What makes a teacher great?

I suppose this needs to start with a question… which teachers have impacted my life the most in positive ways? I have had some negative experiences at all ages but i will pick the positive experiences to dwell on for the purpose of this writing task.

I can only remember a positive experience with a teacher for the first time when I was in grade six. He was heavily into computers and we had a great time in his class. He was exciting and exuded fun in his lessons. He allowed us autonomy over authority and we were allowed to leave for bathroom breaks without raising our hand to ask for permission. We were allowed to choose our own rewards for finishing our work and we had access to some really cool computer games to encourage learning and curious minds.

This may seem odd to the younger generations but this was the first time we had computers in our classroom ever. It was an exciting time and we didn’t even have the internet or mobile phones yet.

This teacher went on to be one of my high school IT teachers and I flew through his classes so quickly that I spent a lot of time practicing touch typing and numerical keyboard typing. This was possibly a skill that pushed me into the bookkeeping and accounting world. It was also a cool trick I could use when I was running shifts at our family’s bowling alley. I would take people’s details for future bookings and make eye-contact with them the entire time they were giving me their phone number whilst entering it number-perfect into the bookings program. It thrilled quite a few people that I crossed paths with doing that trick.

I did end up changing schools and had a couple of cool teachers up until the end of high school, but no true positive impacts on my learning experience.

It wasn’t until I entered the world of adult learning as a mature-aged student at university that I met some of the most amazing professors. It helped that I was studying by choice but it was also these people as their professions, knowledge, sense of humour, and personalities that made the most impact on me as the perpetual student I am now.

Dr Greg was the funniest guy I’ve ever had the pleasure to sit in a lecture of. He would embed funny but relevant YouTube clips and give us some beautiful but awkward accounting jokes. I noticed some of the younger students did not understand the humour but it always brought me joy. The debit-credit rap is one thing I will always remember and I often find myself singing it in my head.

I also made the top of my Introductory Accounting class and he awarded me with a green pen and an umbrella for my grades. The story behind the green pen is that it used to be unlawful for people other than auditors to be in possession of green ink, and it wasn’t until cheap green ink flooded the market that the law was overturned. It was symbolic of the accounting profession and the effort I had to put into my study to become part of it.

Another professor that I adore was Colin from Taxation Law and Practice. He had the most amazing anecdotes about his time in the public service and they helped to shape my career in a trajectory in which has brought me great self-pride and self-worth. He is still my own family’s accountant as I know I can trust him with his integrity, communication, intelligence, and empathy for our family. Sometimes people go that extra mile for their student’s because they see a hope for the student that the student has to learn to see for themselves.

Then there was Ethics and Governance with Oscar. He was a spectacular specimen of a person with stories of ethical dilemmas and a rich history. He took me under his guidance and once gave me the “spoon of confidence” when I was in his office. In his gorgeous Spanish drawl, he told me to hold this spoon in front of me whilst walking on campus and know I have all the confidence in the world. The point was if you go around looking at a spoon and don’t worry about what people think of you, imagine what you can do for the rest of your life. I have moved three times since university and I have brought this spoon with me everywhere I go.

When I graduated, Oscar also took my then fiancée and I out for a celebratory beer with him because he knew what I had overcome to get there and he knew the effort I put in, with the help of hubby, to be greater than I thought I could ever be.

What makes a great teacher then? I honestly feel it’s the motivation to make an impact on someone else’s life path, and the intention to touch a person’s life in a positive way. You can either be there to cause hurt, pain, and be in control, or you can give encouragement and let someone make the decision to come to you with curiosity because they can see the type of person you are.

I will let this next quote resonate with you for a little while:

“The mediocre teacher tells; the good teacher explains; the superior teacher demonstrates; the great teacher inspires”

William Arthur Ward

Until tomorrow, KT18Ø