ABSTRACT
Being an outstanding researcher, noted scholar, or renowned practitioner doesn't automatically make someone an excellent educator. Like any other skill, teaching requires knowledge, practice, and a certain amount of aptitude. Qualitative aspects of teaching are difficult to define. Educators can learn how plan for effective instruction, how to create a syllabus, or even how to write a quiz, but demonstrating empathy and compassion to students, and nurturing their curiosity and creativity even though they might take students in directions contrary to departmental norms are closely linked to our personalities as well as to our knowledge of best practices in teaching. Growth and change exist in a paradoxical relationship, especially in higher education. From Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking (1952) to Shawn Achor's The Happiness Advantage (2010), psychologists have explored the powerful impact of one's thoughts on our quality of life.
