Korean Job Discussion Forums

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I�ve been considering lately what are the key ingredients for a good EFL teacher. When I was a DoS for a year, I was able to put my ideas to the test. Here are my results. I can�t really rank them:

Personality

Almost all the best teachers I�ve observed have been bright, cheerful and funny in the classroom. It�s very difficult to compensate for these attributes if you don�t have them, although I�ve seen it done. It�s common sense really that students respond much better to a big classroom persona than a big dull dud (thanks to mr. chandler bing for that expression)! I�ve even seen a few people who are pretty quiet and reserved outside the classroom but who just morph into someone else when they get in there. At the end of the day, this is the best natural advantage a teacher can have. All my role models tended to be a bit cheeky, brave (i.e. not in awe of the students as paying customers) confident and even a bit in-your-face�

Experience

There�s nothing quite like screwing up to show you what works and what does not. All the more so if it was in front of your DoS, or if you got negative feedback. The best teachers get feedback regularly and aren�t scared of it. Often, the best teachers come from schools where they were obliged to open themselves up for criticism. This is probably why there�s so much snobbery around the CELTA/DELTA qualifications as these folk weren�t scared of being shot down to earn their stripes.

Sensitivity/Adaptability

I reckon a good teacher knows how to tell when students are bored or not. The best teachers are often pretty self-critical and have their radar switched on in the classroom as to whether everyone�s being involved or not and that students are improving and learning new things. They also know how to respond when an activity is not working and are good at monitoring the atmosphere. The worst teachers tend to blame the students all the time. This is not to downplay the reality of difficult, rude, lazy or unmotivated students.

Qualifications

I think the fact that someone has bothered to get trained properly tells you a lot. They have at the very least put time and money into their career. From this you know that they don�t reckon efl teaching is something that just anyone can do because they are a native speaker. Of course there are crap teachers who are well-qualified as we all know, but it will always be a question worth asking why a teacher felt they didn�t need professional training.