4

Golden Link School                                                                                                                 Qualities of a Good Teacher

cheerful, while others become irritable and grumpy? This is basically due to the attitude decided upon, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Abraham Lincoln said: “People are about as happy as they have made up their minds to be.” In other words, cheerfulness can be a conscious decision, and we need not be forever imprisoned by a grumpy attitude that we have acquired since childhood.

This capacity to change oneself is a self-transformative capacity. It is a conscious decision or intention, not an accident. A person can decide to be cheerful even if things are not as smooth as one would wish to be; he can be positive even if there are obstacles encountered.

An unhappy teacher will find it hard to be effective. The mind and feelings will tend to be self-absorbed rather than oriented towards the students that he or she seeks to help. An effective teacher is one who finds meaning in what he or she is doing. There

is a sense of mission. Even when one has personal problems or difficulties, there is still a feeling of happiness in teaching.

Loving

Love is a genuine concern for the welfare of the other person — in this context, the student. Without this, teaching becomes just a job for a salary. Then it will not be a fulfilling career.

Teaching is a vocation, a mission. It is to help transform and educate young minds and young souls. Loving these children means that we tend  not to be self-absorbed about our own needs and demands, but rather seeks to understand the needs and problems of the child. When a child is disrespectful towards us, we see it not as an insult to us, but rather as a personality or character problem in the child.