Who Should Teach?

My critical friend* once asked me what the requirements are for being a teacher. I responded, without having to think about it too much, that to be a teacher you must like kids, have a sense of humor, and be flexible. On reflection, I have decided that this is a pretty good answer, although I might add that it is a good idea to know something about your subject(s) as well as about child or adolescent psychology either from pursuing academic or self-taught pathways and from experience. To expand on the notion of liking kids, I would say that you must be interested in them, as well; you must be essentially a humanist and a humanitarian. High school teachers that are excellent teachers possess all of the attributes of teachers of younger children; however, they also know their disciplines very well, keep up with what's going on in their field, and they are passionate about their content. These first two can be faked; the last one can't.

* critical friend -- a professional colleague who believes in you but who is not afraid to tell you the truth about your teaching practice. To be in a critical friend relationship requires understanding, empathy, honesty, diplomacy, and an absence of hypersensitivity. It is different from a mentoring relationship because the partners are equal (which is not to say that you don't learn from a critical friend.).