Top Ten List for Hiring Teachers

In his blog on nurturing faith, Dan Berens wrote the following:

When it comes to hiring a new faculty member for next year, what qualities are you seeking? Allow me to encourage you to consider some recent research done by Dr. Laurie Matthias, assistant professor of education at Trinity International University. She wondered what themes and qualities would emerge from studying professors considered exemplary by their peers in the integration of faith and learning at Wheaton College. She discovered a common core virtue of integrity/wholeness in these individuals. This sense of integrity and wholeness resulted from these characteristics: genuine faith, an attitude of humility, passion for their academic discipline, and openness to change.

I certainly agree with her assessment and submit this attempt as a “Top Ten” list of qualities needed in a Christian teacher:

1. Passion for God, kids, subject – in that order
2. Desire for, and skill in, nurturing faith in kids
3. Integrity – wholeness as a person (see above!)
4. Strong emotional intelligence (what we sense about others and what we do with that awareness)
5. Curiosity/creativity
6. Team player – working well with others
7. Commitment to personal learning and flexibility with change
8. Strong understanding of biblical perspective and skill in revealing God’s truth in the curriculum
9. Desire to build community within classroom and school
10. Sense of humor

What would you add or subtract?

His blog can be found at: http://nurturingfaith.wordpress.com

more from India Report on government schools

Even in schools where teaching was going on, children were getting a raw deal. Mindless rote learning still dominated the classroom. The reviewers came across children chanting mathematical tables for several hours. When asked even a simple question, they faltered; when asked to “read” anything outside the text, they often could not. They frequently found children copying blindly from the blackboard or the textbook without comprehending it.

It is therefore not surprising that children learned little in most schools. even in terms of the elementary “3Rs” learning achievements were very poor. They found that 80% of the children in grades 4 or 5 could do simple addition and 60% could do simple subtraction. However, when it came to even single digit multiplication, the proportion dropped to 55%. And only half could do a simple division by 5.

Further, a large proportion of children was unable to read and write, or answer simple questions, even after 4 or 5 years at school. For instance, nearly 62 percent of children studying in grades 4 or 5 in a government school could not read a simple story. And more than 80% could not write the answer to a simple question. Unfortunately, years of schooling and grades completed continue to remain an unreliable guide to what children learn and know.

Is there any “quick fix” to revive classroom activity in Indian schools? Some have been tried but with limited results.