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“Effective teaching is not being able to do a small number of ‘big’ things right but is rather doing a large number of ‘little’ things well.” (Muijs & Reynolds, 2018, p. 4). Effective teaching is the homogenisation of a myriad of influences, its subjectiveness makes for a difficult task to pinpoint how it works or even what it is. Schools, students, parents, teachers, society and governments all have ideas on what makes an effective teacher and effective teaching practices. However, there are distinctive qualities that can be identified within the teaching profession and the importance of effective teaching can be seen in a variety of ways.

 

Firstly, we need to look at teachers themselves, Cedric Cullingford describes effective teachers as having 5 generalised characteristics; integrity, learning, organisation, communication and humour (1995). These attributes do not define a teacher as ‘effective’ but offer a broad understanding of the personal characteristics that have been identified within effective teachers. Other attributes such as professionalism, self-reflection and an eagerness to improve, all impact how effective a teacher is (Witton et al., 2016).  

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A teachers’ dynamism can also be fundamental in establishing the difference between a mediocre and effective teacher. The passion and drive a teacher has within the classroom and their aspirations towards student success can be quantified through teacher feedback (Hattie, 2003). As graduate teachers we strive for excellence, guidelines such as the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), 2018), help establish pathways to becoming an effective teacher.

 

Although dynamism goes along way, without high quality applied knowledge of content and student learning styles, obstacles can arise that impact students’ access to high-quality teaching.  Teacher practices and their implementation in the classroom require flexibility, automation and understanding. Effective teachers strive to deliver a high standard of content knowledge in an organised and productive way. Practices such as organisation can improve lesson fluency and funnel content effectively (Brophy, 1983). This aligns with the APST standard for graduates 2.2; content selection and organisation (AITSL, 2018), especially in developing differentiation and creating equal opportunity for a diverse learning group.

 

Effective teachers model qualities that structure students for success. Promoting the positive ability to fail, to self-analyse and develop the skills to reach attainable goals. These are all practices that align with the graduate standard 5.3 make consistent and comparable judgements (AITSL, 2018). These judgements are both directed at students and their own practices, “They (teachers) reflect continuously on their practice, which is why they are good and how they improve.” (Boyle, 2014,).

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Effective teachers work in partnership with other teachers, Boyle (2014) argues that it is fundamental in becoming an effective teacher “Good teachers like to observe and strive to emulate the performance of better teachers” This is supported by the APST graduate standard 7.4 where teachers should engage with professional teaching networks and the broader community (AITSL, 2018). This experience is vital in developing graduate students into effective expert teachers.

 

Finally, why is effective teaching so important? Student outcomes come in many forms, academic, social, emotional. But overall students can strive to become lifelong learners. Effective teaching is the conduit between, curriculum and student achievements.