Imagine having your class, calm and attentive, under the cool shade of a large sycamore tree where you enjoy the natural light of the afternoon sun and a cooling breeze that makes the leaves dance. This was a regular day at school in ancient India. The primary teaching method of this simple yet sophisticated system was the oral tradition where the children would orally memorise Vedic hymns and mantras to protect their original tone and the magical pronunciation of the Vedic texts. Yet chanting, repetition and memorising was not all that was going on. Also, at play was what was known as Chintan – that is to say thinking. Not only training the mind to receive new knowledge, to contemplate fully these new understandings and to apply them to daily life, but also working to understand the very nature of the mind itself were prerequisites for any educational pursuits. Sanskrit is the language you would hear as you sat under that sycamore tree and you would witness the students studying subjects such as maths, astronomy, algebra, architecture, chemistry, physics, medicine, business ethics, morals, human values, spiritual knowledge, as well as life skills such as hunting, foraging, archery and even the strategies of politics and war. All in all, these students would live and work at the home, or Gurukul, of their teacher for twelve years before making their own way in the world. Like all education systems, it was a system that worked because of its teachers. Yet in the Sanskrit language, there are actually six distinct and discrete ways to describe a teacher, depending on the nature and intent of the teaching that is taking place at any time. Let’s take a look.

 

ADHYAPAK (Think what I think.) - This is the teacher who imparts information. The teacher who shares facts from the body of knowledge of subjects such as chemistry, physics and maths, who provides systems and equations that are exact and fixed.

 

UPADHYAYA (Feel what I feel.) -This is the teacher who also imparts information but combines it with knowledge, knowledge often drawn from their personal and lived experiences. Imagine a teacher who is teaching history or geography or human values yet combines this information with stories from his own travels, far and wide, sharing his experiences of myriad cultural diversity he has witnessed on his travels.

 

ACHARYA (Do what I do.)- This is the teacher who imparts skills. Think of a sports coach or a language trainer or a teacher of hunting or foraging.

 

PANDIT (Know what I know.) This is the teacher who specialises in a single subject yet offers deep insight into it. This teacher is the master, sharing his mastery in areas such trigonometry or astronomy.

 

DHRISTA (Go beyond what we know.)-This is the teacher who has a visionary view on the subject and teaches you to think in that manner. This can be any subject teacher but what makes the difference is that the teacher acts more like a guide or a counsellor to the student, knowing his or her strength in a particular subject and guiding them to think progressively where their abilities and inclinations lie. Here it can also mean that a teacher has a revolutionary view on the subject, one that offers a whole new level of understanding.

 

GURU (Go beyond what we are.)-The teacher who is able to awaken wisdom in you, to lead you from darkness to light, is a Guru. The Guru is considered an institution in and of himself. With years of experience and deep insight into the nature of the self and the world, the Guru is a person held in higher acclaim than even the parents in a child’s life. How a student conducts himself academically, socially, personally is synonymous with the teaching of the Guru. Put simply, the student reflects the Guru and his teachings The role of the teacher in ancient times was one full of responsibility. He/she was expected to make sure that students were not only academically sound but spiritually and morally enlightened too. In short, the responsibility was to create a well-developed, wellrounded human. The emphasis was not on just producing literate people but a well-developed personality The unique role of teachers in modern days Years ago, as a young, eager student, I would have told you that a great teacher was someone who provided classroom entertainment and gave very little homework.

 

Needless to say, after many years of K-12 administrative experience and giving hundreds of teacher evaluations, my perspective has changed. My current profile as an academician and trainer in higher education gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned with current and future school leaders and allows for some lively discussions among my graduate and post graduate students in terms of what it means to be a great teacher. Teaching is hard work, and some teachers never grow to be anything better than mediocre. They do the bare minimum required and very little more.

 

The great teachers, however, work tirelessly to create a challenging, nurturing environment for their students. Great teaching seems to have less to do with our knowledge and skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject, and our work. Although this list is certainly not all-inclusive, I have narrowed down the many characteristics of a great teacher to those I have found to be the most essential, regardless of the age of the learner:

 

1. A great teacher respects students. In a great teacher’s classroom, each person’s ideas and opinions are valued. Students feel safe to express their feelings and learn to respect and listen to others. This teacher creates a welcoming learning environment for all students.

 

2. A great teacher creates a sense of community and belonging in the classroom. The mutual respect in this teacher’s classroom provides a supportive, collaborative environment. In this small community, there are rules to follow and jobs to be done and each student is aware that he or she is an important, integral part of the group. A great teacher lets students know that they can depend not only on her, but also on the entire class.

 

3. A great teacher is warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. This person is approachable, not only to students, but to everyone on campus. This is the teacher to whom students know they can go with any problems or concerns or even to share a funny story. Great teachers possess good listening skills and take time out of their way-toobusy schedules for anyone who needs them. If this teacher is having a bad day, no one ever knows—the teacher leaves personal baggage outside the school doors.

 

4. A great teacher sets high expectations for all students. This teacher realises that the expectations she has for her students greatly affect their achievement; she knows that students generally give to teachers as much or as little as is expected of them.

 

5. A great teacher has his/her own love of learning and inspires students with his passion for education and for the course material. He constantly renews himself as a professional on his quest to provide students with the highest quality of education possible. This teacher has no fear of learning new teaching strategies or incorporating new technologies into lessons, and always seems to be the one who is willing to share what he’s learned with colleagues.

 

6. A great teacher is a skilled leader. Different from administrative leaders, effective teachers focus on shared decision-making and teamwork, as well as on community building. This great teacher conveys this sense of leadership to students by providing opportunities for each of them to assume leadership roles.

 

7. A great teacher can “shift-gears” and is flexible when a lesson isn’t working. This teacher assesses his teaching throughout the lessons and finds new ways to present material to make sure that every student understands the key concepts.

 

8. A great teacher collaborates with colleagues on an ongoing basis. Rather than thinking of herself as weak because she asks for suggestions or help, this teacher views collaboration as a way to learn from a fellow professional. A great teacher uses constructive criticism and advice as an opportunity to grow as an educator.

 

9. A great teacher maintains professionalism in all areas—from personal appearance to organizational skills and preparedness for each day. Her communication skills are exemplary, whether she is speaking with an administrator, one of her students or a colleague. The respect that the great teacher receives because of her professional manner is obvious to those around her. While teaching is a gift that seems to come quite naturally for some, others have to work overtime to achieve great teacher status. Yet the payoff is enormous - for both you and your students. You have to maintain a culture of transformation and stay true to your values. Imagine students thinking of you when they remember that great teacher they had in school and college!