THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE TEACHERS 1

A group of high ability students (n = 32) described the qualities of their most effective teachers through a written essay. Analysis of the essays identified 30 different themes within four domains. These themes were used to construct a Likert scale survey and an ipsative comparison which were both administered to 42 teachers and 300 students at a secondary school for high ability female students in Singapore. Results show that, while there are similarities, there are also statistically significant differences between the qualities of effective teachers as perceived by teachers and students. In addition, the results also show that students demonstrate a preference for teachers ’ personality and socio-emotional qualities over their classroom management skills, thinking skills or moral and ethical qualities