1、The Personal Qualities of a Teacher Here I want to try to give you an answer to the question: What personal qualities are desirable in a teacher? Probably no two people would draw up exactly similar lists, but I think the following would be generally accepted. First, the teachers personality should
2、be pleasantly live and attractive. This does not rule out people who are physically plain, or even ugly, because many such have great personal charm. But it does rule out such types as the over-excitable, melancholy, frigid, sarcastic, cynical, frustrated, and over-bearing. I would say too, that it
3、excludes all of dull or purely negative personality. I still stick to what I said in my earlier book: that school children probably “suffer more from bores than from brutes.” Secondly, it is not merely desirable but essential for a teacher to have a genuine capacity for sympathy- in the literal mean
4、ing of that word; a capacity to tune in to the minds and feelings of other people, especially, since most teachers are school teachers, to the minds and feelings of children. Closely related with this is the capacity to be tolerant- not, indeed, of what is wrong, but of the frailty and immaturity of
5、 human nature which induce people, and again especially children, to make mistakes. Thirdly, I hold it essential for a teacher to be both intellectually and morally honest. This does not mean being a plaster saint. It means that he will be aware of his intellectual strengths, and limitations, and wi
6、ll have thought about and decided upon the moral principles by which his life shall be guided. There is no contradiction in my going on to say that a teacher should be a bit of an actor. That is part of the technique of teaching, which demands that every now and then a teacher should be able to put
7、on an act- to enliven a lesson, correct a fault, or award praise. Children, especially young children, live in a world that is rather larger than life. A teacher must remain mentally alert. He will not get into the profession if of low intelligence, but it is all too easy, even for people of above-a
8、verage intelligence, to stagnate intellectually- and that means to deteriorate intellectually. A teacher must be quick to adapt himself to any situation, however improbable (they happen!) and able to improvise, if necessary at less than a moments notice. On the other hand, a teacher must be capable
9、of infinite patience. This, I may say, is largely a matter of self-discipline and self-training; we are none of us born like that. He must be pretty resilient; teaching makes great demands on nervous energy. And he should be able to take in his stride the innumerable petty irritations any adult deal
10、ing with children has to endure. Finally, I think a teacher should have the kind of mind which always wants to go on learning. Teaching is a job at which one will never be perfect; there is always something more to learn about it. There are three principal objects of study: the subject, or subjects,
11、 which the teacher is teaching; the methods by which they can best be taught to the particular pupils in the classes he is teaching; and - by far the most important- the children, young people, or adults to whom they are to be taught. The two cardinal principles of British education today are that e
12、ducation is education of the whole person, and that it is best acquired through full and active co-operation between two persons, the teacher and the learner. 教师的个人素 质 这里，我想探讨一下“教师应具备哪些个人素质”这个问题，人们对此可能仁者见仁，智者见智。不过我想以下几点应该会被广为接受。 首先，教师应性情开朗，具有魅力。这并不排除长相平平，甚至面貌丑陋者，他们或许更具魅力。但过于冲动者、郁郁寡欢者、冷酷无情者、尖酸刻薄者、愤世嫉
13、俗者、怨天尤人者、以及自以为是、居高临下者却定要排除在外。再补充一点：应排除所有平庸无味者和性情不良者。还是我以前书中所言：“乏味或许比残暴更加摧残学生。” 其次，教师不仅需要而且也必须拥有同情心真正意义上的同情心，能够设身处地地倾听他人的 心声，特别要能感孩子们所感，思孩子们所思，因为教师中多为中小学教师；还有与此密不可分的宽容当然，宽容的不是错误本身，而是人类脆弱而幼稚的本性，这才是诱使人们尤其是孩子犯错的根本。 再次，在知识和道德方面诚实坦荡也是极其必要的，这并不是要教师 要石膏圣人一尊。他应正确认识自己学业的长处与短处，认真思考后认准指引自己生命的道德准则。他应具备几分演员的素质，这与
14、前面所说的并不矛盾，而是教学技巧的一部分。教师应时常对此发挥运用，以活跃气氛、纠正错误、表扬鼓励。孩子们，特别是小孩子们，总是生活在被夸大得有点失真的世 界里。 教师应思维活跃、敏捷。智商低下者入不了此行的门，但智力中上却停滞不前、不进而退者也屡见不鲜。客观上的的的确确有许多情况，无论多么艰难，都要求教师在瞬息之间审时度势，调整自己，随机应变。 另一方面，教师又要有极大的耐心。我认为这要靠自我约束、自我训练，因为谁也不是天生如此。他应当有极强的适应能力。教书极费脑筋，教师要能够从容自若地处理成人与孩子们交往中无法避免的无数烦扰。 最后，教师应当明白学无止境。教师这行没有人能做到尽善尽美，该学的也总是源源不断，层出不穷。学习的主要对象有三：老师所教科目，因材施 教的最佳方法，以及受教师者本身后者可能是儿童、青少年或是成人，他们是最重要的学习对象。当今，英语教育的两个基本原则就是：教育是指对个人的方方面面的完整教育；其实现的最佳途径就是施教方和受教方双方积极和大力的配合。
