A good teacher is someone ...
Un bon prof est quelqu'un ...
clarifies, examples, cheerful.
encourages her students to make mistakes.
who cares about teaching and spends a lot of time in doing so.
who comes prepared to class, takes students' questions, grades assignments on time, and fairly assesses what a student has learned.
who does not go through classwork mechanically, but instead places more emphasis on understanding the big picture.
who encourages their students,
who enjoys what they're teaching,
who really cares about their job
who helps you understand.
who inspires his or her students.
who inspires people
who is enthusiastic and understanding.
who is honest about their own knowledge of material, can command respect in the classroom, who encourages student questions and curiosity
Who is willing to teach as long as the students are willing to learn.
who lectures well, connects to students well, and is generally amiable.
who loves teaching, wants to see students succeed, and understands people and their differences.
who makes it fun and easy to learn new things, rather than overcomplicating subjects with excessive jargon and always giving students criticism.
who makes material understandable and interesting, gets to know students
who teaches students the material he/she is meant to teach and respects students but is not too strict or lenient.
who understands the material and communicates it efficiently.
captivant, intéressant, pas trop strict
de pédagogue.
de performant dans son métier, cherchant la communication et la réussite pour ses éléves
pédagogue, passionné et passionnant
qui a des bonnes méthodes pédagogiques et qui motive ses élèves et leur donne envie d'aller en cours.
qui arrive a rendre le cours intéressant pour les élèves, et qui réussit à instaurer un climat sympathique dans le cours
qui connaît les bonnes méthodes d'apprentissage; qui est à l'écoute; qui sait s'occuper de ses élèves
qui donne envie de travailler la matière qu'il enseigne, qui est dynamique, qui travaille en dehors des heures de cours
qui est pédagogue et qui aide ses élèves.
qui est un bon pédagogue, qui sait expliquer de façons différentes, et se faire respecter
qui explique bien, qui est proche de ses élèves, qui est disponible.
qui met a l'aise ses élèves,
d'intéressant,
actif et cultivé,
qui explique bien
qui ne juge pas ses élèves, qui aide ses élèves.
qui sait bien expliquer les choses et qui est à l'écoute de ses élèves, mais qui sait garder une distance élève/prof.
qui sait bien expliquer, qui prend son temps quand les élèves ne comprennent pas, qui est patient et respectueux.
qui sait prendre le temps d'expliquer à ses élèves tout en se faisant respecter
qui transmet son savoir de façon pédagogique
qui vit son cours, qui est dynamique, aime son métier et le transmet à ses élèves.
qui, dans un amphi, est le seul à parler, du fait que ses cours soient géniaux, qui corrige vite des copies
rend les choses faciles à comprendre
s'investit dans son travail et qui sait expliquer les choses aux élèves
Discussion
I just took a quick look at the answers from both sides. The Americans emphasize that a good teacher should "care for his students", while a big quality for the French seems to be that the teacher is a good pedagogue and explains well. I find that the American focus is displaced from the teacher to the students, while the French focus remains on the teacher himself. Accordingly, a good American teacher should establish a good rapport with his students and be close, friendly, and supportive. According to your answers, it appears that a good French teacher must be respected and respectful.
I found particularly illustrative the following French response: A good teacher is someone "qui, dans un amphi, est le seul à parler, du fait que ses cours soient géniaux". An American teacher who is the only one speaking could even get fired, as participation is considered so important here. How participative are your classes? Do you feel at ease asking questions during lecture and are there many questions asked, or are students mostly silent and listening to the teacher? Do teachers seriously encourage class participation (beyond an occasional "are there any questions?")?
Effectivement, en France les professeurs demandent presque constamment à ce que les élèves participent, et ils demandent toujours en fin de cours si les élèves on des questions.
Malgré cela il y a très peu de questions de la part des élèves car ils ne sont souvent pas très a l'aise devant toute la classe et le professeur. Nos professeurs se plaignent souvent de cela, ils trouve que les cours ne sont pas assez vivants.
Pour répondre à David, je pense pouvoir dire sans me tromper, qu'en amphi, la participation est totalement nulle. Le prof va faire son cours pendant une, voire deux heures, sans que quiconque ne lui pose de question ou n'intervienne a sa place.
En classe, après je pense que cela varie selon les groupes d'élèves, les profs, et l'ambiance qu'ils ont su instaurer au sein de la classe. C'est de cette ambiance que découle le fait qu'il y aura des questions posées ou non. Je pense pouvoir dire aussi malheureusement que même en classe, les participation orales restent limitées, et comme le dit Vivien, les profs lutten pour nous sortir quelque chose de la bouche.
Enfin, En ce qui concerne l'attention des étudiants, je crois qu'il s'agit encore là de la personnalité des profs, et de l'ambiance générale qu'il reigne dans la classe au moment du cours.
What is the difference between "un amphi" et "une classe"? Is one theoretical and the other practical or hands on? Or is it just different size of the room?
I think what you said about the difficulties professors have getting their students to speak and interact in class is interesting. I have had similar experiences in the U.S. and especially at MIT, even though people put so much emphasis on the interactive learning experience. For instance, my biology class I took last semester had several hundred people (I think that it was at least about five hundred). There were those who were brave enough to ask questions and make comments, but I know that I definitely didn't say anything out loud for the duration of the class--it was too unnerving, when that many people are watching you.
I'm curious... this is a really broad and open-ended question, but what are some of the classes you are taking that you really enjoy / that seem very well-taught? What about a class makes it really enjoyable?
Pour répondre à David, pour nous étudiants en IUT, nous avons des cours qui se passent en amphi et d'autres en classe.
En amphi, nous sommes environ 160 étudiants (c'est-à-dire que toute notre promotion est en même temps) et nous faisons de la théorie. En effet, comme le dit Mathieu personne ne participe, nous écoutons le prof et copions ce qu'il dit.
En classe, nous sommes environ 30 élèves, et là c'est plus de la pratique. On met en pratique ce que l'on a vu en amphi !
Est-ce que vos cours sont aussi divisés comme les notres, une partie en théorie puis l'autre en pratique?
Blandine -- Yes, at MIT, many classes have lectures (where class size can range from a few students to several hundred) and recitations (limited to around 20 or fewer students). Not all classes have recitations (like French, for example), but many of them do. Lectures are taught by professors, and recitations are usually taught by graduate students (TAs--teaching assistants) or other teaching staff.
For classes having both lecture and recitation, particularly if the class size is huge, it seems that people are expected to ask most of their questions in recitation. We are typically presented with new ideas in lecture first, then later in the week (or the next week), when we meet in recitation, the TA summarizes the main points, clarifies issues we have with the material, and goes through practice problems with us.
More importantly, though, the student becomes more actively engaged in the class during recitation, and our TAs can get a real sense of who is working hard and who wants to learn. Since many classes use participation as part of the final grade, it becomes really important to be able to actively demonstrate one's engagement in the class. Personally, I find that it's much easier to stand out in these smaller scale settings. I was in Mary's Biology class last term, and like her, I could never find the courage to say anything in a class that huge.
This division seems to roughly correspond with the French amphi/classe. Still, I've found that even in huge lecture settings, professors enjoy and encourage student feedback. Most will pose questions at least periodically, either to get students to think about the material or to get feedback on their own performance. I'm taking a programming class (with a few hundred students) now in which the professor constantly asks students questions. From the very first day of class, he has encouraged students to respond to his questions and ask questions of their own. In fact, he always brings a bag full of chocolate candy, and if a student asks or answers a question (even incorrectly!), he tosses a piece of candy to the student!
Comme l'on dit ceux qui m'ont précédé, pour nous étudiants en France il est plus difficile de poser des questions en amphi. puisque, en anphi le prof fait son cours et nous prenons notes. Ce n'est qu'aux travaux dirigés que l'on comprend parfois le cours et que l'on pose des questions. J'ai cru comprendre que du côté Américain un bon prof c'est quelqu'un qui comprend ses élèves et qui les encourages. Mais je ne comprend pas pourquoi l'on retrouve du côté Américain l'espression "encourages her students to make mistakes"
Thierry, I think that the reason for using that expression is very related to the asking questions issue. A good teacher in the US should make their students comfortable with asking questions, with trying things on their own, with being active and having initiative. But of course if you are very active in class, you are bound to make mistakes. So it's not that the teacher encourages you to make mistakes, but that he/she encourages you to go ahead and try. Trying and making a mistake is better than not trying.