Perceptions of the Qualities of a Model Teacher in the Minds of Newly Recruited Teachers at a Private University

Abstract

Teaching involves a number of qualities of a teacher that the teacher must possess; it is not simply the human figure that matters. Rather the inherent qualities of the individual that count the most if the teaching is to be successful and effective. The article attempts to bring forth the rare and valuable qualities that an individual must aspire to achieve and cultivate in practical situations. Out of the immediate experience obtained from the bunch of newly recruited faculty in Daffodil International University (DIU) the paper has been conceived and designed. It may be hoped that the article will reveal a fresh perception at least in the mind-set of the newly recruited faculty, who aspire to stick to teaching career for their life. Every semester, DIU arranges an orientation cum training program for newly recruited faculty members. During the training session for the semester of Spring 2015 there were 46 teachers. The session dug into the perception of these teachers on their impression of the qualities of a teacher, i.e., what qualities would a model teacher have. A questionnaire was uploaded in Google Classroom for the participants to decide the qualities of a model teacher, taken from their own experiences as students. The results showed that about 50% of the newly recruited faculties were influenced by the teaching of their own university teachers. Participants wrote about the teacher with most influential characteristics. Among the qualities of the teachers that they felt contributed to model teaching practices were giving theory followed by examples, creating groups, asking back to back questions, encouraging students to predict (empowering students) and giving pictorial view of every lesson as well as by the personality of teacher, which included friendly behavior and the ability to motivate. From the view of the newly recruited faculties, it is found thatone needs to be friendly with a stable teaching technique in order to become a successful teacher