What makes a good teacher?

Here is some of what she had to say on the subject. This is the first of a three-part series. More will follow next week.

What does it take to be a good teacher? Is it about motivation or is it down to qualifications?

Research has shown that the academic qualification of a teacher is only weakly related to student achievement. You can be highly qualified, you can be a PhD, but if you are not interested in teaching, if you are not motivated and concerned about your students' progress, you just sit in front of the classroom and your students will get nothing much from you.

Motivation is very important, as well as the inspiration, dedication and commitment of a teacher. I have come across very good teachers who just have a high-school certificate (depending on what level they are teaching). So, the key important factor is how committed, how dedicated they are for the job. If a teacher has good training, is qualified, committed and dedicated, then that person will do a wonderful job.

This is very important. In many places, teachers often get just one or two years' training and then we just lift them out and put them in a school. So, they feel very isolated and left to their own devices.

I think continued support for a teacher in terms of professional development from the principal or more senior teachers is very important. Because then the teacher has a good reason and an opportunity to update his or her knowledge, and also to find out what other teachers in other schools are doing. So, this social interaction among peers is very important.

Watchara Saengsrisin

The Nation

Dr Lee is coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Programme for Development (APEID) and programme specialist in higher education at Unesco Asia and the Pacific Regional Bureau for Education in Bangkok.

Prior to joining Unesco Bangkok, she was a Professor of Education at the University of Science in Penang, Malaysia. As coordinator of APEID, she runs programmes on higher education, technical and vocational education, education for sustainable development and ICT in education.