I would come in with all of the assignments (the lesson plan for the month) and lay them out. I was conscientiously doing my job. But one important part never got done. I never thought to ask for any feedback from these almost grown-ups. Maybe I was afraid they would say they didn't like my plan.

All my students had to do was complete the assignments. If they didn't do them, I would nag or come up with some appropriate grading demerit. This was the business-as-usual style of the classroom. It may have worked or been thought to be working before, but today the routines need to change, if we expect change in our students.

As a new teacher today for students in the middle elementary grades and above, I'd start out my school year outlining the course but then ask--yes, require--students to think about what they want to get out of the course. I'd expect them to have learning goals. And if they couldn't come up with any, even with advice from their parents, or if they were unused to figuring out these kinds of things on an individual basis, we would do it as a group.

Since my lesson plan would be available in advance for students to review, this would not be a majority-vote kind of thing. A teacher does hold the ultimate responsibility, but it would be a discussion of the curriculum that would involve student thinking. A good teacher today has to expect more from each student. The "more" does not just mean more homework; it means more involvement.

6. Collaborating with other adults. When I went into my classroom, I closed the doors behind me. I rarely spoke to another adult, except at parent-teacher open houses, and then I did most of the talking. At faculty meetings, the principal did most of the talking. So as a teacher, like so many others, I was alone.

That's no way to succeed in the often discouraging job of education. Teachers need support, parents need support, the community needs support--and we need it from each other.

Students by and large receive better support from one another than adults do. Teachers need to be able to talk with and learn from each other. Parents need to be able to come to the school to meet not just with the teacher but with one another. One of the major outcomes for parents and teachers when they come together is finding out what works for others--and receiving the encouragement to believe that this can work for them too.

7. Making sure students know they are cared about. When I am asked today about the key factor that makes students like school, study hard, and stay in school, the answer is a "C" word, but it's not "curriculum." The word I choose is "caring."

The problem today is not that our children don't learn to read. Education research has indicated that most children do learn the basics of reading and math in the early grades. Many, however, do not continue these efforts in later grades. One explanation for this, perhaps truer today than ever before, is that to reach people enough to school them, we must meet their deep human need to feel cared about.

The days of you-do-it-or-else are over. Children, as well as adults, need to be persuaded. There is a personal search for caring and for recognition. There is a sense of higher expectations about how we will be treated, even by institutions, and especially by the school.
There are easy ways for teachers to show children and their families that they are cared about: Notes telling the children what they've done right. Calls home asking about the youngster when the child is out ill. "We missed you" comments when the child comes back to class after being out. How I wish I had known to do these in my early classes. I thought I had to be so formal, so stuffy, to establish my authority.

Students have to feel they are needed. Feeling needed can be a tricky business today. Many children seem to have too much time on their hands, while adults seem to have so much less time. Getting kids more involved at home is vital, but so is getting them more involved at school. I remember from my own school days how important it made me feel to clean erasers or to monitor the bathroom or to chair a committee--in short, to be somebody. This is a feeling every child can have and needs to have.

Teachers and parents may well have more points to add to the list. It is meant to be only a starting point. The exciting part about teaching today is that there are so many more opportunities for learning. The hard part is that, even with all the time-savers we have invented, it feels as if there is less time than there used to be.

When parents ask, "Does my child have a good teacher?" knowing what we do today about the importance of the home in children's achievement, I ask, "Does your child have a good parent?" We don't have to be perfect to be good, but we do have to be a team and we do need to make time to do our job together.

By Dorothy Rich

If I were starting out as a teacher today, I'd have to be a different teacher from what I was in 1956. I thought I was really good then. I'd have to be a different kind of "good."

It used to be that we'd put a teacher, a set of books, and a set of tests in one room and say, "Go to it!" That's what happened to me as a beginning teacher. But teaching has become a much more complicated business. To woo and win students today involves a lot of words with "ing" endings--innovating, motivating, facilitating.

It's not all that hard to get kids moving along when they're starting out in school. Almost all of them come to kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd, even 3rd grade, fresh, eager, and wanting to please. But walk into a 4th grade classroom and immediately you sense the difference. It's puberty and more. It's the outside world barging into that classroom--like a beast devouring our children's attention and interest.

Not so many years ago, the school was the source of all information. Parents used to say to kids, "Ask your teacher." Today, thanks to the telecommunications revolution, information is not embedded in the school and then sent out to the rest of the community. We all get our data at the same time--and the pace at which it comes is mind-boggling, confusing, even frightening.

Let me describe what I'd have to do differently to be a good teacher today. I'm prepared to use myself as a "before" example.

When I walked into the classroom in my first teaching year more than 40 years ago, I assumed (actually had been taught to assume), that the students before me were ready to learn and that my job was to move them through the appointed steps to the next grade.

I can see those students even now. I was a 22-year-old teaching senior English. The students were barely four or five years younger than I was. But the difference in those days was enormous. I was the figure of authority; I was automatically supposed to get respect. The seats were arranged in straight lines; it didn't even dawn on me to change them. About the only thing I didn't do regimentally was to seat students alphabetically.

I was assigned the seniors, despite my inexperience, because even then it didn't matter much what kids did in the 12th grade. Their main event, the regents' exam (this was New York state), was taken in the 11th grade. That's where the experienced teacher was placed.

Today, if I walked into the same classroom facing the grandchildren of those same students, an important difference for me as a teacher would be that I'd have to assume that many of the students before me might not be ready to learn. Some would not have completed previous grades successfully. Some would be too tired or too hungry; some would be too discouraged, too distracted, too upset about what's going on in their lives outside the school walls.

As a teacher today, I'd have to do what most teachers didn't really do before. I'd need to pay far more attention to my students and what they brought to my classroom. In the '50s, I was all caught up with teaching, and not enough with learning. Even though I was considered a good teacher by all the usual measures, the unwritten ground rules in those old days were these: If the day went poorly, you blamed the students. If the day went well, you praised your teaching skills. When I walked into my classroom then, it was my domain. The door shut behind me, and I didn't talk to another adult all day. And I suffered from the traditional teacher affliction: I talked too much and used up too much class time and attention.

No, those "good old days" were not so good. Public opinion polls tell us that there are really few among us who enjoyed school then. When asked about a major disappointment in their lives, many adults tell pollsters "school." Should that be a surprise? When teachers get together, we sometimes tell a certain secret--that we went back to the classroom because we were the only ones who really liked school.

Teaching has always been a demanding job. Many of us, however, did not know how extraordinarily complex it was. Children and adults don't learn simply because they are taught. There isn't a parent or employer alive who doesn't know this. Yet somehow we have this faith that just because teachers cover the subject children are learning it.

Many parents ask me, "How can we know when our child has a good teacher?" It's an inevitable question and an important one, because it lays the base for judgments about the entire school experience. While there is a great desire to simplify education, to reduce it to formulas and test scores, education really is and always will be "messy." It's about relationships between people, hopes and dreams, and about a future we can't even envision. Kids need good test scores, but they need even more to be protected and prepared for the messy and exciting world in which they'll live.

For parents who ask the question: "Does my child have a good teacher?" and for teachers who ask themselves: "Am I a good teacher?" I've come up with a list of seven criteria. I'd like to call these the "Seven Pillars of Classroom Wisdom," but in less pompous terms, the compilation really is the "Watch Out for These" list. The list does not include bricks of technology. It asks us to look at what's happening between people, in and out of the classroom. This has always been the make-or-break measure in education and never more so than today.

Here, then, are my seven habits of good teachers:

1. Marketing the subject. The assumption used to be that schoolwork was known to be important and that everyone recognized this, coming ready to the classroom to do his or her best. Yet, today, the message from home may not reinforce the school, and the messages from the media are often anti-school. They say to children: Do it now, have it now, don't wait, rush, don't defer your gratification. School, in the older years, is often seen as an interruption in the real business of life.

Teachers today have to start out assuming that they must win over the hearts of their students. It is not an automatic buy-in. We can't just tell them school's important. We have to go beyond that to persuade them. Teachers sell through enthusiasm, making the subject's relevance clear for student's lives, if not now, then in the future. This future, we need to say, is not so far away. These points need to be made over and over, just as they are on the TV when students are being asked to buy a product. A good teacher has to be a good salesperson.

2. Knowing the subject: Teaching it with encouragement. Nothing takes the place of knowledge about and commitment to subject matter, whether it's teaching reading in the 1st grade or teaching Shakespeare in the 10th grade. But it's not enough to know the subject. We have to be able to put it across. What we've learned in recent years is that encouragement goes a long way. To meet high standards, children need a high level of encouragement.

Oh, how I remember those many English papers I graded and my sense of completion when I had circled in red every misspelled word. My standards were high, like many of my teaching colleagues'. And, also like many of my colleagues, I was not encouraging enough. How I would like to go back and mark those papers again. I would spend far more time looking for what the students did right and working to build on those strengths, rather than pointing to weaknesses.

Raising students' self-esteem, of course, is not enough either. Without solid content, it's like a house with a crumbling foundation. Solid standards mixed with encouragement is the cement for real learning.

3. Using a variety of teaching styles. I really didn't understand how we all learn in different ways. Today, we know so much more about the brain and a myriad of ways to reach different students. I lectured a lot in my early classroom days. I tried to use thought-provoking questions, but I did very little with small groups, or case studies, or role-playing. The use of audiovisual equipment was in its primeval stage then, and the machines never seemed to be available. Some of those problems still have not changed.

I ask parents to look for a variety of teaching techniques when visiting a classroom. Does the teacher use examples? Are students physically moving about? Does it look like children are paying attention? And I ask parents to respect their own gut feelings. Would they want to be in this classroom?

4. Building on family and outside-of-school experiences. As a beginning teacher, I had no idea what my students brought with them to class--if they worked at a job, if they collected stamps, or if there was a divorce going on at home. The word "family" was not mentioned. I knew nothing about their lives outside of school, except if by some happenstance someone mentioned it casually. Today, we know better. Major research studies indicate that readiness for learning, all through the grades, begins at home and that we've got to enlist all families as real partners in the education of their children.

As a good teacher today, my work would be to build a bridge -- connection between school and home so that information, ideas, and people move freely from one place to the other. The "hidden curriculum" of the home and community is not hidden anymore.

5. Involving students as learning partners. I used to leave the classroom exhausted at the end of the day. Actually, I was exhausted by noon. Teaching is hard work, but as I look back, I see now that I made it harder because I was doing almost all of the work in the classroom--my work and the students' too. I would come in with all of the assignments (the lesson plan for the month) and lay them out. I was conscientiously doing my job. But one important part never got done. I never thought to ask for any feedback from these almost grown-ups. Maybe I was afraid they would say they didn't like my plan.

All my students had to do was complete the assignments. If they didn't do them, I would nag or come up with some appropriate grading demerit. This was the business-as-usual style of the classroom. It may have worked or been thought to be working before, but today the routines need to change, if we expect change in our students.

As a new teacher today for students in the middle elementary grades and above, I'd start out my school year outlining the course but then ask--yes, require--students to think about what they want to get out of the course. I'd expect them to have learning goals. And if they couldn't come up with any, even with advice from their parents, or if they were unused to figuring out these kinds of things on an individual basis, we would do it as a group.

Since my lesson plan would be available in advance for students to review, this would not be a majority-vote kind of thing. A teacher does hold the ultimate responsibility, but it would be a discussion of the curriculum that would involve student thinking. A good teacher today has to expect more from each student. The "more" does not just mean more homework; it means more involvement.

6. Collaborating with other adults. When I went into my classroom, I closed the doors behind me. I rarely spoke to another adult, except at parent-teacher open houses, and then I did most of the talking. At faculty meetings, the principal did most of the talking. So as a teacher, like so many others, I was alone.

That's no way to succeed in the often discouraging job of education. Teachers need support, parents need support, the community needs support--and we need it from each other.

Students by and large receive better support from one another than adults do. Teachers need to be able to talk with and learn from each other. Parents need to be able to come to the school to meet not just with the teacher but with one another. One of the major outcomes for parents and teachers when they come together is finding out what works for others--and receiving the encouragement to believe that this can work for them too.

7. Making sure students know they are cared about. When I am asked today about the key factor that makes students like school, study hard, and stay in school, the answer is a "C" word, but it's not "curriculum." The word I choose is "caring."

The problem today is not that our children don't learn to read. Education research has indicated that most children do learn the basics of reading and math in the early grades. Many, however, do not continue these efforts in later grades. One explanation for this, perhaps truer today than ever before, is that to reach people enough to school them, we must meet their deep human need to feel cared about.

The days of you-do-it-or-else are over. Children, as well as adults, need to be persuaded. There is a personal search for caring and for recognition. There is a sense of higher expectations about how we will be treated, even by institutions, and especially by the school.
There are easy ways for teachers to show children and their families that they are cared about: Notes telling the children what they've done right. Calls home asking about the youngster when the child is out ill. "We missed you" comments when the child comes back to class after being out. How I wish I had known to do these in my early classes. I thought I had to be so formal, so stuffy, to establish my authority.

Students have to feel they are needed. Feeling needed can be a tricky business today. Many children seem to have too much time on their hands, while adults seem to have so much less time. Getting kids more involved at home is vital, but so is getting them more involved at school. I remember from my own school days how important it made me feel to clean erasers or to monitor the bathroom or to chair a committee--in short, to be somebody. This is a feeling every child can have and needs to have.

Teachers and parents may well have more points to add to the list. It is meant to be only a starting point. The exciting part about teaching today is that there are so many more opportunities for learning. The hard part is that, even with all the time-savers we have invented, it feels as if there is less time than there used to be.

When parents ask, "Does my child have a good teacher?" knowing what we do today about the importance of the home in children's achievement, I ask, "Does your child have a good parent?" We don't have to be perfect to be good, but we do have to be a team and we do need to make time to do our job together.

'Half Nelson' finds an engaging teacher locked in drug and alcohol abuse

By Arthur Salm
ARTS WRITER

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is the history teacher you always wanted in middle school: funny, intense, committed, not only willing but also downright eager to spin lessons off into long, involved, fascinating but ultimately related tangents.
That's not how we first see him, however, in Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's moving, jangly film “Half Nelson.” He's in his underwear and in a daze, sitting on the floor of his semi-crummy apartment, bathed in the soft light of either dusk or dawn. An alarm clock goes off: dawn.

Dan's had a hard night, but then, most of them are. He's a druggie, although not a particularly discriminating one; cocaine, alcohol, even crack will do. It's crack, as it turns out, that gets him small-time busted – by Drey (Shareeka Epps), his most promising student, who catches him with pipe in hand.

But “Half Nelson” is too smart a film to plod along the rutted trail of the standard drug flick. Dan, of course, claims to have his problem under control, and the truth is, he almost does; somehow he manages to get to class every day and summon enough verve to do his job and do it well. (“The kids keep me focused,” he explains.) Fellow teacher and occasional girlfriend Isabel (Monique Gabriela Curnen) tolerates Dan's mercurial attentions, but only up to a certain point, after which it's so long, pal. The dealer Frank (Anthony Mackie), friend to Drey's family, isn't a heavy but a lighthearted, basically centered fellow pursuing his version of an inner-city capitalist dream. An idealist to his shaky core, Dan is consumed with the notion of dialectic – the struggle between and ultimate reconciliation of opposites, or, at least, opposing forces. It is the touchstone of the history lessons he imparts to his (at least partially understanding) students, and of his life as well. A committed if mostly bystanding leftie, he perceives himself as ineffectual and not especially worthy of happiness; hence the broken love affairs, the solitary existence ... the drugs.

It's to the filmmakers' credit that none of this – not even the students' brief oral reports on significant contemporary events on the world stage, from the CIA-engineered assassination of Salvador Allende to the Twinkie-engineered assassination of Harvey Milk – comes across as either overly strident or lazily half-baked. If sometimes it doesn't quite gel, it doesn't have to: Everything within the movie turns on the budding friendship of the slowly sinking Dan and the remarkable Drey, coolly appraising onrushing adulthood and, from the look of her, ready for it.

Their scenes together have a soft electric hum; nothing sexual, to be sure, yet at the same time something deep and telling and true. In his car together – he gives her a lot of lifts home after basketball practice – they settle into their seats and seem almost to exhale in unison. It's nothing a whole lot more complicated than that they feel comfortable in each others' presence. They're friends at a time when each of them needs one.

Not that the film makes this out to be a universal panacea, or even the answer to anyone's overarching problems. But it's student and teacher, adult and child, man and very young woman coming together in a touching reconciliation that would do any dialectician proud.

'Half Nelson' finds an engaging teacher locked in drug and alcohol abuse

By Arthur Salm
ARTS WRITER

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is the history teacher you always wanted in middle school: funny, intense, committed, not only willing but also downright eager to spin lessons off into long, involved, fascinating but ultimately related tangents.
That's not how we first see him, however, in Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's moving, jangly film “Half Nelson.” He's in his underwear and in a daze, sitting on the floor of his semi-crummy apartment, bathed in the soft light of either dusk or dawn. An alarm clock goes off: dawn.

Dan's had a hard night, but then, most of them are. He's a druggie, although not a particularly discriminating one; cocaine, alcohol, even crack will do. It's crack, as it turns out, that gets him small-time busted – by Drey (Shareeka Epps), his most promising student, who catches him with pipe in hand.

But “Half Nelson” is too smart a film to plod along the rutted trail of the standard drug flick. Dan, of course, claims to have his problem under control, and the truth is, he almost does; somehow he manages to get to class every day and summon enough verve to do his job and do it well. (“The kids keep me focused,” he explains.) Fellow teacher and occasional girlfriend Isabel (Monique Gabriela Curnen) tolerates Dan's mercurial attentions, but only up to a certain point, after which it's so long, pal. The dealer Frank (Anthony Mackie), friend to Drey's family, isn't a heavy but a lighthearted, basically centered fellow pursuing his version of an inner-city capitalist dream. An idealist to his shaky core, Dan is consumed with the notion of dialectic – the struggle between and ultimate reconciliation of opposites, or, at least, opposing forces. It is the touchstone of the history lessons he imparts to his (at least partially understanding) students, and of his life as well. A committed if mostly bystanding leftie, he perceives himself as ineffectual and not especially worthy of happiness; hence the broken love affairs, the solitary existence ... the drugs.

It's to the filmmakers' credit that none of this – not even the students' brief oral reports on significant contemporary events on the world stage, from the CIA-engineered assassination of Salvador Allende to the Twinkie-engineered assassination of Harvey Milk – comes across as either overly strident or lazily half-baked. If sometimes it doesn't quite gel, it doesn't have to: Everything within the movie turns on the budding friendship of the slowly sinking Dan and the remarkable Drey, coolly appraising onrushing adulthood and, from the look of her, ready for it.

Their scenes together have a soft electric hum; nothing sexual, to be sure, yet at the same time something deep and telling and true. In his car together – he gives her a lot of lifts home after basketball practice – they settle into their seats and seem almost to exhale in unison. It's nothing a whole lot more complicated than that they feel comfortable in each others' presence. They're friends at a time when each of them needs one.

Not that the film makes this out to be a universal panacea, or even the answer to anyone's overarching problems. But it's student and teacher, adult and child, man and very young woman coming together in a touching reconciliation that would do any dialectician proud.

All of us will remember a teacher we consider great. some way may be termed as being "good" teachers; and a small percentage may be great teachers. It is possible that we may have learnt under great teachers. What are the at tributes that go into making a great teacher? The list may not be complete, nor is it based on formal research. But will hopefully form the basis of further discussion.

Emotional Attributes

It is teaching that is considered important; money is secondary. This motivates him to spend hours preparing for a class. At the end of his career he counts his success by the success of his students.

Empathy and Patience :He has an unlimited supply of empathy. He understands the need of the student and acts accordingly.

Humility: A great teacher is a constant learner. To say "I dont know" takes courage and humility from the teacher.

Overall Attributes

Passion for the subject : She has a deep passion for the subject she handles, whether it is nursery rhymes in kindergarten or biology in middle school.

Encourage ability to think : This means that she encourages in students the ability to analyse and think. She acknowledges that the students have the ability to comprehend, question and analyses.

Self-statement : The emphasis is on the students understanding, encouraging self-statement, along with the ability to question, think and analyse, improving the students thoroughness of the subject. Ordinary teachers look for the right answers, great teachers encourage thinking skills.

Tells a great story : Subjects taught great teachers seem to have a story-like quality to them. They rarely need to use discipline to keep the class under control. Mr. Thomas was an experienced professor. He never took attendance and gave everybody the same grade at the end of the term. Yet every class of his would have a 100 per cent attendance and several students wanted to specialize in his subject. Mr. Vasan, taught geography. He taught them for three years. At the end of it several boys were considering majoring in it.

Side lanes : The "side lanes" and "by-lanes" in the lession become just as important and he will freely traverse these roads. Mrs. Nath, a primary teacher did a lesson on Dasara Festival in Mysore for her Standard II students. After the class, the youngsters wanted to know where Mysore was. So in the next class she brought a map. The youngsters then wanted to know more about other festivals in India. This led to a term of learning. The children set the pace; she motivated them.

Scheme to motivate : Great teachers scheme to motivate their students to perform. One middle aged man remembered his maths teacher; Mr. Sampthhad a "scheme" that those who got more than 90 percent in the tests need not do their homework the following week. To ensure he got his 90 percent his students had to work hard.

Develops me as a person : This is best summarised by these words of Swami Vivekananda "The end of all education, all training, should be man-making. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas".

Facilities : You need a teacher and a student for teaching to take place. Even the shade of a tree is a good enough place for it to happen. Everything else is a facility.

Technical Attributes:

Mastery over the language : A great teacher has a clear knowledge and understanding of the nuances of the language being used. The teacher is attempting to explain concepts and abstract thought in terms that the student can understand.

Systematic Thinking : The teachers skill lies not in his possession of knowledge alone, but in translating them for his students assimilation.

Subject knowledge : In a progressive subject, where one lesson leads to the next, the teacher is ahead of his students. These two points though seem obvious have been found to be present to a greater degree among great teachers.

This happens because of her involvement with the subject. If you fare compared to the great teacher who taught you and made a difference in your life. See if you can make that difference.

All of us will remember a teacher we consider great. some way may be termed as being "good" teachers; and a small percentage may be great teachers. It is possible that we may have learnt under great teachers. What are the at tributes that go into making a great teacher? The list may not be complete, nor is it based on formal research. But will hopefully form the basis of further discussion.

Emotional Attributes

It is teaching that is considered important; money is secondary. This motivates him to spend hours preparing for a class. At the end of his career he counts his success by the success of his students.

Empathy and Patience :He has an unlimited supply of empathy. He understands the need of the student and acts accordingly.

Humility: A great teacher is a constant learner. To say "I dont know" takes courage and humility from the teacher.

Overall Attributes

Passion for the subject : She has a deep passion for the subject she handles, whether it is nursery rhymes in kindergarten or biology in middle school.

Encourage ability to think : This means that she encourages in students the ability to analyse and think. She acknowledges that the students have the ability to comprehend, question and analyses.

Self-statement : The emphasis is on the students understanding, encouraging self-statement, along with the ability to question, think and analyse, improving the students thoroughness of the subject. Ordinary teachers look for the right answers, great teachers encourage thinking skills.

Tells a great story : Subjects taught great teachers seem to have a story-like quality to them. They rarely need to use discipline to keep the class under control. Mr. Thomas was an experienced professor. He never took attendance and gave everybody the same grade at the end of the term. Yet every class of his would have a 100 per cent attendance and several students wanted to specialize in his subject. Mr. Vasan, taught geography. He taught them for three years. At the end of it several boys were considering majoring in it.

Side lanes : The "side lanes" and "by-lanes" in the lession become just as important and he will freely traverse these roads. Mrs. Nath, a primary teacher did a lesson on Dasara Festival in Mysore for her Standard II students. After the class, the youngsters wanted to know where Mysore was. So in the next class she brought a map. The youngsters then wanted to know more about other festivals in India. This led to a term of learning. The children set the pace; she motivated them.

Scheme to motivate : Great teachers scheme to motivate their students to perform. One middle aged man remembered his maths teacher; Mr. Sampthhad a "scheme" that those who got more than 90 percent in the tests need not do their homework the following week. To ensure he got his 90 percent his students had to work hard.

Develops me as a person : This is best summarised by these words of Swami Vivekananda "The end of all education, all training, should be man-making. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas".

Facilities : You need a teacher and a student for teaching to take place. Even the shade of a tree is a good enough place for it to happen. Everything else is a facility.

Technical Attributes:

Mastery over the language : A great teacher has a clear knowledge and understanding of the nuances of the language being used. The teacher is attempting to explain concepts and abstract thought in terms that the student can understand.

Systematic Thinking : The teachers skill lies not in his possession of knowledge alone, but in translating them for his students assimilation.

Subject knowledge : In a progressive subject, where one lesson leads to the next, the teacher is ahead of his students. These two points though seem obvious have been found to be present to a greater degree among great teachers.

This happens because of her involvement with the subject. If you fare compared to the great teacher who taught you and made a difference in your life. See if you can make that difference.