The Teacher as a Person

Everybody thinks teachers should know their subject very well, but sometimes, this is not enough. Teachers should have some characteristics that identify them as persons. It is important to be aware that we as teachers should play some important roles in order to be more than traditional teachers.

I think the role of fairness and respect is the most important, but social interaction with students has almost the same importance. These two characteristics are the key to establish good relationships with our students and to create rapport in the classroom.

The most important value in our classroom should be respect. We should respect all our students in order for them to respect us, and we should also ask our students to respect each other.  Besides, respect is related to fairness because if we are not fair with our students, we cannot say we respect them. So, respect involves fairness and vice-versa. Furthermore, this role should be present when interacting with students outside the classroom (social interaction). This means to interact in activities that are not directly related to our subject or the syllabus such as sporting events, concerts, conferences, etc. 

In my opinion, social interactions with students and the role of fairness and respect are two of the most important characteristics of the teacher as a person. We cannot have a good social interaction with our students if we don’t respect them or if we are not fair when interacting with them in or/and outside the classroom.

We should erase that traditional idea that teachers ask for respect without  respecting their students, and that teachers interact with students only in the classroom. We should demonstrate that teachers can be respectful, fair, and friendly with our students.