Empathy

Being able to understand how someone else is feeling as if they were your own feelings. For the teacher, I think this means understanding the difficult situations pupils might find themselves in and be able to support, comfort and help them through it. I think it is important for a teacher to be empathetic so they can understand the broad range of children they will find in their classroom and understand that they will not all learn the same or behave the same, for numerous different reasons.

Fairness

Being unbiased and reasonable. I think this is very important for a teacher as they should treat everyone the same. They should not be influenced to treat someone differently because of how they act in the classroom. As a teacher it is important not to have a “favourite” and to distribute tasks fairly so that people do not feel left out. I also think that by being fair, there will be a better learning environment where everyone wishes to participate because there is no fear of being left out.

Kindness

Showing consideration, being friendly and having a warm hearted nature. Being a teacher means that you are seen as a role model for your pupils, therefore, if you are not kind to your pupils or colleagues then how can you expect your pupils to be kind to one another? Once again, I believe that showing kindness and being kind will help pupils to participate and make them eager to be in the classroom and to learn. This may be due to the way in which the teacher treats their pupils, fellow colleagues and creates a friendly and warm hearted learning environment.

Patience

The ability to deal with situations, delays or difficulties in a calm manner. This is important for many aspects of teaching. When working with pupils who are finding it hard to grasp a concept a teacher should be patient in order to help them understand the concept – becoming frustrated will make them less likely to understand it and may disengage them. Patience is also key with the rate at which children work at, as some children may take a little longer than other pupils, so being patient means that you will recognise those that might need longer to do work and by not pressuring them to finish just because a majority of the class is finished, will encourage them to complete their work and may help them to finish it quicker. When it comes to behaviour, patience is important as by getting angry and shouting will not give the children a chance to explain themselves and they may not listen to what you are trying to say because you are angry – if you are patient and deal with the issues in a calm way it might help to rectify the behaviour issues in the class that day. I understand that teachers may become frustrated and might become annoyed sometimes but they are human beings, just like everyone else.

Respect

Showing respect means to treat everyone fairly, showing compassion and not making anyone feel that they are of less importance to you. Like kindness, I think that you should be respectful to your pupils and colleagues in order for the pupils to be respectful to their pupils and the staff members. By treating everyone equally – the cleaners and cooks be treated the same way in which you would treat the Convenor of Education – creates a good working environment and it shows others that everyone needs to work together in order for things to run smoothly. It all comes down to treating others in the way you wish to be treated.