Confidence and Humility

Teachers are humans. They are sometimes wrong. Confidence is necessary for a teacher to be professional in their classroom, but genuine humility is also needed. It is important for a teacher to be knowledgeable and competent in their subject area, especially in middle and high schools. A history teacher would not generally not be the best math teacher because that is not their speciality. They are not as knowledgeable about math as they are about history so they would not be as confident in a math classroom. Students need confident teachers to help them understand new material. If a teacher is struggling with the information themselves they are going to have a very difficult time teaching that material to students to whom the concepts are brand new. It is necessary for the teacher to be extremely competent with the classroom material because they need to be able to teach it in a variety of ways. Not every student learns the same and in order for every student to understand the new concepts the teacher may need to explain it several ways. However, some teachers take this confidence too far and project the image that they are all knowing and are never wrong. Teachers are humans, and just like students, can make mistakes. Humility is a quality that every teacher must have to be successful in their profession. There are lots of different teaching methods and philosophies, some of which work better than others. Teachers should be keeping each other accountable for student learning, and offer constructive criticism in a positive way. Even teachers who have been in the profession for decades know that they can always improve and continue learning. Students need teachers who are constantly striving for excellence in their own teaching while trusting that teachers are confident in the material they are teaching.