Competent Teachers and Their Practices

c. Being Honest and Unafraid to Admit Defeat or Face Confrontation - Sometimes a teacher is faced with telling the truth and meeting a situation headlong.  A competent teacher will do just that.  They will not hide the facts or seek to cover up for anyone and anything.    They will not cheat for anybody or anything.  Even if it means defeat, a competent teacher will take the blame if his or her students do not make the grade.  A competent tacher will identify what went wrong and try different methods to help his or her class excel the next time.  They will confront administrators , parents, and students to find an honest and fair solution to all problems.  They will not pass out good grades to any student who does not deserve the grade.  Their integrity will be above reproach at all times.  In being honest and telling the truth, they will know that they are in control and not an administrator or system which refuses to be honest.

d.  Help Other Teachers Who are Having Trouble and Accept Help - Many struggling first and second year teachers need support.  A competent teacher will be there for those teachers.  Because a school cannot survive if half of its teachers cannot control the students or a group of teachers choose not to teach.  The competent teacher will seek to help those who do not possess the skills that are needed for good classroom control.  They will graciously offer suggestions to their struggling colleagues, recognizing that teachers have to “grow”.  They will not be overbearing or snooty.  Instead, they will be confidential and work consistently with the struggling teachers so that those teachers will improve and become strong.  Competent teachers will not be afraid to openly confront others who are not stepping up to the plate to teach.  Those teachers who are just there for paycheck, who are constantly complaining, who make fun of the students behind closed doors, are unfit to be called a teacher.  The competent teacher will not countenance these ill prepared specimens of what a teacher should be.  They will not want them in their close circle of professionals. 

    At the same time, the competent teacher will be willing to accept help.  No teacher knows it all. The ability to accept help when needed demonstrates that a teacher is willing to lean on his or her colleages as he or she “grows” in the profession. 

    Competent teachers love their profession.  They see teaching as a type of “ministry”.  They are molding and shaping their future and the future of the nation.  They are constantly reaching out for perfection.  They, though not always recognized, know that their work cannot be duplicated.  They are the forgers of a better life for their students.  They are the craftsmen who do not measure their work by others, but by themselves.  They are God’s gifts to humanity.