What makes a good teacher? The perceptions of postgraduate TESOL students

Abstract

Shulman’s (1987) conceptualisation of the knowledge base of teachers includes the categories of content knowledge, general pedagogic knowledge, curriculum knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of learners and their characteristics, knowledge of educational contexts, and knowledge of educational ends, purposes and values. While exploring some of these categories, many researchers have utilised the notion of ‘expert teachers’, who are often identified through reputation and/or through their students’ superior performance on standardised tests. However, perceptions of what behaviours students believe characterise an expert TESOL teacher are under-represented in research. This study of 42 postgraduate TESOL students examines the views of novice and experienced teachers about what constitutes a good teacher. The study has implications for language teacher education, language teaching methodology and cross-cultural communication.

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