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3. Teaching
According to Hamachek 1990, p. 394, a good teaching is both an art and science. In other words, good teaching is done by an artist who is able to utilize to
the fullest in a classroom the best scientific research to the human resources and technological advances. While according to Hough and Duncan 1970, teaching
is an activity, a unique professional, rational, and humane activity of creatively using himself and his knowledge to promote learning and welfare of others. Both
statements from the two experts have the same idea about the activity in the class as process of learning, and also from the statements we can see that both experts
see it is the activity of learning that needs creativity, knowledge and facilities to promote the best teaching and learning activity.
a. Teacher
According to Hough and Duncan 1970, teacher is a professional who is capable of making rational, humane, and creative decisions regarding the teaching
act. It is clear that a teacher is someone who is in charge in the classroom to teach the students something they are expected to learn. Teachers are the ones who are
responsible for the whole class, the whole teaching-learning process, the whole students and even the classroom environment.
According to Danielson’s Framework of teaching 2007, classroom environment is the second important
domain which the teachers should pay attention to.
b. The Characteristics of Good and an Effective Teacher
We often hear about these two words, a good teacher and an effective teacher. Both seem different because usually an effective teacher is one
16 characteristics of being a good teacher. Berliner 1987 made a distinction
between a good teacher and an effective teacher. He stated that being a good teacher deals with how good the teaching skills of the teacher is, how good the
teacher behave in the classroom and about the standard of a good practice of a teacher in the classroom without considering whether the students really learn
something or not. While being an effective teacher is always related to the instructional outcomes or the students’ achievements on the materials they have
learned. Once again, the good teacher always deals with the teacher’s behavior in the classroom, while an effective teacher always deals with the students’ academic
performance. Based on Berliner ’s distinction on a good teacher and an effective
teacher we can see that it is just a matter of point of view. As Hamachek 1990, p. 395 stated that it is important to distinguish between a good teacher and an
effective teacher in the research, he prefers to use the terms interchangeably; the researcher has the same idea that in this study, the terms are used interchangeably
because it can be more complete if the researcher uses these terms all together. Hamachek 1990, p. 396 stated that it is not possible to define exactly
what an effective teacher is at least not in a very specific way. While Berliner 1987, p. 94 stated that the effective teacher is someone who is able to get most
of his students to learn what they are supposed to learn and the teacher can have all the knowledge to fit with some particular different type of students.
Being a good and effective teacher is important for future teachers. The description on being a good and effective teacher gives apparent points that the
future teachers should have the qualifications of good and effective teachers.
17 Hamachek also stated that there is no exact definition of what a good
teacher is. It is supported by Getzel and Jackson 1963, p. 574; they stated that after summarizi
ng the fifty years of research on teachers’ personality and characteristics, they conclude that after all of the research efforts finding the
meaning of an effective teacher, very little is known to ensure about the measurement of teacher personality and t
he connection with teachers’ effectiveness. Hamachek 1990, p. 396 suggested three dimensions of effective
teachers’ behavior. Those are: personality traits, intellectual characteristics, and instructional approaches.
Teacher s’ personality traits are the personality performed by the teacher in
the class. Teachers, as a fully human being, must be able to perform the personality of being warm, caring and friendly. Teachers should also be able to be
enthusiastic and proactive in guiding the students to promote more effective learning.
Good teachers’ intellectual behaviors are the behaviors of having a balance between their knowledge with the implementation of the knowledge itself. The
teachers should have a balance between knowing and doing. Teachers are also required to have thorough preparation in the class so that they will have fully
organized and clear materials to be delivered. Placing a high value on the academic achievements and students’ learning are the other intelligent behaviors
of good teachers. The last dimension of effective teachers’ behaviors is the instructional
approaches. This dimension deals with teachers’ ability to support students
18 learning through effective approaches, such as giving specific feedback, giving
positive rapport, giving sufficient time for learning and giving flexible instruction and interaction.
Those are the characteristics of effective teachers suggested by Hamachek.
He also stated that good teachers are good for many reasons, and one of the reasons is that they are good people to begin with. In other words, the
characteristics of effective teacher that suggested by Hamachek is the most characteristics found after some research on the characteristics.
4. Teaching Skills
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