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When I began taking this course, I believed that the most important personal quality for a teacher to have was enthusiasm. After taking this course, I realize that while enthusiasm is important, there are several other qualities a strong English teacher should have. These qualities can be broadly categorized into qualities related to the teacher’s personality, and qualities related to how the teacher deals with their relationship with students. English teachers should be kind and patient, love teaching, be entertaining (or at least engaging), and be able to motivate learners. These sorts of personal qualities are great for spreading enthusiasm around the classroom. Teachers must often serve as prompters (gently encouraging students), participants (joining activities themselves), and models (a person that the students look up to). By exuding a warm personality, the teacher easily able to perform the roles necessary to being a strong teacher. Qualities related to the teacher’s relationship with students, however, are equally important. English teachers should also focus on having good subject knowledge, having good rapport and interaction with the class, being able to involve all students equally, being able to correct students without offending them, and showing students’ weaknesses and trying to give them help and individual attention where necessary. These qualities are essential because the teacher plays many roles that require them. These include manager or controller (teachers should be able to control their classrooms without losing the respect of students), organizer (grouping students together in ways that is conducive to participation and language learning), assessor (providing feedback for students that helps them grow without coming across as overly critical or a personal attack), resource or facilitator (providing guidance without giving too much away), and observer or monitor (commanding enough respect and engagement from students to allow them to do their own work in your presence). Thus, it is important that the teacher works on both qualities related to themselves and their ability to handle their relationships with students. One major overarching quality an English teacher should have on top of the two categories is flexibility. As previously noted, a teacher will take on many different roles, and the role employed is largely going to depend on the type of activity and what the teacher wishes for the students to achieve. Some lesson stages will require that the teacher take greater command and be more leading, while others may require a more withdrawn role. It is important that the teacher is able to switch between these roles appropriately and is aware when this shift is occurring. Take a lesson about ordering at a restaurant, for example. The teacher may begin with an engaging activity, having students talk about the last time they went to a restaurant. This would require the teacher to take on a facilitator or prompter role. As the lesson transitions into studying how to ask for certain items, however, some students might begin to struggle and require additional help. If the teacher is stuck acting as a prompter, the student may get frustrated and soon give up. The teacher needs to be flexible and transition into acting as more of a tutor. Thus, flexibility is key because you cannot plan or anticipate every student need before coming to class.
