Excellent Teachers

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/364938202
Professional and personal characteristics of excellent teachers
Article · May 2022
CITATIONS READS
2 647
3 authors, including:
Abdurrahman İlğan Osman Aktan

Izmir Demokrasi University Duzce University
82 PUBLICATIONS 604 CITATIONS 52 PUBLICATIONS 285 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
CURRENT DEBATES IN EDUCATION Volume 5 View project
Factors Affecting University Choice: A Study on University Freshman Students. View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Abdurrahman İlğan on 31 October 2022.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Available online at ijci.wcci-international.org
IJCI
International Journal of
International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction 14(1)
Curriculum and Instruction
(2022) 947–971
Professional and personal characteristics of excellent

teachers
Abdurrahman İlğan a *, Osman Aktan b, Ömer Seyfettin Sevinç c
a Izmir Demokrasi University, Faculty of EducationIzmir, Turkey
b Duzce University, Faculty of Education, Duzce, Turkey
c Duzce University, Faculty of Education, Duzce, Turkey
Abstract
The aim of this study was to find out about the perceptions of prospective teachers on professional and
personal characteristics which make perfect teachers successful. Phenomenological research design which is
one of the qualitative research methods was used in the study and the study group was comprised of the
prospective teachers attending faculty of education of a public university during 2020-2021 academic year.
An interview form was used as the instrument for data collection. The collected data was analyzed using
content analysis method. Besides, cogency and transmissibility for validity of the study; consistency and
verifiability criteria were used for reliability. According to the results of the analysis; the teachers’ behaviors
performed in the classroom and their characteristics were classified under two themes as “professional
attitudes and values” and “professional qualifications and skills” based on the perceptions of the prospective
teachers who were trained by these teachers during elementary or secondary education. Professional
attitudes and values theme was consisted of subthemes such as; caring for each student, allocating time for
students outside regular course time and being fair, having professional values and being a positive person.
As for professional qualifications and skills, it contained subthemes as; being expert in the subject, managing
classroom effectively, being talented to teach in an enjoyable way, using original approaches for teaching and
learning process, using teaching materials effectively, using measurement and evaluation in a process driven
way. It was suggested based on the finding of the study that policies should be developed in order to increase
teacher’s performance and success, educational contents related with professional attitudes and values
should be improved during pre-service and in-service training.
Keywords: Teaching profession, excellent teacher, professional attitudes and values, professional skills,
successful teacher’s qualifications
© 2016 IJCI & the Authors. Published by International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction (IJCI). This is an open-
access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY-NC-ND)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
* Osman Aktan. ORCID ID.: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6583-3765

E-mail address: karakyteregitimi@gmail.com
947
948 Ilgan, Aktan & Sevinç / International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction 14(1) (2022) 947–971
1. Introduction
In today’s world, the facts like rapid technological developments, globalization,

cultural shifts, and changes in people’s living conditions affect lots of people and
organizations in the society. Education is one of those organizations and changes would
influence school and its components. The society of modern times is also called
knowledge-based society and people at the present time are expected to have basic skills
of the 21st century and to unify knowledge and skills. It is also getting more essential for
people to have higher level skills like creative thinking, digital literacy, using
information technologies, effective communication, collaboration and teamwork skills.
Therefore, it might be stated that the skills, qualifications and behavioral patterns
expected form individuals have changed in time.
Teachers who shape educational process and become special role model for
students with their personal characteristics, knowledge, individual skills, attitudes and
behaviors play basic role on students’ success. Thus, improving the quality of education
system is directly related with increasing the power and quality of teaching profession
(Maureen & Cabauatan, 2021). Teachers’ professional experience is one of the most
important factors influencing students’ academic success (Gess-Newsome et al, 2019). It
is emphasized that common point of education systems of outstanding countries in
international exams and assessments is competent teachers (OECD, 2016). For this
reason, training competent teachers is an indispensable educational policy for these
countries (Darling-Hammond, 2017).
There are some professional skills and qualifications that teachers should have
peculiar to teaching profession (Alashwal, 2019; Brookhart, 2011). Teacher has a
significant position for educational process and quality of expected outputs based on
his/her professional qualifications and attitudes (Guerriero, 2014). Professional
qualification could be stated as the rules focusing on essential knowledge, skills, values,
attitudes and personal characteristics in order to be successful in a profession (Deakin
Crick, 2008). Teachers could continue their personal and professional improvement
through closely following the professional developments and educational innovations
(Avalos, 2011).
Personal qualifications of teachers are specified as follows in the related
literature: managing change, being open-minded, solving problems, communicating
effectively, ready for collaboration, maintaining quality social relations, creativity,
tolerance, being fair, affectionate, developing empathy and valuing students as
individuals (Arnon & Reichel, 2007; Paine et al., 2016; Sanger, 2017). Moreover,
qualifications peculiar to teacher’s subject mean having adequate cognitive knowledge in
terms of quality and quantity in order to perform teaching skills (Bertschy et al., 2013).
Ilgan, Aktan & Sevinç / International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction 14(1) (2022) 947–971 949
Educational qualifications which teachers should have are stated by Pantic and
Wubbels (2010) as; collaboration with stakeholders for the issues related with teaching
and learning, finding new methods-techniques and being eager to implement them, being
a good role-behavioral model for students, transmitting goals of school and educational
program to students, being aware of students expectations. As for Arnon and Reichel
(2007) guiding students for learning, facilitating learning process and using effective
teaching methods are among these qualifications. What is more, internalizing continuous
learning and professional development is one of the effective teaching qualifications that
has positive influence on students’ academic success (Akiba & Liang, 2016).
It is possible to describe tens of standards related with teachers’ personal and
professional qualifications. Only the teacher who are qualified enough to respond to the
needs of the country and modern age could provide quality education to the students as
the future of the society. A successful teacher shares his/her knowledge on his subject
like an artist paying attention to individual diversity Teacher provides diverse learning
models for students based on instructional diversity philosophy and ensures them to
participate actively to the process. It is a known fact that teachers’ behaviors influence
students’ behavioral changes. Teaching-learning process should not be seen as just a kind
of knowledge transmission. Students’ positive attitudes like healthy relationships with
each others and society, love, respect and understanding etc. are all gained through
teachers’ behaviors. In this respect, teachers’ influences are great on students to shape
and improve their personalities.
Reviewing the related literature, it is seen that there are limited number of
studies on successful teachers’ characteristics and those studies have generally focused
on professional qualifications instead of personal competencies (Kunter et al, 2013;
Nessipbayeva, 2012). However, some studies on characteristics of ideal teacher (Ida,
2017) and characteristics of effective teacher (Lupascu et al., 2014) could be seen.
Analyzing the studies carried out on this issue in the related literature; the studies on
teachers’ professional qualifications and characteristics of effective teacher were mainly
quantitative kind of studies. It might be claimed that there are not enough studies
describing characteristics of successful teachers using qualitative method and the
existing study would contribute to the field in this respect.
1.2. The aim of the study
In this study, it was aimed based on the students’ perceptions to identify

professional qualifications and personal characteristics performed during educational
processes inside classroom or at school by the teachers who influenced their students’
academic and social life, orientate their students’ career becoming their role model, who
are successful and impress their students positively. The findings of the study could be
accepted as potential inputs to increase performance and success rates of current
teachers. Similarly, the findings could be expected to provide important inputs and
contributions to the faculties training teachers because it describes successful and
effective teachers’ characteristics. One of the original assistances of the study is the
chance of making comparisons between the perceptions of the students some of whom
graduated from the fields related with numerical sciences at high schools and continued
undergraduate programs related with numerical sciences; some of whom graduated from
the fields related with social sciences and continued undergraduate programs related
with social sciences. By this means, there would be possibility of presenting the
similarities and differences between the perceptions of those students on the behaviors of
successful teachers through qualitative descriptions.
2. Method
In this study, phenomenology was decided as the research design due to the fact that
the prospective teachers were asked to comment on their experiences about personal and
professional characteristics of the perfect teachers which make them successful in their
profession, build up the students’ experiences in their own world and depict them
(Christensen et al., 2013; Corbin & Straus, 2008), understand the phenomenon in their
own point of views (Ary et al, 2019; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), and because of the reasons
like the participant role of the researcher, designing flexibility and inductive conclusions
based on qualitative inputs (Creswell, 2013; Maxwell, 2012; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
The professional and personal characteristics which make perfect teachers successful
were defined as the basic phenomenon in this study.
2.1. Study group
The study group consisted of the students of education faculties attending to a
public university located in one of the developed cities at the western part of Turkey.
These students are the 1st graders studying at elementary mathematics teaching (EMT)
and preschool teaching (PST) departments during fall semester of 2020-2021 academic
year. Maximum variation sampling method was used to form the study group. Maximum
variation sampling method is used to form somewhat smaller sampling group and to
provide variation of the groups included in the sample. It is possible to discuss the
problem from different point of views in this way (Suri, 2011). In addition to providing
variation of the collected data, two different groups who were placed to undergraduate
programs based on verbal or mathematical scores from university entrance examination
participated in the study in order to compare their viewpoints. The study group finally
consisted of 102 students defined taking variables like gender, department and class
level from the education faculty.
Sixty-two prospective teachers (participant 1st graders) from EMT department
described 89; 41 prospective teachers from PST department described 92 successful
teachers. More than half of the prospective teachers from the both departments were
female and most of the described teachers were the ones working at secondary education
(middle schools and high schools). The participants from EMT department generally
described teachers teaching numerical subjects like math, physics, chemistry; and the
participants from PST department generally described teachers teaching verbal subjects
like history, geography and social sciences.
The participant students were placed to the departments where they have been
studying based on the results of the two-stage central university entrance examination
done in 2020 summer. Average score of the EMT department students was 416 while
PST students’ average was 309. As 2.296.138 students who entered the university
entrance exam were sorted all together, the student who was placed to EMT department
with the lowest exam score became the 96.162nd; the student who was placed to PST
department with the lowest exam score became the 427.999th in the exam. With regard
to the exam results, the students admitted to EMT department were far more successful
in the central university examination compared to PST students.
2.2. Data Collection
An interview form was used as the instrument for data collection in the study.
Participants were asked to describe the behaviors performed by the teachers and the
typical characteristics of the teachers that the students considered as successful in
teaching profession, showed higher performance, influenced the students’ lives in positive
ways and impressed them taking all of the teachers who taught them throughout 12-year
education period (elementary, middle and high school periods) into consideration. In this
context, they were asked to write their responses to the related questions about those
teachers. If that teacher was only one person, they were expected to write about only
him/her or if they had such teachers were more than one, the students’ responses were
limited with three of those previous teachers.
The data were collected through the completion of the interview forms in a week by
the participant students from two separate classes during introduction to education
course in the fall semester of 2020-2021 academic year. The data were obtained from the
written responses in the interview forms given by the students.
2.3. Data Analysis
Collected raw data were analyzed using content analysis method. With the content
analysis, it is aimed to present the concepts and relationships explaining the collected
data. Therefore, it needs arranging the data depending on the presented concepts and
definition of the concepts thematically (Merriam, 2013). Concordantly, the collected data
was analyzed using content analysis, themes and subthemes were created accordingly.
Inductive content analysis was used while creating themes and subthemes. To do this
analysis data are coded and themes and subthemes are reached in this way (Elo et al.,
2014). While arranging the data, raw data are stacked (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003).
For this purpose, the data were represented using direct citations from the students’
responses. During the analysis of the data, considerations of three teaching fellows who
are competent in qualitative analysis were taken and themes and subthemes were put
into the final form accordingly. Sample responses from the students and how they were
coded were as given in the Table 1.
Table 1. Sample responses from the students and how these samples were coded
Student’s statement (as he/she stated) Code/codes of the statement
I also had a teacher impressing me in my life. The typical features which 1) Being fair, not discriminating
differed him/her from the others were: being fair, treating equally to everyone between the students
(1), doing his job with love (2), keeping the distance between himself/herself 2) Loving his/her job/ not complaining/
and the students very well, disciplined (3), being sometimes strict and professional devotion/ doing his job
sometimes so affectionate, knowing how to behave in any case, never with passion
despising, warming our hearts with a warm smile (4), aiming our
3) Disciplined/ domineering
improvements in any ground, sharing our troubles (5) hoping us to learn the
life not only the school courses (6) and striving for it. 4) Warm/ affectionate and being like a
friend
5) Caring for the students’ private

lives, listening to their problems,
helping them
6) Sharing his/her experiences
2.4. Validity and Reliability

Validity is used in qualitative studies to define the criteria related with
persuasiveness and transferability of the data; reliability is used for coherence and
verification (Creswell, 2013; Merriam, 2013). In order to provide persuasiveness some
methods were used like long time interaction, diversification, expertization and
participant confirmation (Marriam & Tisdell, 2016). Thus, researchers were active and
sustained interaction at each step of the study from the beginning to the end. Analyzers
were diversified during data analysis process and codifications made by each researcher
were all checked by the other two remaining researchers (Creswell, 2013). One of the
reasons why the number of the researchers were more than one was to have the analyses
made by these researchers in order to increase the validity and reliability of the findings.
Diversification of the analyzers were ensured to check the quality of the analyses,
three experts as one doctor and two associate professors who are qualified in qualitative
research were offered for consideration (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Codes, themes and
subthemes were finalized based on the feedbacks from the experts. In order to prevent
any kind of misunderstanding due to subjective assumptions and to confirm the
participants’ views accurately the analyses were presented to five participants; they were
asked to state their views on the accuracy of the analyzed statements. The participants’
confirmation was asked in this way.
Within the scope of transferability, collected raw data were encoded by the
researchers without any remarks and free from any possible prejudgments. During
codification and organization of the themes raw data were abided. For this purpose, the
collected data were described in detail by writing direct citations from the participants.
Purposive sampling was used appropriate to the conventional qualitative research to
realize data diversity (Gentles et al., 2015). With the intent of consistency of the collected
data the steps regarding the forming codes, categories and themes were explained in
detail (Shenton, 2004), qualitative data were checked, and consistency of the data was
ensured. Raw data, tables formed related with analyzing process, findings and notes
taken on the issue were all kept in case there would be a need for review (Gentles et al,
2015).
3.Findings
In this part, two themes were defined regarding what the teachers’ performed
behaviors and characteristics of the perceived successful and impressive teachers based
on the studentship experiences of the 1st graders of educational faculty during their
elementary and secondary education. These themes were specified as; “professional
attitudes and values” and “professional knowledge and skills”. Professional attitudes and
values comprised of three subthemes. These subthemes were: i) showing private interest
in the students, spending time with them and being fair, ii) having professional values,
iii) being a positive person. Professional knowledge and skills comprised of six
subthemes. These subthemes were: i) being educated in and having knowledge of the
related subject, ii) managing the classroom effectively, iii) having the skill of teaching
livelily and in an amusing way, iv) using unique approaches in teaching and learning
process, v) using teaching materials effectively, vi) using measurement and evaluation in
a process-driven way. The frequencies of the codes were given comparatively to be able to
make comparisons between the views of EMT students who got relatively higher points
from the university entrance exams and PST students who got lower points and the
students views were given in diverse columns. Besides, direct citations (students’
responses) regarding the codes with higher frequencies were generally given. In the
Table 2, frequencies and percentages related with the “showing private interest in the
students, spending time with them and being fair” subtheme which was under
“professional attitudes and values “theme were given.
Table 2. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under showing private interest in the
students, spending time with them and being fair subtheme
EMT PST Total

Theme
theme
Sub
Codes Frequency Frequency Frequency
(f) (f) (f)
1) Being interested in their privacy, paying
20 20 40
Professional attitudes and values
time with them and being fair

Showing private interest in the students, spending
attention to their problems and helping them

2) Being fair, not discriminating between the
18 22 40
students
3) Caring for each student, valuing them,
13 21 34
encouraging them to participate
4) Allocating time for the students outside
15 13 28
regular course time, replying their questions
5) Motivating them for success/ inspiring them 5 17 22
6) Showing affection like father or mother,
13 7 20
seeing the student like his/her own child
7) Trusting student 9 6 15
8) Giving advice/ Advising effectively to the
9 3 12
student
9) Not offending the student 3 4 7
10) Communication with the parents 4 3 7
Total 109 116 225
As seen in the Table 2, the most repeated and appeared codes among the
characteristics that the teachers had who were perceived as successful by their students
under “showing private interest in the students, spending time with them and being fair”
subtheme were “being interested in their privacy, paying attention to their problems and
helping them” (f= 40) and “being fair, not discriminating between the students” (f= 40).
These two codes showed quite similar results for EMT students and PST students.
According to the students’ perceptions, the main characteristic which the successful
teachers had was “being interested in their privacy, paying attention to their problems
and helping them”.
Statements of the students from PST department as; “He/She was always with
his/her each student morally and materially.” and “I would go near him whenever I got
worried, felt difficulty or got stuck in a problem.” and statement of a student from EMT
department as; “If a student had a big problem, he/she would particularly talk with
his/parents and do the best as much as he/she can to solve the problem” showed that the
successful teachers cared about their students’ private lives and tried to solve their
problems. When a comparison made between the participants’ departments in this
subtheme, it was indicated that PST department students’ code was more frequent than
EMT department students related with the teachers’ inspiration about success
persuading the students to the success. Teachers’ showing affection to the students like
fathers/mothers was stated more frequently by EMT department students than PST
department students. In the Table 3, frequencies and percentages related with the
“having professional values” subtheme which was under “professional attitudes and
values” theme were given.
Table 3. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under having professional values subtheme
EMT PST Total

Theme
theme
Sub

(f) (f) (f)
1) Loving his/her profession / not complaining

about professional issues / professional
20 19 39
commitment/ professional devotion / doing
Having professional values
his/her job passionately

2) Improving professionally 14 10 24
3) Caring for his/her profession / being on
6 6 12
time for work / doing the lesson in time
4) Being idealist 6 4 10
5) Being hardworking 4 - 4
6) Being very fond of reading - 3 3
7) Having distinct point of views 1 - 1
Total 51 42 93
Seen in the Table 3, of the characteristics which the students saw in successful teachers
the most repeated codes under “having professional values” subtheme were “loving
his/her profession / not complaining about professional issues / professional commitment/
professional devotion / doing his/her job passionately” (f= 39) and “improving
professionally” (f= 24). The statement by a PST student as; “My high school teacher also
impressed me in all respects and I am sure that I was not the one, he/she deeply
influenced the others. He/She always said that he/she loved teaching, and this ensured
the success in the profession” showed that successful teachers loved their profession
performed it passionately. The code related with the successful teachers’ being
hardworking was only noted by the EMT students while the code related with the
successful teachers’ being fond of reading was noted by PST students. The frequency of
the code related with the teachers’ caring for his/her profession / being on time for work /
doing the lesson in time was 6 and stated of the students of both departments evenly.
In the Table 4, frequencies and percentages related with the “being a positive person”
subtheme which was under “professional attitudes and values” theme were given.
Table 4. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under being a positive person subtheme
Subtheme EMT PST Total

Theme

(f) (f) (f)
1) Giving positive energy and having a

19 22 41
smiling face
2) Being warm, affectionate and

16 20 36
friendly
3) Being patient 5 10 15
4) Being understanding, tolerant and

11 2 13
Being a positive person
affectionate
5) Being determined and stable - 10 10

6) Being energetic - 5 5
7) Being trustable 4 - 4
8) Being merciful - 3 3
9) Get the students adopt reading as a
- 3 3
habit
10) Having higher self-confidence - 2 2
11) Not imposing his/her philosophy of
- 1 1
life and political view
12) Being forgiving - 1 1
Total 55 79 134
Seen in the Table 4, of the characteristics which the students saw in successful
teachers the most repeated codes under “being a positive person” subtheme were “giving
positive energy and having a smiling face” (f= 41) and “being warm, affectionate and
friendly” (f= 36). The statements of PST students as; “He/She would give positive energy
to everyone and sparkle since he/she was smiling, positive and funny.” and “In spite of
his/her smiling face, intimate embracement, endless love and sincerity, her authority
which she established in the classroom and his/her listening to us carefully and caring
about our thoughts made me really happy.” another statement by a EMT student as;
“Sefa teacher was really cheerful and smiling.” were the expressions supporting that
successful teachers give positive energy to the others.
It was found out that EMT students and PST students have differing views in
“being a positive person” theme except for the first four codes. Considering the
summation of the frequencies based on the students departments, PST students attached
more importance to the behaviors related with the successful teachers’ performing
positive behaviors than EMT students. In the Table 5, frequencies and percentages
related with the “Having education and knowledge on the subject” subtheme which was
under “professional knowledge and skills” theme were given.
Table 5. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under having education and knowledge on
the subject subtheme
EMT PST Total

Theme
theme
Sub
(f) (f) (f)

Having education and knowledge on the subject
1) Being an expert in the field 16 17 33
2) Knowing the student, having

Professional knowledge and skills
information on the student’s

8 18 26
psychology and behaving
accordingly
3) Knowing and providing student

10 10 20
motivation
4) Sharing life experiences 3 13 16
5) Having higher general culture,

giving information on general 4 6 10
culture
Total 41 64 105
teachers the most repeated codes under “having education and knowledge on the subject”
subtheme were “being an expert in the field” (f= 33) and “knowing the student, having
information on the student’s psychology and behaving accordingly” (f= 26). A PST
student’s statement as; “My history teacher M. G. Aytekin was a really sophisticated
teacher. He always improved himself and tried to learn also in the other fields.” showed
that the successful teachers were experts in their subjects. And a statement by a PST
student as; “He/She would analyze the students very well and know how to approach
them.” revealed that the teachers would know their students and have information about
their psychology. It was found out that PST students attached more importance to codes
such as; “knowing the student, having information on the student’s psychology and
behaving accordingly” and “sharing life experiences” compared to EMT students. In the
Table 6, frequencies and percentages related with the “managing classroom effectively”
Table 6. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under managing classroom effectively
subtheme
EMT PST Total

Theme
theme
Sub

(f) (f) (f)
1) Disciplined/Having the authority 19 14 33
2) Having effective communication and

11 12 23
diction skills
3) Classroom management/Keeping the class

Managing classroom effectively
9 6 15
under control
4) Rewarding students properly 7 1 8
5) Making eye contact 4 2 6
6) Starting class in a different way (reciting

1 3 4
a poem, music etc.)
7) Starting class with a conversation 2 2
8) Using body language effectively 1 1
9) Keeping students’ names in mind (having

- 1 1
a retentive memory)
Total 52 41 93
teachers the most repeated codes under “managing classroom effectively” subtheme were
“disciplined/having the authority (f= 33) and “having effective communication and diction
skills” (f= 23). As it might be noticed in the Table 6; considering the similarities between
the 1st and 3rd codes and analyzing these codes together, the focal points in this subtheme
for the successful teachers were having authority in the classroom, maintaining
discipline and controlling the classroom. The statements by EMT students as; “I can say
that he/she was really good at discipline the classroom” and the statements by PST
students as; “We did not have such problems during Vecdi Teacher’s class. Everyone, even
the naughtiest ones, would listen to him attentively. They would behave as if they had
listened when they did not. Because Vecdi teacher had private relations with each of us.”
emphasized that the successful teachers maintained discipline in the classroom and had
authority. In the Table 8, frequencies and percentages related with the “having the skills
to teach in an enjoyable and pleasurable way” subtheme which was under “professional
attitudes and values” theme were given.
teachers the most repeated codes under “having the skills to teach in an enjoyable and
pleasurable way” subtheme was “teaching enjoyably and wittily, telling jokes” (f= 41) and
“teaching fluently and pleasurably” (f= 14). As it might be noticed in the Table 7;
considering the similarities between the 1st and 2nd codes and analyzing these codes
together, the focal points in this subtheme for the successful teachers were teaching
enjoyably, wittily, fluently and pleasurably.
Table 7. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under having the skills to teach in an
enjoyable and pleasurable way subtheme
EMT PST Total

Sub theme
Theme
(f) (f) (f)
1) Teaching enjoyably and

22 19 41
Having the skills to teach in an
enjoyable and pleasurable way
wittily, telling jokes
2) Teaching fluently and

10 4 14
pleasurably
3) Making the course

5 4 9
attractive
4) Teaching as if he was
3 6 9
living/excitedly and eagerly
Total 40 33 73
The examples given by an EMT student as; “His/Her most important

characteristic feature was his/her class was so fluent and pleasurable.” and PST student
as; “I was impatiently waiting for the history class which I had not liked to attend before.
He/She would teach history like a story, so it made the class more fluent and his/her
repetition of the topic made it more recallable for me.” proved that the teachers taught
their subjects fluently and enjoyably. Besides, the statement by a PST student as;
“He/She would teach history as if he had experienced the adventures.” expressed that the
teachers taught the subjects excitedly and lively as if they had lived the things they told.
In the Table 8, frequencies and percentages related with the “using original approaches
in teaching/learning process” subtheme which was under “professional attitudes and
values” theme were given.
Table 8. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under using original approaches in
teaching/learning process subtheme
Theme
Sub theme
EMT PST Total
Codes
Frequency Frequency Frequency
(f) (f) (f)
1) Using different methods and
5 10 15
techniques in teaching process
2) Focusing on teaching except for

5 8 13
grading
3) Giving examples, relating with
7 5 12
daily life
Using original approaches in teaching/learning process
4) Being prepared for the course 3 5 8
5) Making logic of mathematical

7 - 7
formulas understandable
6) Teaching proper with the

5 2 7
students’ academic levels
7) Doing extracurricular activities
1 2 3
during class time
8) Encouraging inoffensive
- 3 3
competition between the students
9) Relating with prior learning 1 - 1
10) Concretizing abstract contents 1 - 1
11) Finishing the course with a

- 1 1
meaningful words to live by
12) Teaching not only through
1 - 1
making the students take notes
13) Making the students work in
- 1 1
groups
14) Making the students take notes

- 1 1
when necessary
Total 36 38 74
Seen in the table 8, of the characteristics which the students saw in successful
teachers the most repeated codes under “using original approaches in teaching/learning
process” subtheme was “using different methods and techniques in teaching process” (f=
15), “focusing on teaching except for grading” (f= 13) and “giving examples, relating with
daily life” (f= 12). The statements by a PST student as; “Vecdi Teacher would give
examples from daily life and that made the things more recallable.” indicated that the
successful teachers gave examples in their classes related with daily life.
The basic difference in this subtheme between EMT and PST students was that
EMT students who attended a department weighed courses related with numerical
sciences during secondary education explained that the successful Math teachers pointed
out logical inferences about mathematical formulas they taught. It was an interesting
finding of the study that compared with EMT students PST students, who attended
verbal or equally weighed departments giving less class time for Math classes, did not
make any statements on logical inferences by the successful Math teachers. In the Table
9, frequencies and percentages related with the “using teaching materials effectively”
Table 9. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under using teaching materials effectively
subtheme
EMT PST Total

Theme
theme
Sub

(f) (f) (f)
1) Using necessary and different materials

8 9 17
for the course
Using teaching materials effectively
2) Having special materials and questions

for the course and using Xeroxed course 4 1 5
notes
3) Using video clips 3 1 4
4) Giving the student his/her own course

- 1 1
book
5) Using blackboard effectively - 1 1
6) Turkish teacher’s bringing different

- 1 1
novels/storybooks for each course
Total 15 14 29
teachers the most repeated codes under “using teaching materials effectively” subtheme
were “using necessary and different materials for the course” (f= 17) and “having special
materials and questions for the course and using Xeroxed course notes” (f= 5). It was
found out in this subtheme that both EMT and PST students had similar views on the
successful teachers’ skills and behaviors related with using teaching materials.
Finally, in the Table 10, frequencies and percentages related with the “using
measurement and evaluation process focused” subtheme which was under “professional
attitudes and values” theme were given.
Table 10. Frequencies and percentages related with the codes set under using measurement and evaluation
process focused subtheme
EMT PST Total

Theme
theme
Sub

(f) (f) (f)
Using measurement and evaluation process
1) Solving question during the class 11 4 15

2) Checking homework regularly and giving

5 2 7
feedback
3) Finishing the course with short reviews and

- 5 5
focused
asking evaluation questions
4) Giving high marks by asking simple

1 - 1
questions
5) Asking intermediate level questions 1 - 1
6) Asking hard questions 1 - 1
Total 19 11 30
teachers the most repeated codes under “using measurement and evaluation process
focused” subtheme were “solving question during the class” (f= 15) and “checking
homework regularly and giving feedback” (f= 7). A statement by an EMT student as;
“He/She always walked in the classroom and asked us questions.” showed that the
successful teachers made their students solve problems during class time. In this
subtheme, PST students had the perception about the successful teachers that some of
those teachers finished their course with short reviews, while EMT students underlined
the features of the exams determining their success or failure in the class. Furthermore,
EMT students restated that the successful teachers solved more questions during the
class.
3. Conclusion and Discussion
As the result of the analysis, three diverse subthemes were found under
“professional attitudes and values” theme; and six subthemes were found under
“professional knowledge and skills” theme. The students were required to describe three
successful teachers at most who they met during their academic life at primary or
secondary schools. Within the scope, the students from EMT department gave
information on 2.3 teachers, PST department students gave information on 1.44 teachers
on the average. Considering 12-year-education periods of the students from both of the
departments and considering the number of the teachers who taught them were
approximate, one of the interesting and expected results of the study was that EMT
students who got higher scores from university entrance exams described more successful
teachers in terms of number and ratio. PST department students who were placed to
university with relatively low exam scores described fewer successful teachers in terms of
number and ratio. In this context, the students’ performances from standardized
achievement tests highly used to reflect the quality of their educational background as
stated in the related literature (Ballard & Bates, 2008, 560). In the study carried out by
Opdenakker and Damme (2006) titled “Teacher characteristics and teaching styles as
effectiveness enhancing factors of classroom practice”, it was asserted that teachers’
characteristics and teaching styles could be the factors increasing efficiency in classroom
practices. Teachers have powerful influence on their students, they are the ones to define
their students’ learning, what and how they learn. Additionally, teacher quality is one of
the basic elements and important determinants of students’ academic success (İlğan,
2014). Especially good teachers have control over their classrooms. They are fair, helpful
to their students, kind and respectful (Murphy et al., 2004). Harslett et al (2000) stated
that teachers’ skills of motivating, encouragement, being tolerant, caring for their
students always inspire them, provide positive educational experiences and this would
contribute to their prospective future success in their lives. The other way round, if
teachers are not able to provide these positive experiences, schools would be negative and
useless for their students.
Analyzing the subjects of the successful teachers who impressed EMT students in
their lives, more than half of the subjects were seen to be Math and Science, one third of
these successful teachers’ subjects were found out to be Math. It was one of the expected
findings of the study that EMT students who generally took courses related with
numerical sciences perceived the Math teachers as the examples of the successful
teachers, this might influence their preferences at university in terms of the department
to get higher education. It was seen that teachers whose subjects were Social Sciences,
Turkish and Turkish Language and Literature were perceived as successful teachers by
PST students who were the other participant group of the study. It could also be regarded
as another expected finding of the study that PST students who studied at a kind of
verbal sciences field perceived the teachers who taught generally verbal sciences and saw
them as examples. The reason why EMT students regarded mostly their Math teachers
from high schools and PST students regarded mostly their Turkish language and
Literature teachers as more successful ones could be those students’ taking such courses
more intensively in terms of their weekly schedules at high schools. Teachers’ behaviors
are influential on students’ interest in the course. If teachers’ behaviors bring about some
kind of decrease in students’ expectation of success, students will not be influenced by
teaching process and they will mentally drift away from the course in time. On the other
hand, teachers’ valuing the students who take a course, caring about them and allocating
time for them might increase students’ interest in the course, students consciously and
consistently study to be successful in that course (Tella, 2008). Increasing the time
allocated for teaching is another effective variable on students’ academic success rates
since it includes possibilities of increasing students’ academic performances (Lezotte,
2010). The teachers’ effective behaviors, allocating longer period of time for the
mentioned courses and using the time sufficiently might be influential on the students’
perceptions about those teachers. Besides, another interesting and different finding of
the study was the students’ definitions about the teachers who was working at private
teaching institutions where the students attended to be prepared for the university
entrance exams. Within the scope of the study, EMT students gave information on 6
teachers (6.5%) while PST students gave information on 13 teachers (14.5%). It is
noticeable that PST students described more successful teachers working at private
teaching institutions compared to EMT students. Considering these private institutions
give courses to prepare students university entrance exams and earn money in return,
higher performance from the teachers working at such institutions is an expected
outcome. In the previous it was found out that the teachers working at private teaching
institutions compared to the ones working at public schools are expected to show higher
performance and the teachers at private institutions improve their performance
accordingly to fulfill the expectations (Podgursky & Springer, 2007). The students’
definition of the teachers working at private teaching institutions as successful ones
instead of public school teachers might be due to the fact that those teachers make an
effort to meet the expectations for higher performance.
Regarding the professional seniorities of the successful teachers, the number of
the teachers with professional seniorities lower than five years were regarded as the
successful teachers less frequently but the frequency of the remaining groups’ seniorities
were similar. Besides, it was seen that there were not any significant differences between
EMT and PST students in terms of the seniorities of the successful teachers described by
them. In some of the previous studies (Burroughs et al., 2019; Ladd & Sorenson, 2017), it
was revealed that the increase in the teachers’ seniorities would positively influence their
professional performance and success rates. On the other hand, it might be stressed that
influence of the teachers with lower seniority levels on students is rather limited
(Darling-Hammond et al., 2017).
Based on the findings it was appeared that caring for each student, allocating
time for each student outside regular course time, not discriminating between the
students and being fair were of the leading characteristic features of the successful
teachers. Similarly, in the studies carried out on characteristics of effective teachers
there were prominent findings related with such characteristics like; showing special
interest in the students, spending time with the students outside class time (Stronge,
2007) and not discriminating between students and being fair (Lupascu et al., 2014;
Stronge, 2007). It might be asserted that the findings of the study was consistent with
the related literature.
As for the least frequently coded themes; these codes were seen to be “using
teaching materials effectively” (f= 29) and “using measurement and evaluation process
focused” (f= 30). These findings might be interpreted as the successful teachers did not
frequently use teaching materials or if they used those materials, they did not catch the
students’ attention. Moreover, it might be claimed that the frequency of the process
focused measurement and evaluation activities was less often and the students’ level of
awareness was low concerning the teachers’ exam questions or they did not have the
chance to observe their teachers’ performance related with this theme. At the same time
it might be remarked that the teachers’ qualifications regarding process focused
measurement and evaluation (Benzehaf, 2017) and using teaching materials effectively
might be poor (Mupa & Isaac, 2015) and all these poor conditions could lead to such a
conclusion.
Taking all the codes analyzed in the study into consideration, the codes related
with the successful teachers’ characteristics with 20 or above frequencies were: “giving
positive energy and having a smiling face” (f= 41), “teaching enjoyably and wittily, telling
jokes” (f= 41), “Being interested in their privacy, paying attention to their problems and
helping them” (f= 40), “loving his/her profession / not complaining about professional
issues / professional commitment/ professional devotion / doing his/her job passionately”
(f= 39), “being warm, affectionate and friendly” (f= 36), caring for each student, valuing
them, encouraging them to participate” (f= 34), “being an expert in the field” (f= 33),
“allocating time for the students outside regular course time, replying their questions” (f=
28), “knowing the student, having information on the student’s psychology and behaving
accordingly” (f= 26), “improving professionally” (f= 24), “having effective communication
and diction skills” (f= 23), “motivating them for success/ inspiring them” (f=22), “showing
affection like father or mother, seeing the student like his/her own child” (f= 20) and
“knowing and providing student motivation” (f= 20).
Reviewing the related literature, there are studies on the successful and effective
teachers’ characteristics like: giving positive energy to the students and having a smiling
face (Ansari & Malik, 2013), caring about students’ private lives, being fair towards
students, not discriminating between students (Lupascu et al., 2014; Toraman, 2019),
loving teaching profession, being devoted to the profession, doing the profession with
passion (Fogelgarn & Burns, 2020), being warm, affectionate and friendly (Lupascu et al.,
2014), caring about each students, valuing the students, stimulating the students for
participation (Aktan et al., 2021; Chen & Lin, 2009), being an expert in the field (Darling-
Hammond et al., 2017), being disciplined and having authority (Stronge, 2007), spending
time with the students outside class time, solving their problems (Stronge, 2007),
knowing the students and being informed about their psychology (Kim et al., 2019),
providing self-professional improvement (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Stronge, 2007),
having effective communication and diction skills (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016), making the
students believe in the success, inspiring them for success (Lupascu et al., 2014),
approaching to the students affectionately and accepting them like his/her own child
(Blazar & Kraft, 2017), knowing about the student motivation and motivating the
students (Hornstra et al., 2018). The students’ definitions about successful and effective
teachers’ behaviors and characteristics based on the experiences related with their
background education were similar to the ones mentioned in the related literature and
the findings of the previous studies. Furthermore, the teacher behaviors described by the
students involved professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which formed
qualifications of teaching profession.
5. Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the findings of the study;
1) Policies might be developed to increase teacher performance and success, to encourage
them to have academic career and to increase the number of perfect teachers.
2) Regulations might be made to provide the students to be taught at least a perfect
teacher throughout their 12-year-compulsory-education.
3) It is suggested that professional attitudes and values should be of the criteria while
the students’ admissions to education faculties and could be included in pre-service and
in-service trainings.
4) Nine subthemes were set within the scope of the study and the most repeated one was
“showing private interest in the students, spending time with them and being fair”.
Therefore, arrangements could be suggested to provide teachers’ to show private interest
in students, allocate time for them and listen to their problems outside regular class
time.
5) Based on the most repeated codes set in this study, teachers could be suggested to:
 Be positive and smiling during class time,
 Teach their subjects pleasurably, wittily and tell jokes etc. when students’ lose
their concentrations,
Be fair to their students, not discriminate between them,
 Love his/her job and do it with passion,
 Have warm, kind relations with their students and be friendly,
 Be experts in their subjects,
 Be successful in classroom management (discipline, class control).
6. Limitations
The existing study which considered the views of the 1st grade students of education
faculty, carried out based on their experiences at elementary and secondary schools and
tried to determine characteristic features of successful and effective teachers was limited
with the findings reached through using phenomenological design of qualitative research.
The study group was limited with 1st graders from two departments of education faculty.
Another limitation was using only qualitative data collection instruments and not being
able to provide data diversity.
References
Akiba, M., & Liang, G. (2016). Effects of teacher professional learning activities on student
achievement growth. The Journal of Educational Research, 109 (1), 99-110.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.924470.
Aktan, O., Toraman, Ç., & Aytug Kosan, A. M. (2021). I Have a Letter to My Faculty!= Fakülteme
mektubum var!. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 11(1), 1-48.
Alashwal, M. (2019). Essential professional qualities and skills of an effective and modern teacher.
American Journal of Educational Research, 7(12), 983-988.
https://doi.org/10.12691/education-7-12-13.
Ansari, U., & Malik, S. K. (2013). Image of an effective teacher in 21st century classroom. Journal
of Educational and Instructional Studies in the World, 3(4), 61-68.
Arnon, S. & Reichel, N. (2007). Who is the ideal teacher? Am I? Similarity and difference in
perception of students of education regarding the qualities of a good teacher and of their
own qualities as teachers. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 13(5), 441-464.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600701561653.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., Sorensen, C. K., & Walker, D. A. (2019). Introduction to Research in
Education. Boston, MA: Cengage.
Auerbach, C. F., & Silverstein, L. B. (2003). Qualitative Data: An Introduction to Coding and
Analysis. New York: New York University Press.
Avalos, B. (2011). Teacher professional development in teaching and teacher education over ten
years. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(1), 10-20.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.007.
Ballard, K., & Bates, A. (2008). Making a connection between student archievement, teacher
accountability, and quality classroom instruction. Qualitative Report, 13 (4), 560-580.
Benzehaf, B. (2017). Exploring teachers’ assessment practices and skills. International Journal of
Assessment Tools in Education, 4(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.21449/ijate.254581.
Bertschy, F., Kinzli, C., & Lehmann, M. (2013). Teachers’ competencies for the implementation of
educational offers in the field of education for sustainable development. Sustainability, 5
(12), 5067-5080. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5125067.
Brookhart, S. M. (2011). Educational assessment knowledge and skills for teachers. Educational
Measurement: Issues and Practice, 30 (1), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-
3992.2010.00195.x.
Blazar, D., & Kraft, M. A. (2017). Teacher and teaching effects on students’ attitudes and
behaviors. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39 (1), 146–170.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373716670260.
Burroughs, N., Gardner, J., Lee., Y., Guo, S., Touitou, I., Jansen, K., & Schmidt, W. (2019). A
review of the literature on teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. Teaching for
Excellence and Equity, 6, 7-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16151-4_2.
Chen, Y.-J., & Lin, S.-C. (2009). Exploring characteristics for effective EFL teachers from the
perceptions of junior high school students in Tainan. STUT Journal of Humanities and
Social Sciences, 2, 219-249.
Christensen, L., Johnson, R., & Turner, L. (2013). Research Methods, Design, and Analysis (12th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Corbin, J., & Straus, A. (2008). Basics of Qualitative Research: Technique and Procedure for
Developing Grounded Theory. USA: Sage.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative İnquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches
(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2017) Teacher education around the world: What can we learn from
international practice? European Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (3), 291–309.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2017.1315399.
Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M. E., & Gardner, M. (2017). Effective Teacher Professional
Development. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.
Deakin Crick, R. (2008). Pedagogy for citizenship. In F. Oser & W. Veugelers (Eds.), Getting
Involved: Global Citizenship Development and Sources of Moral Values (31-55). Rotterdam:
Sense Publishers.
Elo, S., Kääriäinen, M., Kanste, O., Pölkki, T., Utriainen, K., & Kyngäs, H. (2014). Qualitative
content analysis. SAGE Open, 4(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014522633.
Fogelgarn, R., & Burns, E. A. (2020). What constrains passionate teaching? A heuristic
exploration. Issues in Educational Research, 30(2), 493-511.
http://www.iier.org.au/iier30/fogelgarn.pdf adresinden erişildi.
Gentles, S. J., Charles, C., Ploeg, J., & McKibbon, K. A. (2015). Sampling in qualitative research:
Insights from an overview of the methods literature. The Qualitative Report, 20 (11),
1772–1789.
Gess-Newsome, J., Taylor, J. A., Carlson, A., Gardner, A. L., Wilson, C. D., & Stuhlsatz, M. A. M.
(2019). Teacher pedagogical content knowledge, practice, and student achievement.
International Journal of Science Education, 41 (7), 944-963.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2016.1265158.
Guerriero, S. (2014). Teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and the teaching profession. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/Background_document_to_Symposium_ITEL-
FINAL.pdf adresinden erişildi.
Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2019). Teacher leadership and educational change. School Leadership &
Management, 39 (2), 123–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1574964.
Harslett, M., Harrison, B., Godfrey, J., Partington, G., & Richer, K. (2000). Teacher perceptions of
the characteristics of effective teachers of aboriginal middle school students. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 25(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/ 10.14221/ajte.2000v25n2.4
Hornstra, L., Stroet, K., van Eijden, E., Goudsblom, E., & Roskamp, C. (2018). Teacher
expectation effects on need-supportive teaching, student motivation, and engagement: A
self-determination perspective. Educational Research and Evaluation, 24 (3–5): 324–345.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2018.1550841.
Hughes, J., & Kwok, O. M. (2007). Influence of student-teacher and parent-teacher relationships
on lower achieving readers’ engagement and achievement in the primary grades. Journal
of Educational Psychology, 99 (1), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.39.
Ida, Z. (2017). What makes a good teacher? Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5 (1), 141-
147. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2017.050118.
İlğan, A. (2014). Öğrencinin akademik başarısını etkileyen öğretmen karakteristikleri. İ. Aydın ve

K. Yılmaz (Editör) Prof. Dr. Haydar Taymaz Armağan Kitabı içinde. (s. 367-391). Ankara:
Pegem Akademi
Jacobson-Lundeberg, V. (2016). Pedagogical implementation of 21st century skills. Educational

Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development, 27, 82–100.
Kim, L., Jörg, V., & Klassen, R. M. (2019). A meta-analysis of the effects of teacher personality on
teacher effectiveness and burnout. Educational Psychology Review, 31, 163-195.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-018-9458-2.
Kunter, M., Klusmann, U., Baumert, J., Richter, D., Voss, T., & Hachfeld, A. (2013). Professional
competence of teachers: Effects on instructional quality and student development. Journal
of Educational Psychology, 105 (3), 805-820. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032583.
Ladd, H. & Sorenson, L. (2017). Returns to teacher experience: Student achievement and
motivation in middle school. Education Finance and Policy, 12(2) 241–279.
https://doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00194.
Lezotte, L. W. (2010). What Effective Schools Do: Re-Envisioning the Correlates. Indianapolis, IN:
Solution Tree.
Lupascu, A. R., Pânisoarâ, G., & Pânisoarâ, I.O. (2014). Characteristics of effective teacher.
Procedia. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 127, 534-538.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.305.
Maureen B. N. & Cabauatan, L. (2021). Practically ingenious teaching: instructional behavior of

faculty members of the college of education in a state university in the Cordillera,
Philippines amidst COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Education, Technology
and Science, 1(4), 102-118.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. London: Sage.
Merriam, S.B. (2013). Qualitative Research A Guide to Design and Implementation. John Wiley &
Sons Inc., New York.
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and
Implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Mupa, P., & Isaac, T. (2015). Factors contributing to ineffective teaching and learning in primary
schools: Why are schools in decadence? Journal of Education and Practice, 6(19), 125–133.
Murphy, P. K., Delli, L. A. M., & Edwards, M. N. (2004). The good teacher and good teaching:
Comparing beliefs of second-grade students, preservice teachers, and ınservice teachers.
The Journal of Experimental Education, 72(2), 69–92. https://doi.org/10.3200/jexe.72.2.69-
92.
Nessipbayeva, O. (2012). The Competencies of the modern teacher. Bulgarian Comparative

Education Society, 143-154.
OECD. (2016). PISA 2015 results (Volume II): Policies and practices for successful schools, Paris:
OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264267510-en.
Opdenakker, M.C., & Van Damme, J. (2006). Teacher characteristics and teaching styles as
effectiveness enhancing factors of classroom practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22
(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.07.008
ÖSYM. (2020). 2020-YKS Yerleştirme Sonuçlarına İlişkin Sayısal Bilgiler. [Statistics Related with
2020 University Entrance Exams and Placement Results]
https://www.osym.gov.tr/TR,19460/2020-yks-yerlestirme-sonuclarina-iliskin-sayisal-
bilgiler.html.
Paine, L., Bloemeke, S., & Aydarova, O. (2016). Teachers and teaching in the context of
globalization. In D. H. Gitomer & C. A. Bell (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teaching (5th
Ed.), (Pp. 717–786). Washington, D.C.: AERA.
Pantic, N., & Wubbels, T. (2010). Teacher competencies as a basis for teacher education views of
Serbian teachers and teacher educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26 (3), 694-703.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.10.005
Podgursky, M., & Springer, M. (2007). Teacher Performance Pay: A Review. Journal of Policy
Analysis and Management, 26(4), 909-949. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30162809.
Sanger, M. (2017). Teacher beliefs, teacher education, and the moral work of teaching. In D. J.
Clandinin & J. Husu (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Volume 1.
London: Sage.
Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects.

Education for information, 22(2), 63-75. https://doi.org/10.3233/EFI-2004-22201.
Sieberer-Nagler, K. (2016). Effective classroom management and positive teaching. English

Language Teaching, 9 (1), 163-172. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v9n1p163.
Stronge, J. H. (2007). Qualities of Effective Teachers. 3rd ed. Edited by J. H. Stronge. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD
Suri, H. (2011). Purposeful sampling in qualitative research synthesis. Qualitative Research

Journal 11(2), 63–75. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ1102063.
Tella, A. (2008). Teacher variables as predictors of academic achievement of primary school pupils’
mathematics. International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education, 1 (1), 17-33.
Toraman, Ç. (2019). Effective Teacher Characteristics. Asian Journal of Instruction, 7 (1), 1-14.
View publication stats

Excellent Teachers

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Excellent Teachers

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Excellent Teachers

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

Professional and personal characteristics of excellent teachers

Article · May 2022

Abdurrahman İlğan Osman Aktan

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

CURRENT DEBATES IN EDUCATION Volume 5 View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Professional and personal characteristics of excellent

* Osman Aktan. ORCID ID.: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6583-3765

In today’s world, the facts like rapid technological developments, globalization,

1.2. The aim of the study

In this study, it was aimed based on the students’ perceptions to identify

Student’s statement (as he/she stated) Code/codes of the statement

5) Caring for the students’ private

6) Sharing his/her experiences

2.4. Validity and Reliability

EMT PST Total

time with them and being fair

attention to their problems and helping them

EMT PST Total

Codes Frequency Frequency Frequency

1) Loving his/her profession / not complaining

his/her job passionately

Subtheme EMT PST Total

Codes Frequency Frequency Frequency

1) Giving positive energy and having a

2) Being warm, affectionate and

4) Being understanding, tolerant and

5) Being determined and stable - 10 10

EMT PST Total

Codes Frequency Frequency Frequency

(f) (f) (f)

1) Being an expert in the field 16 17 33

2) Knowing the student, having

information on the student’s

3) Knowing and providing student

4) Sharing life experiences 3 13 16

5) Having higher general culture,

EMT PST Total

Codes Frequency Frequency Frequency

1) Disciplined/Having the authority 19 14 33

2) Having effective communication and

3) Classroom management/Keeping the class

Managing classroom effectively

4) Rewarding students properly 7 1 8

5) Making eye contact 4 2 6

6) Starting class in a different way (reciting

7) Starting class with a conversation 2 2

8) Using body language effectively 1 1

9) Keeping students’ names in mind (having

EMT PST Total

Codes Frequency Frequency Frequency

(f) (f) (f)

1) Teaching enjoyably and

wittily, telling jokes

2) Teaching fluently and

3) Making the course

The examples given by an EMT student as; “His/Her most important

2) Focusing on teaching except for