The Good Teacher

Professional educators never tire of talking about the ideal teacher. Few have bothered to consult the object of the object of their talk, i.e., the schoolchildren. But one has: Dr. Paul Witty of Northwestern University, originator and judge of the annual "Best Teacher" contest sponsored by the Quiz Kids radio show. For five years, he has been poring over letters from children about their teachers. Last week, after reading the 90,000th, he told teachers at Northwestern's summer school just what the youngsters think about them.

Witty and his assistants had had to do quite a bit of translating, to turn pupil-talk into teacher-talk. But they had settled on twelve qualities of a good teacher:

1) A friendly attitude ("Miss X's class is just like one big happy family; I am not afraid of school any more"); 2) consideration for the individual ("She doesn't make a monkey out of you before everybody"); 3) patience ("She never gives up until you are able to do it"); 4) wide interests ("She brings in outside ideas and helps us to apply what we learn in our everyday lives"); 5) good manners ("There was something about his voice and his smile that made me feel good clear down to my stomach"); 6) fairness ("She gives you exactly what you deserve"); 7) sense of humor ("She puts some fun into each day so school does not seem so monotonous"); 8) good disposition ("I'm sure she must have a temper, as most people do, but I have never seen an example of it"); 9) interest in the individual ("She has helped me over a period of self-consciousness, and my improvement is due to her making me feel at ease"); 10) flexibility ("When she found she was wrong she said so, and tried something else"); 11) generosity ("Miss X acted as though she didn't know I was dumb and so I decided she'd never find out. That's the first good report card I ever got"); 12) skill ("Suddenly I could read out of my reader. She taught me and I didn't know it").

The children had another way of describing the good teacher. They told what the good teacher doesn't do:

"She doesn't yell, holler, scream, shout; get angry, mad, furious; fly off the handle; pound the desk; fuss; fly in a rage; bite your head off."

"She doesn't have pets."

"She never makes fun of any pupil before the class."

"She doesn't wear the same dress all the time."

"He doesn't use big words."

"She doesn't talk all the time."

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