What makes a good teacher?

Since we were kids, we differentiated between good and bad teachers at the beginning of our academic journey, teachers we like and admire, and those we fear or despise. Some of those teachers shaped our characters and had a great impact on us. You can probably name at least one teacher for whom you had great admiration and who helped you through your school years. I know I certainly can. 

Like your genetics, your parents’ socio-economic status, and the country you were born in provide a mold from which you built upon your future, so do the teachers who taught you how to read, write, or do basic mathematics. 

Good teachers undoubtedly remain one of the pillars that hold our society together.

Those born into a wealthy, stable family or those who won a genetic lottery are incredibly lucky and have a great chance of success in life. Not many of us can say that we struck those lucky numbers, but I believe that those who can name at least 5 teachers who left an impact on them struck a real goldmine.

Many psychologists researched the effects of homeschooling on children's development. Two great problems that arise from being home-schooled are a lack of proper education and a lack of social contact between a child and their peers. I will not go into many details about these problems since I am not a psychologist, but I will address a problem I believe to be of utmost importance in a child's development. This problem may be addressed a bit more nowadays with the ever-present rise of social media, but still not talked about as much as I think is important.

The problem of role models

We all have role models. People who did great deeds and are worthy of admiration. The first role models we encounter in life are our parents. If we have a healthy childhood, we can imagine ourselves living the good life our parents live today. We can also see some of their mistakes, so we build our personalities and make life choices to avoid these mistakes. 

The second role models we encounter are undoubtedly our teachers. People who dedicate their lives to passing their knowledge about the world to the next generations. The impact teachers have on us must not be undermined since we spend most of our developing years in school. 

We could argue back and forth on what types of teaching are the most effective. In my opinion, ancient Greeks had some really good ideas on how teachers ought to teach their students. One-on-one sessions where students, through interaction with the teacher, learn about various subjects seem almost ideal. 

The problem with this method is the impracticality with which knowledge is acquired. In today's times, you cannot hire as many teachers as there are students, and one teacher cannot possibly teach all of the subjects at once. The amount of global knowledge increases exponentially, and no human can possibly follow this line of progress. We could, in theory, replace human teachers with advanced artificial intelligence, thus solving the problems of both the limited knowledge a human can learn and the practicality of limited numbers of teachers. 

Of course, this idea is absolutely absurd because we need a human role model for the process of learning to be successful.

The power of human interaction

Now that we acknowledged that teachers remain one of the most important role models in our lives, we can discuss what exactly makes a good teacher.

I think we have different values that we search for in our teachers. Whether it's charisma, interest in the subject they're teaching, or a strict formal demeanor, just to name a few.

Imagine a scenario where you attend a lecture held by a professor who is an expert in a certain field. If you happen to have a similar interest in the field, you have high hopes that his lecture will be one of the best lectures you have ever attended. Unfortunately for you, the complete opposite happens, and you find yourself completely uninterested in anything that the professor has to say. Does that scenario sound familiar?

Indeed, if you want to be a good teacher, you need to understand a vast amount of different concepts and have an equal amount of knowledge concerning the topic you talk about. The problem begins when a lecturer doesn't know how to pass that knowledge effectively or explain those concepts clearly.

The line that separates a good teacher from a bad one is the ability to explain why we have to learn that particular subject.

The job of a good teacher is not to motivate you to study their specialty of interest (but is considered beneficial nonetheless), but to present their subject in a way that seems beneficial for whatever reason. A good teacher will explain to you the thought process of people who came before us and why they developed the subject to reach today's extent.

This way, even if you have absolutely zero interest in the given subject, at least you will be motivated enough to pass the exam and go on with your life.

As some of you may know, I have a great interest in neurology, and am planning to start a neurology residency as soon as I can. Apart from my interest in the brain, my passion for neurology also came because of one of my professors in my fourth year of medical school.

She was an extraordinarily interesting person who loved everything about her field of study. She was a neurologist with a subspecialty in movement disorders, which is a part of neurology that studies conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Essential tremor, different types of Ataxias, Huntington's disease, and so on. The beauty of neurology is the simplicity of diagnosing the patient. Nowhere else in the medical field is there a specialty that relies on the physical exam as much as neurology does. This is amplified in movement disorders, where you can suspect someone is suffering from a certain disorder just by the way they walk.

Even though my professor was near retirement, she was so ecstatic when explaining to us how different disorders present. What was especially memorable was the way she used to stand in front of us and mimic the movement of different disorders. This may seem like a basic concept, but it is engraved in my memory as an example of what a good teacher is. If I manage to be at least half a teacher as she is, I will consider myself successful.

Some would say that teachers are important, but I would say that they are the backbone of our society. Their job is to academically raise our children and influence their path to becoming functional members of our society.

Summary: 

Since I was a kid, I could tell the difference between good and bad teachers; those I admired and those I dreaded. Some teachers had a lasting impact on me, shaping who I am today. Just like genetics or the environment we grow up in, I believe teachers play a huge role in building our future.

To me, teachers are more than educators—they're role models. After our parents, they're the ones we spend the most time with during our formative years. Their influence is undeniable. I think one of the biggest challenges in homeschooling, aside from limited education and social interaction, is the lack of strong role models. While one-on-one teaching, like in ancient Greece, sounds ideal, it’s impractical today. And even though AI could, in theory, teach efficiently, it lacks the human presence that makes learning meaningful. We need real people who inspire us.

A good teacher can explain why a subject matters—to make it relevant, even if it’s not your favorite topic. A good teacher doesn’t just transfer facts; they help you understand the thought processes behind the subject and why it exists today.

One professor in medical school was a neurologist who specialized in movement disorders, and her way of teaching about different disorders was to stand in front of the class and mimic patients' movements so vividly that it stuck with me to this day. Even though she was near retirement, her passion was infectious.

Thanks to her, I found my love for neurology and decided to pursue a residency in it. If I can one day be even half the teacher she was, I’ll consider myself successful.

In my eyes, teachers aren’t just important—they’re the backbone of our society. They guide and raise our children not just academically, but socially and emotionally, shaping the kind of people they become.