ABSTRACT

Teachers are aware of this. In 1999, sixty-one practising teachers in further education who were beginning a Certificate in Further Education course were asked to identify up to five characteristics of a ‘good’ teacher. The most frequently cited characteristic was good communicator (twenty-three), followed by good listener (eighteen). Other similar characteristics cited were rapport or empathy with students (fifteen), approachability (eight) and sense of humour (eight). Only eight teachers failed to list at least one of these constructs.