QUALITYTEACHING:FINALREVISEDSTANCE

QualityTeaching:FinalRevisedStance

RachaelRassel

TE807Spring2016

MichiganStateUniversity

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QualityTeaching:FinalRevisedStance

Teachingisacomplexprofessionwhichcannotbeeasilydefinedorclassified.Theidea
ofteachingseemstoberootedwithintheideathatonepersonsharesinformationwithanother
person.Thoughthatmaybethebasisforteaching,thatsimplybeginstoscratchthesurfaceof
thequalityteachingeducators,parents,studentsandthegovernmentstrivetofindinthe
classroom.Theissuewithqualityteachingisitcannotbedefinedinonesimplesentence.In
fact,itisnotonespecificthingbutratheracombinationofmanydifferenttraitswhichcanbe
describeddifferentlydependingonwhoyouaskandwhattheyvalue.Aqualityteachershould
beeffectiveinteachingcontent,howeverqualityteachingisaboutmorethanwhatistaught.It
isabouthowitistaught(Fenstermacher,2005,189).Academicgrowthandtestscoresseemto
belargefactorsinreviewingtheeffectivenessofateacher.However,beingeffectivedoesnot
exclusivelymeasureifateacherisaqualityteacher.Althoughaqualityteacherdoesneedtobe
effective,effectivenesscanbemeasuredinotherwaysbesidestestscoresandnumbers.
Thefactorswhichmakeupaqualityteacherdiffersfrompersontoperson,andmost
importantlyfromstudenttoteacher.Asteachersstrivetocollaborateandresearchonhowto
effectivelyreachstudents,weareoftentrainedtofocusoncontent,universalengagement,test
scoresandgrowth,andalthoughthoseareimportantfactorsinmeasuringtheeffectivenessofa
teacher,studentsseemtobelookingforsomethingdifferent.Aqualityteacherseesthe
importanceoffocusingonthestudentsandusestheirowninquiry,researchandcollaborationto
findthebestwaytoreachstudentsandputwhattheyhavelearnedintopractice.Inordertodo
thisqualityteachersconductresearchintheirownclassroomswhileobservingotherclassrooms
andreflectingontheirownpractice.

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Studentswanttolearnwhatisrelativetothemandhaveateacherwhocreatesan
engagingwelcomingenvironment.Studiesshowthatstudentslearnandrememberwhenthey
participate(Barton,1995,346).Aqualityteacherstrivestoenrichstudents,creatingmore
opportunitiesforstudentstoparticipateintheirownlearningwhichcontributestostudent
understanding,engagementandcontentretention.Furthermorecollaborativediscussionshelpto
buildpositiverelationshipswithothersandusefulskillsofthefuturemakingtheclassroommore
relativeforstudentsnotinitiallyinterestedinthespecificcontentbeingtaught.(Richardson,
2010,87).Thisunderstandingshowstheimpactactiveresearchcanhaveonstudentsandtherole
itcanhaveonteachereffectivenessandqualityteaching.
Forateachertobeaqualityteachertheymustfindaconnectionbetweenwhattheyare
trainedtodoandwhatthestudentsdesire.Anarticlein
EducationDigest
suggestsyoung
peoplearelikelytobemoremotivatedandengagedinanactivitywhentheyhaveavoiceinhow
itisconductedandcanaffecthowitconclude(Toshalis,2012,p.29).Connectingwithstudents
throughbuildingrelationshipsandsharingtheclassroomwithstudentsallowsteacherstoengage
theirstudentswithcontentachievingthegoalsandobjectivestheyweretrainedtoreach.Quality
teachersarenotthecentralfocusofaclassroom,theyarefacilitatorswhoworktoensure
studentsarethefocusoftheclassroom.
Studentshavethelargestimpactonwhatmakesaqualityteacherintheclassroom.Not
thespecificmakeupoftheclassroom,butthewayinwhichateachercaninteractandgainthe
respectoftheirstudentsregardlessoftheirbackgroundorability.Techniquesandstrategiescan
betaughtinateachereducationprogram,butbeingabletoadapt,redirect,andcreatea
communityinaneverchangingclassroomcannotsimplybetaughtinonelesson.Aquality

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teachermustrecognizethatwhattheyhaveoncelearnedwillchangeandadaptovertimeas
research,toolsandeducationcontinuestochange.Theyneedtobewillingacceptthisandto
investigatethesechangesinordertobestputthemintopractice.
Qualityteachersareteacherswhotakethetimetogoaboveandbeyond.Theyarethe
peoplewhodonotsimplyacceptmediocreeducation,butratheraretheeducatorswhogoout
andinvestigatehowtochallengethestatusquotoimproveandmakechanges.Qualityeducators
continuouslyresearchandexploreeffectiveteachingmethodsallwhiletakingpartin
collaborativeprofessionaldevelopmentincludingpeercoachingandprofessionallearning
communities.ProfessionalLearningCommunitiesallowforcollaboration,betteralignmentand
strongerteachersasawhole(Ha,2010).Strongerteachersareinturnmoreconfidentintheir
classroommakingthemmoreeffectiveandallowingthemtocontinuouslygrowandimprove
theirskills,knowledgeandexpertisethroughcollaborativestudies(HiddenCurriculum,2014).
Thisgrowthbecomesevidentthoughstudentachievementintheclassroom.
Thecontinuousstudyofeffectivepracticethroughprofessionallearningcommunities
andpeercoachingempowersteacherstoreflectontheirownpracticeandempowersthemto
changenotonlytheirclassroom,buttheirschoolsandprofession.Professionallearning
communitiesbringsstrengthinnumberstoteachersandtheirresearchregardingeffective
practicesleadingtoagreaterimpactontheschoolcommunity.Theempowermentand
discoveriesbroughtaboutaboutthroughcollaborationandteachercommunitiesmakes
educationalresearchmoreapproachablebyhelpingtheseteachersputresearchintopractice.
Continuingtobeinformedonnewresearchandimplementingnewpracticesincreasesteacher

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quality.Researchhasfoundthatenhancedteacherqualitywillleadstostudentachievement
(TeacherLearningCommunities,2010).
Furthermoreaqualityteacherisaresearcherandaleader.Thisdoesnotmeanthata
qualityteacheralwaysexhibitsthetraditionalattributesofaleader.Itmeansthataquality
educatorsharestheirstrengthswithothersrecognizingthattheirstrengthsaredifferentthantheir
peers(Fairman&MacKenzie,2015,p.84).Furthermoreaqualityteacherconductsresearchin
theirownclassroomtocollectdataandsharewiththeirpeers.Thisresearchandleadershiphelps
toincreaseteacherunderstandingofeffectivepracticewhilebuildingasenseofcommunity
throughouttheschool.Thissharingandcollaborationexhibitsthewillingnesstoopenupyour
classroomtoothersandeliminatestheisolationoftenfoundintheprofession.Thisleadershipis
seenbyqualityteacherswhonotonlystrivetomakethemselvesbettereducators,butalsowant
tosharetheirdiscoveriesandpassionforqualityeducationtoothers.
Inhisarticleonthedeterminationsofqualityteaching,GaryD.Fenstermachermentions
threeaspectsofteaching:logical,psychologicalandmoral(2005,195).Thesecharacteristicscan
bevisibleindifferentwaysbutareallvitaltothedevelopmentandsuccessofaqualityteacher.
Manyvariablesandtraitscontributetothecomplexityofqualityteaching.Theconceptis
complexandlooksdifferentineveryclassroom.Ateachermustbewillingtocontinuouslylearn,
researchandcollaborateinordertobestincorporateandbalanceinstruction,motivation,and
compassion.Qualityteachersneverstoplearningandcontinuetochallengeacceptedpractices
thatarenolongereffective.Theprofessionalgrowththatteachersachievethroughresearch,
observation,inquiry,collaborationandcoachingcreateaqualityteacherthatisrecognizableto
administration,colleaguesandmoreimportantlystudents.Howtoaccomplishthissuccessfullyis

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everchanging,howeverispossiblewhenateachercommitstoalwaysbegrowingintothebest
teacherapersoncanbe.

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References

Barton,J.(1995).Conductingeffectiveclassroomdiscussions.
JournalofReading,38
(5),346.

Fairman&MacKenzie(2015),Howteacherleadersinfluenceothersandunderstandtheir
leadership,
InternationalJournalofLeadershipinEducation:TheoryandPractice,
18
(1).

Fenstermacher,G.D.,&Richardson,V.(2005).Onmakingdeterminationsofqualityin
teaching.
TeachersCollegeRecord,107
(1),186213.

Ha,Christopher.(2010,August8).
PLC:ProfessionalLearningCommunityImplementation.
[videofile].Retrievedfrom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWUoceQsZ3A

Hiddencurriculum(2014,August26).InS.Abbott(Ed.),Theglossaryofeducationreform.
Retrievedfrom
http://edglossary.org/hiddencurriculum

Richardson,A.E..(2010).ExploringTextthroughStudentDiscussions:AccountableTalkinthe

MiddleSchoolClassroom.
TheEnglishJournal
,
100
(1),8388.Retrievedfrom

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20787697

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Toshalis,E.,&Nakkula,M.J.(2012).Motivation,engagement,andstudentvoice.
Education
Digest,78
(1),29.