A question I have asked many people over the years is: "How many good teachers did you have at school?"

The usual answer is 'One' or 'Two'.  This is not a good statistic, considering that most of us have about 30 to 40 teachers in our school-life.

So what makes a good teacher and why aren't there more?

The best teachers are not just passionate about their subject but are also vitally interested in their students, determined to inspire, inform and enrich them. They engage their students, not just talk at them as if they were an audience. Patience and a sense of humour, and the ability to draw out the best from the students are also virtues.  This is a perfect paradigm, and even the best teachers have their 'off' days.  They know that so much of class work is ploughing through a mostly tedious syllabus.

Too many people become teachers for the wrong reasons.  Nobody becomes a teacher to become rich.  It is entirely vocational, but even so, too many new teachers are unrealistic about the stresses and problems that schools entail, especially these days.  They naively hope that they can constantly inspire and convey their enthusiasm to all the students.  The present rate of young, new teachers leaving the profession is not just shocking, but also speaks volumes about what it's like to be a teacher in a school in the UK today.  Even the most dedicated are quitting.

Again, too many become teachers for instant power.  No other occupation places you immediately in charge of 30 or so people who must bend to your will.  A teacher's power should be used judiciously, not arbitrarily and not often.  Unfortunately, the abuse of teachers' power is frequent on a daily basis.

A few teachers have admitted that they joined the profession 'for the hours and the holidays'.  They soon learned that the hours of 9 to 4 are always extended - marking work, preparing lessons, meetings, report-writing etc.  As for the holidays - teachers need them in order to restore their energy supplies. 

While mere academic success opens the door to teaching, we will continue to produce teachers who are mostly average, and that, educationally, is simply not good enough.