21st century teacher

10 Essential Characteristics of a 21st Century Educator

George Couros

It is not  technology that is having the biggest influence on what we do; it is the speed of change being thrust upon us.11 We also have more access to information and ideas, so we can do better. If you know better, you have to do better.

50 years ago, relationships were the most important thing in education, and 50 years from now it will be more so. Do our students feel valued when they come to school?  Do we seek to simply engage them in content, or do we seek to empower them to create? 

“If we create a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they are not good enough but because they can be even better, there is no limit to what we can achieve.” —Dylan Wiliam

  Every single individual has different experiences and strengths that they bring to the classroom, and we are all better if we look to tap into those strengths and build a community around them.  

“We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” John Dewey

When you hire anyone for a job, you do not just hire them, you hire their entire network. Networks consist of both “online spaces” and face to face collaboration. 

Remember…innovation is probably not in your curriculum, but neither are worksheets.13  

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”  ― Rudyard Kipling

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.”  John Steinbeck