This writing endeavor is the result of many projects, studies, and prior undertakings involving many individuals. Each of these people contributed in meaningful ways to our understanding of what it means to be an effective teacher. Through countless workshops, we have heard teachers, principals, and superintendents ask:
What is an effective teacher? ▲ How do you help good teachers become even better? ▲ What tools and techniques are available to support and sustain quality teaching? The Handbook for Qualities of Effective Teachers is our way of beginning to address these complex and profoundly important questions.
We have known for some time that the single most important thing we can do to help students achieve high standards is to put qualified teachers in every class. Occasionally, outside critics may think that paying attention to teacher retention is a narrow, self-interested approach. But teacher retention is not something that can be easily addressed without addressing many other facets of school life. The story of J.E.B. Stuart High School suggests that the retention of good teachers comes about when a school improves itself for the sake of its students.
Powerful Pedagogy: Self-Study of a Teacher Educator’s Practice is the outcome of the author’s systematically questioning her assumptions about teaching and, in various ways, gives voice to the many individuals who have had an impact on the development of the author’s pedagogy as a mathematics teacher educator. Using self-study as both a lens and a methodology to research her practice over the past three years, the author examines the impact of reflection and reflective practice in pre-service teacher education; voice, silence and that which remains “unsaid”; the ways in which teacher identities emerge and develop, and the role of authority and power in learning about teaching.
Action Plan for Teacher s is a practical guide for teachers of English. It contains tips and suggestions for the English classroom that are suitable for the newly qualified teacher working in a language school, as well as the experienced teacher working in secondary education.
As the best teachers among us can surely attest, teaching at the college and university level is no easy task. Even psychology, as inherently interesting as it may be, is a difficult subject to teach well. Indeed, being an effective teacher of any discipline requires a steadfast commitment to self-improvement as a scholar, thinker, and communicator over the long haul. No one becomes a master teacher overnight.
