Personality of an Educator

The teacher has to have the energy of the hottest volcano, the memory of an elephant, and the diplomacy of an ambassador – Jaime Escalante (The Best Teacher in America, 1988)

Personality of an educator is one of the most important factors that affects teaching and learning process.  The effectiveness and productivity of this process depend largely on his personality and methodologies.  In the same manner, educator’s characteristics are necessary to motivate learners in achieving instructional goals and objectives.  The teacher has to possess the love, concern, care, and genuine interest towards his students.  Thus, these have meaningful effects on learners’ performance and behavior, and the teacher could have a comfortable, secure attitude with himself as an instructor while having a good relationship with his learners.

Theoretical construct

Educators have different personalities who portrayed inside their respective classes, which are dependent on the kind of learning situation they may have.  According to Richard Ryckman’s Theories of Personality (2004), personality can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognition, motivations, and behaviors in various situations.  According to Carl Jung’s Psychological Theory of Personality, there are two types of behavior, introverted and extroverted.  Both attitudes are present in every person, in different degrees.  He said that no one is a pure extrovert or pure introvert, and majority of people is actually  a reasonably well-balanced mixture of these types, albeit with a preference for one or the other.

Reflections and insights

Educator‘s personality affects learners’ growth and achievement.  Some teachers are like a disciplinarian which is somewhat strict, others are like gardeners who plant the seeds of overwhelming learning experience and allow students to enrich them, while others are like guidance counselors who have  deep concerns toward their students.   Despite their differences, they all have the same mission:  to mold minds (knowledge), hands (skills), and hearts (values) of their learners.  Likewise, the rapport built between them can unlock the difficulties the students may have and diminish the barrier that may arise in the learning process.

Possessing good personality as an educator is indeed essential.  He is not only involved in solely teaching the subject matter but also someone who can be a mentor and an adviser.  Incorporating such go beyond what a true teacher really means, an educator who has a passion in his profession and puts not only his mind but also his heart towards his vocation.

Photo courtesy of  Woman’s Day.