Children's Evaluations of the Characteristics of the Good Teacher

Abstract

Summary. Over 800 children from primary and secondary schools ranked items descriptive of a ‘good’ teacher in four scales. The items of each scale were representative of statements made by children in short essays about ‘A Good Teacher.’ The four scales were so organised as to sample three hypothesized areas of the good teacher's class‐room behaviour: discipline, teaching and personal qualities; and to bring together in the fourth scale these three areas for comparative evaluation. A sample of teachers and training college students also completed the comparative scale. Together with the scales a check‐list of twenty pairs of items was administered to the children. Children from junior schools also completed a scale concerned with the ‘good’ teacher's class‐room organisation. Differences were found between children at different stages of education, between children and teachers, between teachers and students, and within teachers, between graduate and non‐graduate teachers. The reasons for these differences are discussed.

Using structural equation modeling and multidimensional scaling to assess students’ perceptions of the learning environment and justice experiences

“…Results indicated that justice is a valuable predictor of the students' experience of their learning environment, in accordance with Taylor's (1962) theory.…”

Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and student achievement: A multilevel study

“…Students identify justice as one of the key characteristics of a good teacher (Taylor, 1962). However, they often experience their teachers' assignment of grades, dispensing or withholding of privileges or punishments, and even the student-teacher interaction itself as unjust (Fan & Chan, 1999;Israelashvili, 1997).…”

Assessing the Connection Between Students’ Justice Experience and Perceptions of Faculty Incivility in Higher Education

“…Justice seems to be a valuable predictor of the students' experience of their learning environment in accordance with Taylor's (1962) theory.…”

“…According to this theory, in order to understand psychological processes, individual experiences should be considered alongside objective environmental conditions (Bronfenbrenner 1977). Drawing on justice psychology, the way students intuitive percept, process and evaluate their teachers' just behavior is seen as a key component of several learning-setting-specific constructs (Taylor 1962).…”