THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY

INTRODUCTION:

This paper is intended to explore the teacher's personality. The exploration is

primarily based on relevant research and theory. Recent research on teacher

personality in the United States, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong will be

reported, following a brief discussion of the nature of teaching, the task of the

teacher, and the importance of teacher personality.

WHAT IS PERSONALITY?

Few people understand the meaning of personality and its importance in the

classroom. Some feel that personality is the kind of person one just happens to be,

others have said that "it is being like others." Most important, many teachers do not

realize the nature of their own short comings simply because they do not fully

grasp the significance of the role of personality.

Dr. W. H. Burnham said "everyone knows what personality is, but no one can

define it."1 Even though the definition is complex, most people will agree that

personality "is the extent to which one is able to interest or influence other

people.2 This means that your personality is the sum total of the qualities of

character, mind and body that make you different from other people.3 It is a simple

matter of human relations. It is the outward evidence of your inner qualities which

determine your thoughts, feelings and actions in any given situation.- On this the

Lord said, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". The Apostle

Paul said, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are

honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things

are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there

be any praise, think on these things".

At this point extreme caution must be exercised. In addition to influencing others

to think with us on things wholesome and right, the teacher's personality must be

such as to develop habits and skills which interest and serve others. It's doing

things with people, for people and even involves self-sacrifice.

WHY STUDY TEACHER’S PERSONALITY?

There are several reasons why one should give attention to the matter of

personality:

(1) To bring about understanding: Someone has said, "to understand is to begin to

cure." If the teacher has trouble getting along with people, if he cannot take

criticism or suggestion, if he feels inadequate, then some facet of his personality

must be changed. One is not born with personality in the sense that we are using

the term. Personality is developed and acquired, not inherited. It grows

continuously and can be altered to suit the demands.

Personality is not something that just happens. It is the definite result of cultivation

as one goes on in life.4 just as one must keep weeds and grass out of a flower bed,

so one must eliminate undesirable elements in the realm of personality. The door

of the mind must be closed to the evil things of life, to bad habits and questionable

indulgences. Let the teacher look at himself with a view toward better

understanding. "Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own

selves". If a weakness exists, then correct it.

(2) It is a great asset: Next to the knowledge of truth personality is the greatest

asset in the life of the Christian who teaches. It is the power with which one wins

other people and inspires personal devotion in others. A positive personality is the

"feather in the cap" of the Bible class teacher.

(3) Most classroom problems are people problems: Because of this, one must

understand people in order successfully to teach. The clash of personalities is

nothing new. In addition to knowing oneself, the other person must be given

consideration. A teacher with a pleasing personality may be the center of

argumentation resulting in classroom rowdyism. On the other hand, an irritating

and belligerent student can suddenly become pleasant and cooperative. Personality

definitely affects others one way or the other. This demonstrates the need for

placing top priority on a working understanding of personality.

The more you understand personalities (including your own), the better you

become in processing people problems in the classroom.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY

As suggested above, personality can be changed and altered. A poor

personality cannot be the result of heredity in the sense that one inherits a good or

bad personality. It is the result of our own outlook and response to things around

us; this shapes our personalities. As Oliver Holmes said, "I am part of all that I

have met."5 If one can learn to read, to write, and even speak by practice, one can

also learn the skills of good personality.

Unlike our physical bodies which grow almost automatically, personality needs

constant self-direction. Some of the areas needing attention are: sincerity, personal

integrity, humility, courtesy, charity and wisdom.6 these characteristics should be a

part of the Christian's life regardless of whether or not one is teaching. These are

musts in the life of the tutor. They are the necessary ingredients of a successful

teacher. You may improve your personality

(1) Admitting that your personality can and should be changed. It was Harry

Emerson Fosdick who said: "the beginning of a wise ambition lies in man's

accepting himself as himself and not as someone else, and in trying to make the

most and the best of that self and not another."

(2) Take an inventory of yourself. Personality wise, where do you stand? What are

your weaknesses, your strong points and where in your life as a teacher, do you

expect difficulty in making desirable changes.

(a) Awareness that your personality must be improved.

(b) Desire to improve your personality traits.

(c) Analyze your good and bad traits.

(d) Plan wisely and systematically for improvement.

(3) Be honest in your responses. Your results will be as accurate as your

willingness to be candid with yourself.

REVIEW OF LITRATURE:

TEACHING AND THE TEACHER'S TASK

Gage (1964) points out that ‘teaching’ are a misleadingly generic term; it

embraces far too many kinds of process, of behavior, of activity, to be the proper

subject of a single theory. He suggests that the concept of teaching be analyzed

according to the types of (1) teacher activities, (2) educational objectives, and/or

(3) learning theories.

A teacher is a person engaged in interactive behavior with one or more

students for the purpose of effecting a change in those students. The change,

whether it is to be in knowledge (cognitive), skill (psychomotor) or feeling states

(affective), is intentional on the part of the teacher. This designation distinguishes

the teacher from instructional materials and other school personnel. The essential

task of the teacher is to arrange the conditions of the learner's environment so that

the processes of learning will be activated, supported, enhanced, and maintained

(Gagne, 1976). Teacher personality is a crucial factor in arranging the conditions

of the learner's environment for effective teaching.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHER PERSONALITY:

Personality may be viewed as the dynamic organization of those traits and

characteristic patterns of behavior that are unique to the individual. Some social

psychologists take the position that personality is purely a matter of social

perception - which it is meaningless to speak of anyone's personality apart from the

particular people who interact with him, get impressions about him, and use trait

terms in describing him. A trait is a simple behavioral pattern - a disposition or

tendency to behave in a describable way. According to Allport, a trait is more

generalized than a habit, is dynamic and determinative in behavior, may be viewed

either in the light of the personality which contains it, or in the light of its

distribution in the population at large, and cannot be proved nonexistent by the

sheer fact that some acts are inconsistent with it.

Research on teacher personality is based on the Research on teacher

personality is based on the assumption that the teacher as a person is a significant

variable in the teaching-learning process. Personality influences the behavior of the

teacher in diverse ways, such as interaction with students, methods selected, and

learning experiences chosen

The effective use of a teacher's personality is essential in conducting instructional

activities. Personality aids teaching, for communication takes place between the

teacher and the learner - even in the absence of the spoken word (nonverbal

communication). The teacher whose personality helps create and maintain a

classroom or learning environment in which students feel comfortable and in

which they are motivated to learn is said to have a desirable teaching personality.

Each individual has characteristic attributes of personality which influence both the

manner in which he behaves toward others and the ways in which they respond to

him. The teacher with pervasive authoritarian characteristics, for example, is likely

to reflect them in his relationships with students and in the techniques he uses in

his instruction. The school is more than a place where knowledge and skills are

taught and learned, it is

a miniature community in itself where members interact and influence the behavior

of each other. The nature of interactions and influences in the school is an

important factor in determining the learner's perceptions of school and his attitudes

toward school-related persons and activities. This factor involves the interplay

between the personality of the teacher and that of the learner.

It can be postulated from the theory of interpersonal perception that a

learner's attitudes toward the teacher will affect his attitudes toward the courses

taught by the teacher and toward the school. It may be further postulated that the

learner's attitude toward a teacher is a function of the teacher's personality. Nelson

reported that teachers and pupils in junior high school deviate significantly in

terms of their attitudes toward each other. He found that teachers are cognitively

oriented toward pupils while pupils are affectively oriented toward teachers.

Teacher personality is, therefore, directly and indirectly related to learning

and teaching in the affective domain as well as to that in cognitive and

psychomotor domains. Reports of great teachers commonly stress their

personalities, rather than their scholarship or technical teaching skills. If we are to

be concerned with the student's development of identity, Hilgard suggests that we

should not be afraid of showing feeling. Objectivity can be served by showing that

there are those who believe otherwise, but we need not do obeisance to other

viewpoints by sterilizing our own enthusiasm into a vapid eclecticism.

Recent Research on Teacher Personality

Despite Getzels and Jackson's (1963) discouraging conclusion about

previous research on the relation between teacher personality and teaching

effectiveness, research efforts have continued. Reported below are some recent

researches on teacher personality, including efforts to find a personality base for

differences in classroom performance or teacher effectiveness.

1. Many of the positive characteristics of successful teachers discovered by

previous research efforts seem to be in line with Maslow's conceptualization of the

self-actualizing person, whom he sees as a fully functioning, psychologically

healthy individual possessing such attributes as acceptance, spontaneity, autonomy,

democratic nature, and creativeness. Maslow (1970) suggests that the self-

actualizing person is indeed the most effective teacher. This hypothesis was

supported by the findings of empirical studies conducted by Murray (1972) and

Dandes (1966).

2. Coats (1970) did a factor analysis of 42,810 student responses as student

perceptions of teachers. It was found that a factor labeled teacher 'charisma'

accounted for 61.5% of the variance in test items. It was concluded that teacher

charisma is probably a significant factor of teacher effectiveness.

3. Beck (1967) investigated 2,108 sixth-grade pupils' perception of teacher merit.

He concluded that the pupils perceived the effective teacher as a warm, friendly

and supportive person who communicates clearly, motivates and disciplines pupils

effectively, and is flexible in methodology.

4. Ekstrom's study (1976) explored the relations between certain cognitive and

attitudinal characteristics and the instructional behavior of American elementary

school teachers. All subjects (41 second-grade teachers and 54 fifth-grade teachers)

took a battery of tests measuring aptitude, knowledge, cognitive style, and attitude.

One of her findings indicated that more flexible teachers are better able to respond

differentially to pupils without having to resort to using various organizational

strategies (aides, groups, etc.) to produce individualization.

5. Designed to investigate selected aspects of teacher personality in differing

American high school environments, Walker's study (1969) suggested that teachers

in high creative schools are more adaptive, flexible, outgoing, permissive, and

nurturant - factors considered important in fostering creativity.

6. Investigating longitudinally nearly 2,400 first-and fourth-year British secondary

school pupils' attitudes toward school and teachers, Thompson (1975) confirmed

the findings of Wright's study (1962) that what pupils find lacking in teachers are

those qualities which make them human. She found that teachers tend to be seen as

less happy, kind, fair and warm than other adults while excelling in wisdom,

success and hardness. Those attributes seem to coincide with those of the teachers

in traditional society. It was also found that attitudes toward both school and

teachers change as pupils progress through the system. Older pupils do not rate

teachers as less human as they did when they were younger, but do rate them as

less wise and successful.

7. In an analysis of data on 127 primary teachers and 95 secondary teachers in

English schools, Cortis (1973) discerned that, by comparison with primary

teachers, the secondary teachers tend to be more sensitive yet more tolerant in

personality terms, to hold more progressive educational attitudes and to express a

higher degree of satisfaction with teaching. Cortis' findings are contrary to those of

Ryans (1960) who, in his extensive survey of characteristics of American

elementary and secondary teachers, noted that secondary school teachers are more

traditional in their educational viewpoints while elementary school teachers are

more permissive.

8. In a comprehensive project by McKeachie, Lin, and Mann (1971), all items that

had previously been used for student ratings of instructors and instruction in

American colleges and universities were factor analyzed in a series of studies. Six

stable factors that emerged were skill, overload (difficulty), structure, feedback,

group interaction and student-teacher rapport (warmth). One of the findings was

that the students of teachers who were high in 'rapport' (warmth) performed better

on measures of critical thinking than did the other students.

9. A number of characteristics, some of which are related to teacher personality,

have been consistently identified as comprising effective teaching at the college

and university level by Eble (1970) and Hildebrand and Wilson (1970). The major

factors were found to be:

A. Clarity of organization, interpretation and explanation;

B. Encouragement of class discussion and the presentation of diverse points

of view

C. Stimulation of students' interests, motivation and thinking;

D. Manifestation of attentiveness to an interest in students;

E. Manifestation of enthusiasm.

10. Haslett (1976) employed semantic differential scales to measure 667 American

high school students' and 219 American college students' concept of a good

teacher. She also compared her findings with those of previous studies on college

instructors (Clinton, 1930; Bousfield, 1940; and Perry, 1971).

Table 1 shows characteristics (including those related to personality) of good

teachers in rank order of their importance in each study.

TEACHER PERSONALITY AS PERCEIVED BY HONG KONG

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

The present author, with the assistance of his students at the School of

Education of the Chinese University, conducted a survey study of student

perception of teacher personality in Hong Kong during the academic year 1976-77.

The subjects were 628 Chinese students (326 boys and 302 girls) randomly

selected from Forms III, IV, V, and VI in S3 Hong Kong secondary schools

(including those in Kowloon and the New Territories). They were asked to select

those of the 100 items in a personality inventory developed by the investigator that

indicate the personality traits of most (over 50 %) of their teachers and also of their

ideal teacher as they perceive them. The findings are shown in Tables 2 and 3. The

common traits in Table 2 are those personality traits of most teachers as perceived

by more than 45% of their students, while the ideal traits in Table 3 are those

personality traits of the ideal teacher as conceived by more than 70% of the

students. The cut-off point (70%).This suggests greater agreement among Hong

Kong secondary school students in their conception of an ideal teacher's

personality traits than their perception of most teachers' common traits.

Common Personality Traits of Most Hong Kong Secondary School Teachers

As Perceived By Their Students

________________________________________________________________

COMMON TRAITS RESPONSE (%)_________________________________________________________________

Practical, realistic 64.02

Friendly 62.09

Responsible 57.60

Biased, partial 55.83

Placid 53.83

Rational 53.05

Concerned about morality 52.27

Planful 51.27

Cultured 49.73

Frugal 49.19

Dry, dull 48.36

Natural, unaffected 48.34

Sober, solemn 48.31

Warm, outgoing 48.01

Good-tempered 47.04

Conventional 45.75

Dominant 45.58

Cut-off point 45 %

__________________________________________________________________

Personality Traits of the Ideal Teacher as Conceived by Hong Kong

Secondary School Students

IDEA TRAITS RESPONSE (%)

Good-tempered 87.61

Warm, outgoing 86.85

Having a sense of humor 86.04

Capable of being a leader 84.60

__________________________________________________________________

Cut-off point 70%_____________________________________________________________________

Which indicates that most Hong Kong secondary school teachers already possess

these seven personality traits of an ideal teacher.

THE EFFECT OF TURKISH GEOGRAPHY TEACHER’S PERSONALITY ON HIS TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

Personality is, in a sense, self-expression of one to the outer world. An

individual starts shaping his personality from birth through his interaction with

numerous variables; that is, he lays the foundations of his own life. In our modern

social life, a healthy personality development enables the individual to perform his

social role effectively, to lead an organized and happy life and to gain a meaning in

the society. Schools, a social institution, are the main environmental factors

effective in the development of personality. Teachers and parents are the ones who

influence the student most. The studies up to now have showed that the personality

of a teacher surely affect his students (Aydın, 1998). Especially in the studies

carried out in the

classroom environment, it is observed that students, while evaluating their

teachers, pay more attention to their personalities than their professional

characteristics and thus adopt them as their own behaviours (Tan, 1992, Soner,

1995, Lewis, 2000).

The information, skills and habits a student receives during the primary

school years through interaction with his environment have great influence on his

future educational life. Therefore, a student has to be provided with faultless

educational environment by allowing a classroom atmosphere that encourages their

personal development. In such an atmosphere, the personality and behaviours of a

teacher are vital elements. Every student should be able to improve and recognize

himself, and gain social skills in this appropriate learning environment. In all the

activities, the individual traits of every student must be included, their self-

confidence must be improved, and they should be helped to accept that there will

always be different

Ideas (Unlenen, 1983, Joyce and Weil, 1986). Especially Soloman and Corbit

(1974) state that the reactions that might closely affect learning are related to other

relevant reactions (teaching experiences), and that they interact with personality

depending on age. These responses first appear at primary school level and are

mostly formed as

Self-expression to outer reactions (Domjan, 2003). Teachers who direct these

mutual reactions are said to have vital impact on the learning of the students and

this impact is shaped with the personalities of the teachers. These traits are

determined by Cruickshank and Bainer (1995) to be willingness, sincerity and

humour, reliability, expectation of optimum success, encouragement and

supportiveness, discipline and

Adaptability/flexibility. In this regard, the personality a teacher reflects into the

classroom environment in the light of these variables affects his teaching and

directive academic behaviour. This developmental perspective the teacher follows

might involve positive concepts that are formed in the personalities of students

with the outer markers. However, these very high concepts of personality are tend

to be less positive and more varied as they grow up, because the personality of

students can be more adaptable to outer markers and might yield to interaction.

Thus, the academic personality of a student in his academic success becomes

predictable (Guay et al., 2003, Alvidrez and Weinstein, 1999, Tuan and Wang,

2000). Many recent study focus on the effects of the interaction between students

and teachers in classroom environment, which is hardly surprising. The result of a

decade’s study which shows that teachers can merge into the student’s personal

effective circle in the classroom

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEACHERS

IN THE SAMPLE

Characteristics F %

__________________________________________________________________

Gender

Female 111 56, 1

Male 87 43, 9

Age

25 and less 47 23, 7

26-35 73 36, 8

36-45 56 28, 3

46-55 16 8, 0

56 and more 6 3, 2

Length of Service

0-5 years 44 22, 2

6-10 years 72 36, 4

11-15 years 44 22,2

16-21 years 23 11,6

21 years and more 15 7,6

________________________________________________________________

n=198

is composed of those about the behaviours of the teachers during their classroom

activities (mastery learning). As seen in Table 1, almost half of the teachers are

female (47,7%), while the rest are male (52,3%). According to the age variable,

more than half (57,7%) are at or below 35, while the rest (45,3%) are at and

Above 36. According to the length of service the ones working for 0-10 years are

56,4%, while those working for 11-21 years are 43,6%. SPSS 11, 5 package

program was used to analyze the data. In the analysis of the data, statistical

frequency, percentage and one-way variance calculations were used.

AIM AND PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

This study aims to determine whether- according to which variables the

personalities of teachers stand out in their teaching experiences. To this end, the

following questions are answered: 1-Do teachers reflect their personalities on

teaching depending on their gender 2-What is the level of the reflection of

personality on teaching experiences depending on age? 3-Depending on the length

of service, which teaching experiences are the most effected by Personality 4-

Which are the personal traits that teachers find dominant in themselves.

TEACHERS PERSONALITY AND MAL ADJUSTMENT

Teachers are in the most strategic position to facilitate a balanced personality

development and a more adequate adjustment of the learner. The effectiveness of

teachers in the personality development and adjustment of students essentially

depends up on teachers on personality.

CAUSES OF TEACHERS MAL ADJUSTMENT

The teacher's own adjustment not only contributes to better adjustment of

pupils but is essential for his own efficiency and happiness. A maladjusted teacher

not only destroys his own professional life but also ruins his or her student's life.

There are many factors which contribute for the mal adjustment of teachers. Some

of the important causes of maladjustment are discussed below

1) Lack of professional attitude and spirit- most of the teachers in our schools

accepted teaching as a profession not because of their interest in teaching but

because they failed to secure other jobs. Such teachers naturally lack professional

attitude and spirit.

2) Work load- the duties and responsibilities of a teacher are always very high and

an average teacher is always under stress. The constant stress creates emotional

tension and anxiety that impair the mental health of the teacher.

3) Insecurity of service:

Services in privately managed schools are generally insecure. The teachers

in such schools live up on the mercy of the management of that school. There is a

constant fear of going out of that service. This creates anxiety and fear in the minds

of the teacher.

4) Poor salary and low status – in the present social set up of India teachers are

poorly paid when compared to their less qualified compartments in other

professions. Added to this in our society teachers are not getting enough respect

and recognition. This may leads to the demotion of self concept of the teacher

which ultimately results in maladjustment.

5) Lack of recreational facilities- teachers seldom gets the time for recreation or

rest. Lack of recreational activities in schools and teachers inaptitude in participate

in them make their professional life dull and uninteresting.

6) Low of physical health- teacher's bodily health is not satisfactory. Low income

and lack of recreational facilities are the reasons for this. Low physical health is an

important factor for low mental health.

7) Maltreatment of management- Most private schools in our country are managed

by the persons of particular cast, religion or creed. Consequently it becomes

difficult for a teacher from a different cast to adjust. Most often he or she may get

step motherly treatment from the managements. This causes worry and mental

stress in the mind of a teacher.

8). High moral expectations- teachers are often expected to behave like an ideal

exemplary by the society. But this is not possible because of the high complexities

of fast-moving society and it is natural that evils of society may affect his

personality naturally in course of time. The failure to rise up to the expectations of

the society creates frustration and conflicts in the mind of the teacher which results

in maladjustment.

9) Unhealthy inter-personal relationship among teachers. - Inter-personal conflict

and tensions among teachers is at peak due to the increasing number of

professional organizations and teacher politics. Harmony, co-operation, love, unity

spirit, good-will of the institution etc has vanished from the teacher's room.

10) Lack of facilities- poor school plant, ill-equipped classrooms, faulty time

schedule, lack of library and laboratory, shortage of teaching aids etc creates

unnecessary stress and strain in teachers.

SUGESSTIONS FOR BETTER ADJUSTMENT OF TEACHERS:

The following programs will help to improve the mental health of teachers

Equitable work load- the present workload should be reduced by appointing more

teachers or by pooling divisions where ever possible. Besides other duties should

be divides equally among all the members of the staff. Security service- rules and

regulations should be modified to ensure the job security of the teachers. Necessary

steps should be adopted to make sure those teachers getting descent payments from

their institutions. This will enhance confidence level of the teacher. Ensure

democratic school environment- democratic operation of the school, open channel

for communication between teachers and administrators, discussion rather than

dictation of policies, absence of casticism, favoritism and groupism team-spirit and

good will among teachers and by assigning equal responsibilities to all.

Improving teacher- teacher relations- inter-personal relations among teachers

should be improved by providing better environment for developing team-spirit

and good will among teachers. Opportunities for professional growth-Teachers

should be frequently equipped with in-service programs to refresh their knowledge

and modify their skills. It enables them to understand the new teaching methods

and strategies available.

Arranging, seminars, workshops and conferences – by arranging, seminars,

workshops and conferences teachers from different schools get mingled each one

will get new experiences that is shared by other one and it will help them in their

profession.

IMPACT OF TEACHERS PERSONALITY AND ADJUSTMENT ON

CHILDREN

A teacher's personality has a great bearing on the personality development of

the students. It is stated that books can teach, only personality can educate. Various

researches prove that emotional stability of the teachers affects the learners. The

impact of teacher's personality development and adjustment on the wholesome

personality development and adjustment of the pupils is discussed below:

Impact of teacher's character and personality: character and the personality of the

students cannot be developed if the teacher who is the model to be followed lacks

character and personality. Aim of education to mould the behavior of the learner to

a preplanned well accepted manner. Such modification of behavior can be found in

ones healthy attitudes, good habits, standard values etc. the development of ones

healthy attitudes, good habits, standard values etc depend up on the nature of

experience one is exposed to. In schools teachers personality remains vital

experience for the students to examine and imitate. The effectiveness of teachers in

the personality development and character formation depends up on teacher's own

personality and character. Through continues identification and introjection's child

consciously acquires and learns the habits attitudes, personality and character from

Teachers.

Impact of teacher's adjustment: teachers who are competent and emotionally

mature make the total school atmosphere full of learning experience for the

students. On the other hand incompetent and maladjusted teachers spoil the school

atmosphere. Unsatisfied frustrated teachers cannot make students happy and well

adjusted in the school. Teacher should be mentally alert and stable to develop

alertness and stability in students. Teacher's behavior will reflect the student's

behavior.

Impact of teacher's mental health: a mentally health and well adjusted teacher

plays a vital role in promoting mental health of students. Only if the teacher is free

from worries, anxieties, and tensions then only he can impart the function of

promoting mental heath and mental hygiene. Thus in order to develop sound

mental health in student's teacher himself should pose sound mental health.

Impact of teacher's temperament: the general stability of the teacher is of utmost

importance in balance and controlled emotional development of the students. Any

slight mental imbalance or temperamental instability of the teacher will reflected in

the student's behavior.

THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER’S PERSONALITY TOWARD THE STUDENTS MOTIVATION:

Teachers as an educator must have a good personality because it will

improve students’ motivation in the classroom. Moreover, it can make the situation

of teaching learning process more interesting and comfortable. The form of

education is firmly related to educational establishment in educational institutions

such as school, educational institutions, and systematic program. In addition,

educational practitioners include counselors, teachers, and instructors who help

learners to achieve the goal desired.

HOW TEACHER PERSONALITY AND STYLE AFFECTS THE GROWTH OF SELF CONFIDENCE

Teachers are becoming a primary influence in children’s lives, and in some

cases they may be the openly healthy adults some children encounter during the

day. Twenty five years ago family structures were different, and teachers did not

require the depth and variety of social/emotional skills that are required of today’s

teachers. Teachers today are not only educators, but therapists, parent substitutes,

mentors, advocates, and more.

Therefore, it stands to reason that a teacher’s personality and teaching style can

have a profound impact on children’s academic performance and general

development. While the emphasis in the last four parts has focused on the student,

this part will focus on the importance of teaching style in creating a positive

environment in which student confidence is fostered. It will be very important to

step back and evaluate how you are defined as a teacher, your goals in teaching,

and the manner in which you present yourself to students. Does your teaching style

allow for an environment where confidence can really be reinforced or an

environment that may actually impede the growth of confidence

No single aspect of a teacher’s personality may be responsible for improving or

impeding the growth of confidence in a student. For example, a very strict teacher

who is fair, kind, genuine, logical, and nurturing may facilitate the growth of self

confidence despite being very strict. On the other hand, a teacher who is funny but

unstructured and disorganized may not facilitate children’s self confidence.

Despite the fact that the children love the teacher, they may not gain confidence if

the teacher cannot provide the real-life success experiences necessary for the

growth of self confidence.

THE NINE DRAWBACKS THAT CAN JEOPARDIZE A TEACHER'S PERSONALITY INSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Children love to imitate their teachers no matter whatever the teacher does

or says. They observe minutely every bit of the actions performed by their teacher

and carry every word spoken by the teacher all the way, back home. Hence

teachers need to be very conscious about the gestures they make and the words and

phrases they use inside the classroom. This write up illustrates some of the

practices that teachers may avoid inside the classroom.

1) Avoid shouting at the students. Some teachers are usually under the

impression that by shouting at the children, discipline and silence can be

maintained. It is true to a certain extent but not always. This gesture may create lot

more indiscipline inside the classroom.

2) While teaching, it is usually advisable for teachers to stand and teach. Avoid

sitting while teaching as it gives a very wrong impression upon the teacher’s

interest level towards the topic being taught.

3) Teachers should avoid discussing children or other teachers inside the

classroom. If a child tends to pass a negative comment on any subject teacher, the

other teacher should not encourage the child to repeat this act. The child should be

stopped at that moment itself.

4) Becoming too personal with the children is another thing that the teacher must

avoid. Teachers must try to maintain a certain amount of distance with the

children. Students might take undue advantage of the teacher’s too friendly attitude

to them.

5) Try not to compare and contrast among students inside the classroom. This

practice may give rise to sensitive issues and may spoil the healthy atmosphere

inside the classroom.

6) Bribing children with expensive gifts and misleading comments will rarely

make the child love you. If a teacher wants to be loved by her children then it is

through her teaching skills that she can succeed in doing so. Gifts and flattery are

only temporary companions that will make the child come close to you,but  only

for a short period of time. So avoid these as much as possible.

7) Children are emotionally attached to their parents. So teachers must not

entertain conversation related to parents. Most importantly a teacher should never

discuss financial positions of families with her students.

8) Being callous about outfits can be a major drawback for any teacher. A teacher

should be very careful about the outfits she chooses to wear inside the classroom

so that she can carry it well. It should be elegant and not too loud.

9) Avoid using too many  harsh words on the children. They pick up words very

fast and this may invite unnecessary problem for the teacher.

Everybody can become good teachers. But choosing the best from the rest lies on

the children. And children of course will feel connected to teachers who know how

to carry their personality inside the classroom, without having these above listed

drawbacks.

TEACHER’S PERSONALITY AND STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION

The findings generally can be described that the Instructional strategies and

students’ motivational factors contributed to their engagement in learning for

understanding. Instructional strategies that were implemented based on conceptual

change teaching and students’ motivational factors such as goals, values, self-

efficacy, and control beliefs provided crucial effect on the quality of student

engagement in learning activities. The findings suggest that both of traditions,

students’ motivation and conceptual change approaches to learning science have

the important implications for those who wish to improve science

teaching/learning.

The teacher’s interaction with the individual students in ways that would

help students to more motivated strategies to engage in learning within social

contexts of the classroom seemed to be the important factor to be considered by the

teacher in daily teaching-learning activities. In other words, it is crucial to

bring together issues of student motivation and conceptual change learning as

suggested by Barlia and Beeth (2002), Boyle, Magnusson, and Young (1993).

In summary, student motivation can be a crucial factor that should be considered

to maximize student engagement in learning for conceptual change. The

followings are the examples of how the elementary school teacher‘s personality

contribute students’ motivation to engage in conceptual change learning in science,

especially for students categorized in the middle and lower level on academic

performance.

Before asking to the teacher, I do asking to my very closely friends who

understand the material. I seem to understand things better when a group of us get

together and work out things we don’t understand as group efforts. After that, I

would ask my teacher if I really don’t understand difficult concepts or materials.

RZ’s motivation to learn science consists of 27% control beliefs, 20% goal

orientation, 32% task value, and 21% self-efficacy. Task value comprises the

largest portion of RZ’s motivational factor profile (see Figure 1). It indicates that

he has positive perception of hard effort in learning will lead him to get a good

grade.

GREAT TEACHER NEEDS GREAT PERSONALITY

The teachers are also human beings and the human beings have many kinds

of personality each other. I think the teachers’ personality can decide the teaching

styles. Although a teacher was trained by an education instructor program, his

personality could not trained by the program. Being a teacher is personal dream for

future but being a great teacher is assessed by other people. Therefore, being a

great teacher has to be measured by educational area including academic

knowledge, teaching skills and teacher’s personality. As people have their innate

specialty, teachers also have their inborn trait that can make a great teacher.

Innately, there are people who do not tend to consider other people. Also,

there are teachers who do not tend to consider their students. Tending to consider

the students, it depends on teachers’ mind. In other words, it depends on teachers’

personality. The great teacher has to consider their students’ attitude, not only

students’ learning attitude in class but also students’ attitude out of class. If a

teacher wants to be a great teacher, he should consider his student. However, it is a

hard work to take care the students deliberately using by educational program

method. That work should be conducted by teacher’s personal inborn mind.

It is totally different that teacher has a great learning ability and teacher has a

great teaching ability. There are two types of teachers. First, some teachers have a

good ability to learn new knowledge and also they graduated the first level

universities, but they don’t have a capacity to teach the new knowledge and

information well. However, even if other teachers graduated second level

universities, they know how to teach the new information to students using by easy

way. How to make students understand easily, it depends on the teacher’s speech

skill.

The personality of teacher is large portion of teaching skills. The personality

cannot be made by external facts and also, the personality is individual innate

traits. Thus, the great teacher is endowed with personal ability.

CONCLUSION:

In an investigation of student description of their ideal teacher, Gage (1963)

concluded that if teachers learned how the students wanted them to behave they

would become more like the student ideal. If this conclusion is valid, the results of

the present author's study in Hong Kong and other similar studies elsewhere should

be useful for teachers' consideration. It is hoped that the research findings and

theories presented in this paper will help improve teacher characteristics, especially

teacher personality, with a view to promoting teaching effectiveness and upgrading

the quality of teaching.

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