Teachers need a variety of essential skills to flourish in the classroom. Good teachers are high in demand, so it's good to keep working on your skills to stand out from the crowd. Being a teacher can be incredibly rewarding, and working towards your goal of becoming the best teacher will help you along the way. Find below 10 essential skills for teachers to succeed and reach their targets.
Becoming a Successful Teacher
Whether you're already a teacher or you are considering becoming one, there are certain skills that you need to be a successful teacher. How many of these essential skills for teachers can you check off the list?
10 Essential Skills for Teachers
1. Good Communication
Being able to communicate well in both speech and writing is essential to succeeding as a teacher. Can you imagine a quiet, mumbling teacher? We didn't think so either. If you want to be understood and listened to by your students, you will need to be clear and concise. The better your communication skills, the easier teaching will be.
2. Patience
One of the first things you'll learn if you work in education is that patience is key! Students can sometimes be difficult and stubborn, so having the ability to be patient is important. Furthermore, if you work with children with learning difficulties, you will need to be patient and teach at their pace.
3. Adaptability
Being adaptable is important for a few key reasons. Firstly, not all plans (especially lesson ones!) go according to plan, so being able to adapt and change to the circumstances is paramount. Secondly, each student will have a different learning style, which means that you may need to adapt your lessons to cater to each style.
4. Imagination
The ability to be imaginative is essential not only to create inspiring and fun lessons but to create students with imagination. Imaginative people are infectious and do not limit themselves by possibility or circumstance. As Albert Einstein once said, "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination".
5. Teamwork
As a Teacher, you will be required to work with various members of school staff, from support staff to senior leaders. It is important to know how to work with them, not just for your wellbeing but for your students too. For example, using the assistance of support staff will not only make your life easier, but it will also help your students to reach their potential.
6. A Good Sense of Humour
Teaching can be a highly stressful job, so having a sense of humour in tough times is vital. Students like and respect teachers who can have a sense of humour and are not always serious! This doesn't mean, of course, that you need to be mates with your students, but you might just find that they are more likely to engage with you and your subject if you can laugh a little and not take yourself too seriously.
7. Risk Taking
Being a risk-taker is a necessary skill, as sometimes, it might be the only way to help your students. For example, taking a risk and using different teaching methods to what you would normally, might be the difference it makes to help a troublesome student to learn. Furthermore, there may be circumstances where you might need to take risks in order to protect the well-being of your students. Either way, having this skill and knowing when to use it, will make you a good Teacher.
8. Leadership
Teaching and leading almost go hand in hand. Much of your role as a teacher will be to lead from the front, whether that's at the front of the class or giving an assembly in front of the whole school. But more than that, you will need to know how to guide your students and set an example for them to follow. Furthermore, if you're considering a move into a senior position, being able to prove your leadership skills is one of the most essential skills for teachers to pick up.
9. Learning
There's a great quote that says "to teach is to learn twice". Teaching itself is a process of learning: learning your subject(s) to a good level, learning how to explain it well enough to your students, and so on. Outstanding educators are outstanding because they have sought out training courses, events and resources to help them learn how to become better teachers.
10. Enthusiasm
Like imaginative people, people with enthusiasm are infectious! If you are not enthusiastic about your subject and learning, then how can you expect your students to be? Learning starts with enthusiasm and getting your students passionate about your subject.
Become the Best with our Essential Skills for Teachers to Succeed
So, how many could you tick off? Hopefully, you have found this post helpful and inspired you to have a think about what essential skills for teachers you would like to work on. Do you think we have missed any? Let us know what skills you think are important below!
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