"What Americans like best about their favorite teachers," by Valerie Strauss: is it best to be "smart, demanding," or... "caring"?

This article, published on April 5, 2014, in the Washington Post, refers to a 2012 Gallup study on the most essential attribute of an effective teacher. Instead of high intelligence, or a strong work ethic, it is: a caring attitude.


"What Americans like best about their favorite teachers"

By Valerie Strauss
April 5 at 1:00 pm



"What attribute do Americans find most compelling in the teacher they have identified as having the greatest impact on their lives?

I learned the answer recently when I was listening to a speech by Brandon H. Busteed, the executive director of Gallup Education, about public education and what polls show about how Americans view their teachers.

He noted that a strong majority of Americans say they have trust and confidence in public school teachers (even if many school reformers don’t). He also said that when asked to describe the teacher who had most affected their lives, the attribute that was seen as most important wasn’t smart or demanding but, rather, “caring.”

The 2012 Gallup study, titled “Public education in the United States: A nation divided,” said this:

"Over 40% of Americans describe the teacher who had the most positive influence in their lives with words such as caring, compassionate, motivating, and inspiring; while just 17% of Americans thought intelligent, knowledgeable, persistent, hard-working, and demanding were words that describe the teacher who had the strongest influence on them."

I’d like to see how teacher evaluations linked to student standardized-test scores measure for “caring.”"



---from the website, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/05/the-no-1-trait-of-americans-favorite-teachers/


Question:


From your perspective, as educational professionals, does a caring attitude prevail over a high IQ or strong work ethic, with respect to the quality of a teacher?

A Fuller Account of My Reasons for Becoming a Teacher

For me, my decision was based on a combination of a natural inclination towards education, and an especially fun and positive experience that I had as a student in my high school French classes.

From a very early age, I was interested in becoming a teacher. During a couple of summer vacations, I played school with my siblings, Nicole, Rob and Steve, with me serving as the teacher.

While I considered writing fiction as a profession for a short time, I soon came to be suspicious of the viability of depending only on writing as a career.

Then, by the time I was a sophomore in high school, at Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School, in Bemus Point, NY, my profession of choice became clear to me, after I had taken about three years of French. I loved my French classes, not merely for the opportunity to learn the language, but more so to gain knowledge of French culture. Among the activities that we did in class, we performed a fashion show, made crepes, and saw a play by Moliere, Tartuffe. My love for the French language was ignited and cemented by my interest in French culture, especially since our teacher clearly enjoyed these activities and sharing these aspects of French life with us. I still remember celebrating la Fete des rois(l'Epiphanie) in our class, as we ate la galette des rois (King's Cake), containing une feve (a bean), and wearing des couronnes(crowns) in class.

By that time, it was clear to me that I wanted to have a job involving French. While I briefly considered teaching English, my stronger interest in French prevailed. I originally foresaw becoming a high school French teacher, but I learned that teaching at the college level was a better match for me.

Since then, I have taught at the community college and state university levels. As an instructor of French language and culture, I have immensely enjoyed bringing the French language and culture to life for my students, using the communicative language teaching method. My special interest in French culture is clear as I teach language classes, but I also enjoy facilitating my students' acquisition of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. My favorite part of teaching French is the opportunity to have free dialogue with my students in French, for example, asking them what they did this weekend, or their opinion of a certain film, in order to both build community and to learn about my students. It is fulfilling to see my students express themselves in French, and to learn from each other in class, gaining perspective on life as they also put grammatical principles and vocabulary into practice.

The opportunities that I have had to teach culture and literature, on a more formal level, have also been rewarding for me, since I find that teaching these types of classes brings students to have not only a generalized knowledge of Western civilization, but also to be able to appreciate other people's point of view, and to be sensitive to the diversity of human experience.

Teaching as a Calling: What influenced your decision to enter the field of education?

As I start this new blog on issues related to education, I reflect on my own background in teaching. A friend whom I met in Paris in 2001, Grant Baker, when we were students at l'Universite de la Sorbonne, through Central College in Iowa, and now an ESOL teacher in the Baltimore, MD, area, suggested that I create a blog on issues related to education, in order to further dialogue about issues related to teaching and learning.



I have entitled the blog, "Teaching: a Craft, a Calling, and a Contribution to the Future of Humanity."


First, teaching is a craft because it involves specialized techniques, materials, and training, varying widely on the discipline that one teaches;

Second, teaching is a calling, since teachers who strongly wish to influence their students' lives for good, and who have a passion for education, are best suited to this profession;

Third, teaching is a contribution to the future of humanity, since it shapes future generations, giving them they tools that they will need in the future, and impacting the way in which students see themselves and the world.



The first subject that I would like to raise as a conversation topic:

"How did you decide to become a teacher? Just 50 to 100 words."



This is an example of a testimony of about 50 words:


"I decided to become a teacher because I love learning, and sharing my knowledge with others, particularly my experience with the French language and French and Francophone literatures and cultures. I also enjoy my interactions with students in the classroom, learning about my students, and assisting them in the process of learning and expanding their horizons."


This is an example of a testimony of about 100 words:


"In addition to having a predisposition that favored a love of learning and sharing knowledge with other people, the turning point that led me to enter the teaching field came to me as a sophomore in high school, when I took three years of French. The cultural activities that we did in class reinforced my love of the language classroom, and I knew that I wanted a career that would allow me to share my love of French with other people, eventually as a college French instructor."

Please feel free to share your response below, in approximately 50 to 100 words.

Merci,
Michele