TED Conversations

Gene Doray

Vice Principal, Educator - High School

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

What is the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher?

I am curious to know what people consider the attributes that separate good from great. I would also like to know what you think would motivate a person who is a good teacher to aspire for that same greatness. Thanks for your ideas!

Related Talks:
Topics: commitment education motivation teaching
+5
Share:

Closing Statement from Gene Doray

Firstly, I am deeply appreciative of the thoughtful commentaries by all. As both a teacher and an administrator, I have a strong investment in finding out what motivates people to improve their practice. Passion for their subject area? Passion for student success? A combination of both? For me it boils down to the desire to make a positive impact and improve the life chances of all students. I believe it is an honour to have the opportunity to play such an important role in the lives of our children.
When I posed the question, in the back of my mind I was thinking about a quotation that I had heard that sought to explain why we had so few "great schools". It was something like, "the reason we only have a few great schools is that we have so many good ones." The statement first caused me to ponder what traits the speaker used to differentiate the two, but later I focused on the notion of "complacency". So, I wondered "aloud" what it is that causes a person to strive for more. Once again, thanks for sharing your ideas and insights with us all. I apologize for not being involved for the past several weeks as I was enjoying some family time on an island with no computer in sight!

progress indicator

  • Finbarr Timbers

    • 0
    Jul 11 2011: I think that truly caring about your charges, and your subject, is the most important thing a teacher can do. When I have a teacher who is truly passionate about her subject, I become that much more involved. When I have a teacher who is obviously only teaching since she has been forced to, the level of quality drops off significantly.

  • ishan shah

    • 0
    Jul 7 2011: Hi, a good teacher is the one who gives you knowledge regarding a particular field, teach you the tricks of the trade he has mastered. (His will help you a lot in that field, be it academics or arts, martial arts etc. But a great teacher is the onw who, apart from imparting the above knowledge, pushes youforward,teaches you to be independent, level headed, humble, strategic, analytic, calculative,imbibe values and ethics etc. To cut a long story short, a great teacher goes out of the way to impart things other than mere education that enable a person to not only achieve the ultimate success in life but also to become a better human being in life. When you remember a good teacher you think, " he taught me what I know today" whereas, when you remember a great teacher, you think, " He made me What I am today". I had a teacher like this when I was in ix and x grade and still idolize him and now, 6 years later, fresh out of college, I have started as a teacher myself...

  • Edward Decker

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: To elaborate a moment on my "best teaching" comment: Teaching that is mediocre or worse involves merely talking about a subject. Good to great teaching, like attaching electric current to an electronic device, involves an effort to make a connection to other human beings through which may flow energy and data. The use of imagination, emotion, empathy, and other human qualities can enhance the receptivity of learners, possibly kindling a desire to know and understand the subject matter and put it to use.
    Teachers who simply 'put it out there' seem to demonstrate a lack of interest in the students' learning and offer little incentive (other than a grade) for the student to assimilate the material.
    The great teachers desire to "locate the receptacles"--that is, they seek to identify common ground, working from there to connect intellectually and emotionally with learners. While communicating data they are persuading learners how necessary it is to know and be able to implement the subject matter. Done successfully, this can produce a sense of community, connection, even intimacy between teacher and learner potentially prompting in some students the desire to become great teachers.

  • Edward Decker

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: I am convinced the best teaching involves:
    an ability to conceptualize critical problems and situations in imaginative terms;
    employing metaphors able to touch emotions as well as stimulate intellect;
    with sufficient personality to communicate these metaphors in an intense yet relationally sensitive fashion;
    all presented in terms that potential learners can readily relate to.
  • thumb

    bill smoot

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: This question took hold of me a few years ago and I set out on a pilgrimage to find truly great teachers across American and interview them about their teaching. The fifty-one interviews were published in book form, Conversations with Great Teachers (Indian University Press.) The interviewees include not only K-12 and university teachers, but also corporate mentors, ballet teachers, a major-league baseball manager, Barack Obama’s political mentor, acting teacher Martin Landau, and even teachers of exotic dancing and alligator wrestling. Among the qualities I found they had in common were that teaching was a true calling, that they were experts in their field, believers in excellence, passionate about teaching, intuitive about their students, that they taught larger meta-lessons, that they had a knack for making learning experiential.
    The quality of their being experts in their field perhaps challenges the way many teachers are trained--that is, they major in education and presumably learn to teach, and then they acquire some knowledge as the content of their teaching, chemistry or history, for example. But I found that teaching was not so much a separate art as an aspect of being an expert. So Suki Shorer became a great ballerina and Martin Landau a great actor and then each developed an further ability to teach their great craft to others. If I were to found my own ed school, I would have every student become a passionate expert in a discipline and then as an extension of their love for history or math, develop their ability to teach it to others.
    I can say that doing these interviews turned out to be one of the more reading and inspirational experiences of my life.

    • Gene Doray

      • 0
      Jul 6 2011: HI Bill,
      What a great "pilgrimage" to set out on! Did the teachers that you interviewed provide any self reflection, or sense of what their sources of inspiration were? The idea that there is a "calling" is certainly evidenced time and again, but aside from a person's innate ability, there is that yearning to learn more, improve the learning conditions, and create better life possibilities for their students. Did you get a sense about their "development" as a teacher and what fosters that need for betterment? Thanks for your comments; I will try to find your book for a good summer read!
      • thumb

        bill smoot

        • 0
        Jul 7 2011: Their stories about their development varied quite a bit, but it did seem as if some just had the "teaching gene" and were recognized for it by others. For example, Martin Landau talked about how Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio tapped him when he was very young to do some teaching, and Balanchine did the same with ballerina Suki Shorer. Some mentioned that they learned to teach by trial and error, and a few said it took some years to feel totally at home teaching. But even for those who have "the gift," they worked very hard at it. And that hard work is fueled by their passion.
    • thumb

      Elizabeth LeBlanc 10+

      • 0
      Jul 7 2011: Bill, I am inspired by your vision of the "student as expert." Thanks for your work and for sharing it with us. I am wondering how to leverage this to use in my classroom this coming year - thanks for a new approach.

      In this vein, I would say that a great teacher never stops learning or questioning on their students' behalf. That, at least, is what I aspire to.

  • Claire Williams

    • +1
    Jul 6 2011: I think the best teachers I've had were not merely knowledgable, but conveyed a real sense of interest and excitement in their subject matter, which was contagious. Acquiring a grade was secondary, at best, to acquiring knowledge.
    It's been four decades since I sat in a classroom, but I'm still using these great teachers as a jumping off point, and consider myself fortunate to have been encouraged to engage in a lifetime of learning.

  • Dan Mattimiro

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: Great teachers appear everywhere, at every moment and in every form. It is whether we are receptive to the teachings. It is easy to mistake the term "education" for what is merely schooling.
    • thumb

      bill smoot

      • 0
      Jul 6 2011: I agree completely. Nearly everything we do, from tying our shoes to performing brain surgery, has been taught to us. Teaching is like a glue that holds a society together.

    • Gene Doray

      • 0
      Jul 6 2011: I think there has been a significant shift from our focus on teaching to what our students are actually learning. Having said that, "our students' learn everywhere and through good and bad examples and a variety of life experiences. I remember that saying that some things cannot be taught, only learned, and I have always liked the implication that being "receptive" to learning is the key. Thanks for the reminder!
  • thumb

    Jeremy Ho

    • +1
    Jul 6 2011: a good teacher gets you good grades. a great teacher motivates and inspires you to reach heights you have never thought you could reach.

    • Gene Doray

      • 0
      Jul 6 2011: Jeremy, I hope that the good grades are merely the result of learning, not the reward. Our students have been conditioned to believe that achieving the 'A' is the goal, and don't recognize the grade is merely the product of the learning. I believe what that often results in has been described as "eductional bulimia". What do you think motivates a student to reach the heights you describe?
      • thumb

        Jeremy Ho

        • 0
        Jul 7 2011: Dear Gene,
        Malaysia, very bluntly, has a horrible education system. The focus of every student from kindergarten all the way to college is on the A's. In fact, it's not just about getting an A, it's about getting straight A's in all public examinations. Our education system is flawed in such a way that it tests a student's memory rather than his/her understanding on the subject, which is something i totally despise. Therefore, in school there are mainly 2 kinds of teachers; a normal teacher and a good teacher.

        A normal teacher blurts out hours on end of classroom material, not necessarily with the students understanding and at the end of the day sends them home to complete their homework. A good teacher on the other hand makes sure they understand the study materials at school and pushes them harder to excel. However, the commonality in both teachers is that they are goal-ed towards getting the students to score the elusive "A". I must honestly say, I got bored of school towards the end and I really gave up on learning altogether. In fact, it was stressful especially when students and parents started comparing results.

        It wasn't until university that I met my dean, a great teacher who really changed the meaning of learning and inspired me to perform beyond my boundaries. I realized then that learning wasn't necessarily about getting an A. It's the entire process and what we have gained along the way. Life in fact isn't just about academics but rather a person as a whole. Soft skills (leadership, judgement, teamwork etc) are crucial.

        During my 1st year at Uni, with the motivation, guidance and his faith in my potential and abilities, I managed to form a society to provide a learning platform for student engineers, complete a few research projects and even co-authored my very own research paper and presented it at a conference. It was by far more than anything I had accomplished in my entire life, all in just under a year and I must say,
  • thumb

    Kyle Eppard

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: I would say that it's that little bit of extra that takes a teacher from being good to great. A good teacher meets all of the minimum requirements. Their students learn what they need to to get by. There is a sprinkle of poor students, average students, and above average students. A great teacher would put in the extra time to move average students up to above average and poor students to average (if you get what I mean). The teacher wants every student to learn as much as they can and more. It's that little bit extra that they do.

  • Michael M 30+

    • +1
    Jul 6 2011: The real measure of a great teacher, is not just what they say or how they teach. The best measure is what their students become. Do they need to be eye-opening, challenging, demanding, and passionate, yes...but the mark of a great teacher is that they produce great people.

  • Sarah Cohen

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: My favourite distinction came from a book I read by Richard Sennett - The Craftsman and it works for me!


    The good teacher imparts a satisfying explanation; the great teacher unsettles, bequeaths disquiet, invites argument.

  • Shokrullah Amiri 10+

    • +2
    Jul 6 2011: Top 5 (+14) Characters of Great Teachers by Students (Survey)

    1. Inspired me and never let me settle for anything less than my best
    2. Compassionate, caring, made me feel important and welcomed, made a personal connection with me
    3. Were demanding, pushed me hard
    4. Had a great sense of humor
    5. Knowledge of the subject matter

    Other specifics

    1. Wasn’t afraid of what other people thought
    2. Passion for the subject matter
    3. Challenged me to think beyond just the answer in the textbook
    4. Listened to my ideas
    5. Taught me new things
    6. A terrific fund raiser
    7. Kept things interesting
    8. They were interactive
    9. Added personal elements to the classroom
    10. Organized
    11. Wasn’t fake or shallow with comments to students
    12. Discipline
    13. Confidence
    14. They were problem solvers, rather than simply problem identifiers

    www.soyouwanttoteach.com/top-5-character-traits-of-great-teachers/
    • thumb

      Debra Smith 200+

      • 0
      Jul 6 2011: Nice addition Shokrullah! Thanks for including the student based perspective.

      • Shokrullah Amiri 10+

        • 0
        Jul 7 2011: Thank you; I always believe in a beneficiary oriented strategies

  • Atul Chatterjee

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: May teachers are considered great after teaching for 25 years or so as a 'good' teacher. For a teacher to be considered great immediately s/he would have to possess good knowledge, very good communication skills, excellent perception of students difficulties related to the subject and otherwise. Add a dollop of sympathy. The second last characterstic is the most vital to my mind.
  • thumb

    Thomas Hotz

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: I believe any teacher is a good teacher. Obviously, they have a wealth of knowledge in their subject that is at the prejudice of the student to tap into. But what really makes a teacher great, I mean superb, is in their ability to engage their students. Like a great TV show, after each episode, it should leave a cliff hanger, leaving the viewer wanting more, perhaps to the point they go on to research more about the show (i.e. director, time period, themes, behind the scenes, etc.). The same goes for a great teacher. If a teacher can leave their students with a desire after each lecture to go further into the subject, that will spark a focused interest in the subject, which leads to in depth understanding, which leads to creative intelligence. Now, this is an art that not all teacher can learn. It would be cliche to say that ENTHUSIASM is important, which it is, but I believe its more about drawing clear pictures of the subject through real life analogies, drawing comparisons through similar subject matter, incorporate/compare information from pass lectures, allow/aspire conversation, use ridiculous props, give timely examples, etc. Now, these don't need to be long and thorough examples and analogies, but simply short pauses to be creative with the subject matter. In most cases when a student goes to class, they see/hear ones and zeros, they are not understanding. Creativity is intelligence. Engage your students through enthusiasm, conversation, analogies, and spark imagination.

    We think as we were taught.
  • thumb

    chad manderscheid 10+

    • 0
    Jul 6 2011: Good teachers know their subject well, Great Teachers know that and also know (and love) their students and develop a whole assortment of approaches to help all the different kinds of learners. The talk on R.S.A. about motivation explains that more pay does not guarantee better results with cognitively challenging tasks, still one should be paid enough so that money is not a constant worry, In many places teachers cannot afford to buy a house and do work summer jobs and very long hours, this is not right. The main thing that would help Teachers is less bureaucratic paperwork and freedom to be creative. Some sort of reasonable process to allow schools to get rid of dead wood and also reward better teachers seems obvious to me. Until students have more choice about curriculum I think it is unfair to have them rate teachers directly , responsibility and choice must go hand in hand.
  • thumb

    Raul Zurita

    • 0
    Jul 5 2011: creo que el gran educador es quien sabe sacar lo mejor de cada persona - no sólo conocimiento, sino valores -, dejándola a la vez la mente abierta para saber que su visión no es la única, que existen tantas opciones como creativos hay y que el conjunto es lo que más se acerca a la perfección y la verdad. Pero ese educador sembró en la mente del educando que su cerebro - es magnífico computador - sólo es útil cuando se conecta con el mundo, con el hombre y se pone a su servicio.

    • Gene Doray

      • 0
      Jul 5 2011: Estoy de acuerdo con sus pensamientos. Sin embargo, que consejo tiene por los profesores para sacar lo mejor de cada persona? Gracias por sus ideas.
      • thumb

        Raul Zurita

        • 0
        Jul 11 2011: Thank you for your attention to my comment. I think that discussion must be another plane (and I’ would like give a place) that would split it between 2: A) successful and (b)) which education is not successful; because a great teacher does nothing he alone. But I answer you like: would very much agree with the answer he gave Shokrullah Amiri. But my response is summarized in:
        -Do not forget when kid what was expected of my teacher? (Empathy)
        -Becoming a professional (not improvised): know the principles of education - i.e. applies Piaget, Vigosky and others
        -Bold in search for new resources, but prudent to not experiment with the child. Life isn’t game.
        -ESSENTIAL: Nobody gives what does not; search continually be better values and understand that it is not easy for the child.
        -Do not expect only knowledge as a response by the child, but - most importantly - attitude and consistency (in history been exploited students supported by extensive knowledge, but without moral, which have corrupted their action against another (family, school, nation; e.g. bankers))
        Therefore advance the theme proposed at the beginning: good education must meet 4 things: (a) an excellent teacher (University should make him and give him to school); (b) a good family (educating the family of the student); (c) laws to support such education in practice - are today educated dogmatically and requires that the student turn democratic (!) (laws serving for a democratic and philosophy life – not religion or political ideas – with respect for other people's opinion ) and (d)) A student with a desire to succeed, that always be.
        Excuse me by my bad English
  • thumb

    YASHWANT PATEL

    • 0
    Jul 5 2011: Good teacher delivers that which the education system has prescribed as good practice and therefore deemed as a good teacher. Great teacher has developed sufficient understanding about themselves which enables them to develop greater understanding of each pupil. Unfortunately, good teachers has very little to motivate themselves to become great teachers as many of the education systems they operate in have high tolerance for poor teachers! We cannot demand our pupils to outperform their teachers!
  • thumb

    Arcangela Rossi

    • +1
    TED Translator
    Jul 5 2011: a great teacher is a few steps away from the students not just showing them the path but making them able to find their own
    • thumb

      Luigi Vampa

      • 0
      Jul 5 2011: Ciao Arcangela qui non si vede molto una educatrice italiana. Grazie per la vostra parola. Anche possiamo parlare degli alievi. Il maestro non e tutto senza i alievi.

      Auguri
      Luigi Vampa / Roma
      • thumb

        Arcangela Rossi

        • 0
        TED Translator
        Jul 6 2011: students are obviously very important and I think a good teacher must be fully aware of their potentials
  • thumb

    Krishna Moorthy

    • +3
    Jul 5 2011: Like how the Chinese proverb goes - Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day; Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime

    May be that's the difference between a good and a great teacher

    Concluding - Great teachers not just enlighten, but empower too
    • thumb

      Jim Moonan 30+

      • +1
      Jul 5 2011: Yes I think great teachers do that.

      I teach theatre/performing arts to children and I have two quotes that sum up what I aspire to be as a teacher.

      The first:
      "It's not, 'How smart is the child?' It's, 'How is the child smart?'" -Jim Greenman, author & educator

      The second:
      "Teach a child to fish and he will know how to fish. But teach a child to BE a fish - Now you've taught her something!" -Me (something of a "play" on the quote you mentioned)
      • thumb

        Krishna Moorthy

        • 0
        Jul 6 2011: Agreed Jim

        Its like "doing different things v/s doing things differently"

    • Michael M 30+

      • 0
      Jul 6 2011: Yes, Krishna I agree. Nice insight.
  • thumb

    Krishna Moorthy

    • 0
    Jul 5 2011: Good and great - difference being in degree than in kind

    Perhaps good teachers are efficient and Great teachers are effective too
  • thumb

    Md Santo

    • 0
    Jul 5 2011: WELL INFORMED vs KNOWLEDGEABLE

    Good teacher making people "well informed", but, Great teacher making people " knowledgeable" (Md Santo, http://www.delicious.com/mobeeknowledge/knowledgeable )

  • Julio Anaya

    • 0
    Jul 5 2011: A good teacher teaches you how to answer questions and make the learning process smoother, but a great teacher makes you want to know more, a great teacher should infect you with curiosity, with thirst of knowing more and more importantly, to forge questions of your own, if a teacher makes his or her students to start asking 'but why' or 'but how' then, in my opinion, he achieved what every teacher should make their priority, which is creating critic and progressive learners, to give it a name.

  • Sophia Hall

    • 0
    Jul 5 2011: A good teacher tells you what you need to know, they answer your questions but never encourage new ones. A good teacher never gets you to your limits. A great teacher will encourage new things, teach you things that are "advanced" and help us discover what we are best at and push us.

  • Adam Matthews

    • 0
    Jul 4 2011: what are the motivating factors for us to learn on a daily basis?

  • Christopher Rooney

    • 0
    Jul 4 2011: A great teacher creates an environment where Transformational Learning can and will take place!
  • thumb

    Salim Solaiman 50+

    • 0
    Jul 4 2011: Lot of good discussions & thoughts flowing.
    Not being a teacher, taking the liberty the point out one thing regarding the link of "Pay / Incentive" with being "Good" or "Great" as an anlogy.
    Being in a profession where "Pay" to great extent is directly linked with "Performance" in my teams I see always to have underperformer , good performer & great perfomer. One thing I felt common with GREAT performers which is their "Passion" for whatever they do.

    As a kind of personal research, every time while handing over their chcks for incentive payout to individual team member, I ask one question How much you expect this time?

    Though the calculation of that payout is complicated all the time I found underperformers give a number which is almost close to the actual, while GREAT performers just say "don't know really" if press them to come up with a number the variation is more than 30%. Mostly they say less than what they are about to get.

    I am not saying Teachers should not get high pay or fair pay rather I would say as builders of future they should get more, but I couldn't find the link with money to convert someone to "GREAT" performer.

    It's their HUNGER for do better and better , it their PASSION what makes one "GREAT" in any profession & they are rare breed..... well that's my view from the experience of my team and also being fortunate to observe couple of GREAT teachers of mine.
  • thumb

    Adriana Camarena

    • 0
    Jul 4 2011: A great teacher is the one who shows you the path but doesn't walk it with you. The great teachers permit us to find our own path, our own way to be. And they help us to discover things we didn't know, but by our own means. A great teacher give us the right instruments to go on.

    I make now the question: What is the difference between a good student a great student and a disciple?

    • Adam Matthews

      • 0
      Jul 4 2011: I completely agree that a great teacher or mentor shows you the path but also exposes to multiple paths or opporttunities along the way. In life it is the teacher of experiences that really is the guding factor. I beleive educators serve as mentors is manty ways... mentors provide advice and an objective point of view but ultimiately it is the student's choice in the avenue or path they take. There is a fine line between mentoring and providing support versus promoting a personal agenda through others. we focus so much on today's teachers that we have forgotten to truly develop and engage today's learners. what is the point of learning today when so much information is free to you through all of the various mediums. I feel that this new generation will be data rich but lack the objective ability to decipher the data into truth and make use of the information in a positive way. Are students today becoming surface learners with no depth of true understanding?
      • thumb

        Luigi Vampa

        • +1
        Jul 4 2011: Signore Matthews Not all the persons to go to scholl or university are students. Today we have to suffer a wide range of barbarians in student disguise. Like skaters they stay lightly in the surface of knowledge. The confussion among the students is that they never abandoned the status of people without light. They dont want to leave the pupil stage just for their real incompettence. I saw a photograph of a graduated boy from some very fancy university in US stand out a building as a job seeker with his announce writen in a piece of cardboard (new Yor times) and in the next page the photograph of a homeless who win a very good job just by his voice, The actual students are lost in a dump of specialization, and they have to face the looser sense in their lives. As my dear Alessandro Baricco says..."Google is the barbarians village."
        • thumb

          Debra Smith 200+

          • 0
          Jul 7 2011: Luigi! You thrill me with your gritty assessment of things! The bad boy of the Labyrinth feels things passionately! Barbarians have always been the enemies of Roma.
Load more comments…