What is quality teaching?

All assessment and evaluation techniques contain implicit assumptions about the characteristics of quality teaching. These assumptions should be made explicit and should become part of the evaluation process itself in a manner that recognises our rights as teachers to be evaluated within the context of our own teaching philosophies and goals.

First and foremost then, “teaching is not right or wrong, good or bad, effective or ineffective in any absolute fixed or determined sense”.[1]

We teachers make emphasis on diferent domains of learning (cognitive, affective, psychomotor, etc) and employ different theories of education and teaching methodologies. We encourage learning in different environments ( classrooms, field trips, laboratories, computer rooms, etc). We use different strategies and formats, and we do this while recognising that students have diverse backgrounds and levels of preparation.In one situation, we will be acting as transmitters of factual information, and in other, we will be facilitators of discussion and promoters of critical thinking.

As diverse and variable quality teaching might be, generalizations may be made about its basic characteristics.

The criteria to evaluate our performance vary between disciplines and should take into consideration the course level, our objectives and style, and the teaching methodology employed. Nontheless, the primary criterion must  be improved student learning.

So, what does it imply to be a quality teacher ?

* to  establish a positive learning environment;

* to motivate  our students’ engagement in their own learning process;

* to provide appropriate and challenging activities;

* to be responsive to our students’needs, and

* to be fair when we evaluate their learning.

All this implies that we 

* choose our materials effectively;

* organise our subject matter and course;

*  communicate effectively;

*  know our subject and transmit enthusiasm while teaching it;

* are available for our students, and

* have responsiveness to our students’ concerns and opinions.

Some characteristics are more easily measured that others. Since we teachers are individuals and teaching styles are personal, it is all the more important to recognise that not all of us will display the same patterns and strengths.

Do you agree?

Lara

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(1) Mary Ellen Weimer (1990) Improving College Teaching