Personality of a Teacher

Area I: TEACHER’S PERSONALITY

I. Introduction

"The teacher has to have the energy of the hottest volcano, the memory of an elephant, and the diplomacy of an ambassador"
-Jaime Escalante (The Best Teacher in America, 1988)

Personality of the teacher is one of the most important factors that affect the teaching and learning process. The effectiveness and productivity of the said process depends largely on his personality and methodologies or strategies. Like all human beings, teachers perceive the behaviors that are appropriate in a given environment, in a given learning situation. Consequently, the teacher's task of exhibiting the characteristics necessary to motivate a class is a careful daily process that inevitably meets some failure and need for improvement.

In the same manner, various characteristics or attributes of teachers are perceived as important factors to consider in motivating students. The teacher has to possess love, concern, care, genuine interest, and the like towards his students. These have meaningful effects on their performance and behavior. On the other hand, on the part of the teacher, these could also reveal comfortable, secure attitude with themselves as instructors, with their course material (knowledge) and with their relationship with their students.

II. Reflections and Insights


Teacher’s personality affects student’s growth and achievement. His attitude and behavior towards their students may make or break them. For the several days that I was been observing different classes with different teachers, it was noticeable that personality of the teacher do affect the teaching and learning process.

Some teachers are like disciplinarian who is so strict, others are like a gardener that plants the seeds of overwhelming information and allow the students to enrich it, and still others are like guidance counselor who has a deep concern towards his students. Likewise, there are teachers that can be considered as potter who molded the minds—knowledge, hand—skills, and most importantly, the heart—values. There are some teachers that I could consider similar as the coach in a basketball team which became a great encourages to his students and turn out to be the first person who become happy with his student’s victory.

Despite these differences, there should something that surfaces everything. The rapport that was built by the teacher through genuine concern from him has a great help to unlock the difficulties of students and diminish the barrier that would arise in the class. Possessing the good personality as an educator is indeed very essential. Teachers are not only involved in teaching solely the subject matter but also someone that could be a friend and an adviser when time permits. Thus, eventually the students will appreciate and love him which could be considered as irreplaceable and incomparable feat for an educator. This experience goes beyond what a true teacher really mean. He is a teacher who has a passion in his profession, a teacher that puts not only his mind but also his heart towards his vocation.



III. Recommendations

Personalities of the teachers may vary in different ways but the main objective of manifesting good personality should be in one accord. This is to encourage and motivate the students toward the subject matter—to be a helping hand to them.

Nonetheless, if situations are incontrollable because of the attitudes of students during the class, like what I have personally observed, good personality of the teacher should dominate. He should swim against the tide and be able to show calmness amidst those circumstances. He should be able to conceptualize a solution, perhaps an agreement between them, to be able to solve the problem. He should possess a professional quality of a genuine teacher who does not easily lose his temper and go beyond his limitation.

Truly, students’ behaviors are erratic but when they feel that they loved by the teacher, they are easily be disciplined and cooperate without any hesitation, but if they feel the opposite, perhaps this will eventually become a dilemma. Some students are rebelling like a son to their father. A key to unlock the problem is to have a good relationship between the teacher and the students. Understanding and cooperation from them would be an answer to their dilemma.