3 Skills A Teacher Should Have

A teacher is a job where people treat people. A technical approach results in countless methods and techniques. If there are so many, access itself is difficult.

Unlike other professions, teachers clearly have technical qualities. Even me, who has an appearance, tone, and character that seems to have nothing to do with the profession of an elementary school teacher, among teachers, says that my ten years of teaching career is seen by others with a different temperament or appearance.

The technical qualities of a teacher, which I am going to talk about now, are my very subjective opinion. Start by laying out the general, positive, and universal concepts of dealing with people.

In other words, it refers to love, affection, philanthropy, and a sense of equality for human beings. It’s not that it’s unimportant, it’s that we put down the vague thing for a while and think about it. Various teaching-learning techniques, grammar, dialogue, writing skills, and work processing skills, such as techniques and methods, are also put aside for a moment.

Apart from concepts and understanding techniques and methods, what are the technical qualities or abilities that teachers should have?

1. Observation

The first quality a teacher should have is observation (power).

The most important thing that was able to use and apply art fields such as film, art, and theater to reading a child’s psychology was ‘observation’. It’s not just looking, it’s ‘looking carefully’.

“Why does that child have a different pattern than the other children?”

“Why can’t you understand what that boy is saying?”

“Why is that child arguing with another child?”

Observation is the most important skill and ability to read children’s psychology in the classroom, and I think that it accounts for about 80% of teaching-learning ability. In other words, if you observe well, you can do more than the basics.

Observations must be documented. Unless you have human Xerox-level memory, it is better to record it in any form.

Records should be left in the form of raw data, then set up for a period and be organized into your own systematized data. Big data is not a big deal. You have to keep your own data. This writing is also one of the organized data.

2. Expressiveness

The second quality that a teacher should have is ‘expressive power‘.

Teachers teach in one way or another. The class itself is an expression of expressive power. Even the learning center does not begin without the expression of the teacher. However, it is he himself who has doubts about the expressive power of the teacher, which he has experienced through countless lessons.

When I look at most of the  teachers who teach in public , I have never seen a case where they spoke more dialect than me and did not prepare for it. Most of them do a lot of preparation. The problem isn’t that you can’t express it, it’s that you can’t like it. In other words, this can be done in many different ways, such as eloquence, persuasiveness, appeal, and problem guidance, but the key to expressive power is whether you understand what you are saying.

It’s not about making others understand what you say. You have to understand yourself. What does this paradox mean? Paradoxically, this is more convincing. In fact, if you want to understand others, you have to understand yourself first. Teaching is also key. It should be expressed in a way that the child knows rather than the way I know it.

This is the essence of expressive power. I think that Vygotsky’s [region of proximal development also speaks for this.

3. Resolute

The third is firmness.

It might be ridiculous. Among the countless abilities and qualities, it must be resolute, and why is it decisive rather than kind? In teaching, in particular, the younger the subject, the more basic kindness must be laid. Instead, being kind doesn’t mean you’ve mastered everything you need to learn and master. This is especially true of attitudes and habits that must be learned through the body. So, in what ways should a teacher’s determination be different from others?

1. Resoluteness must also be planned.

For decisiveness, the method of prior agreement and then lecture is used. By my standards, it shows tenderness and kindness first. Once you use your determination from the beginning because it looks unusual, your child will not be able to grasp the essence of the teacher’s determination by first accepting it as fear and fear rather than accustomed to it.

2. Resoluteness is a means, not an end.

The reason to be firm is clear. It is an expression of that the child’s behavior or habits are no longer acceptable. When expressing determination, be sure to clearly define what you are trying to convey to the child.

3. Decisiveness should be concise.

If the message is long, the main message is transmitted. In other words, don’t fall for nagging.

4. Be assertive and open and direct.

When talking separately, flexibility and empathy are more effective than firmness. However, the act of calling separately must be made decisively. The teacher’s words and actions must be directly demonstrated. If necessary, it should be done directly and positively, even if the class progress is not made.

5. Be specific about what you need to be adamant about and get empathy for.

I disclose that I am decisive when it comes to safety and survival. So, if you play around at the crossing, you will be resolutely rebuked. If you see any signs of bullying, you stop class and become decisive. Be firm about intentionally harming others. The firmness shown in this case not only gives the child an opportunity to awaken, but also gives the other child a sense of relief.

6. If you are not confident that you will return to the original state immediately after showing your determination, do not use it.

As a teacher, assertiveness is a skill and ability, not a temper. Therefore, if you become decisive and get angry or nagging, that is not the quality of a teacher as a profession. Resoluteness is a means of planning, and timing and unfolding as much as it has to be done openly and directly is an artistic skill and ability in itself. So, even if you look in the mirror and practice bluntly, you need to prepare at least one ‘mask’ of determination in order to possess one of the qualities of an expert as a vocational teacher.