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I believe that when I hear of "great teachers," getting "great results," that I should request to see the data.
I'm afraid I don't accept the adjective "great" without asking, "Where's the data?"
These "great" teachers may know something that I don't, and I need to learn from them, fast!
However, I have never heard of a teacher who didn't consider him/herself "great." Thinking so does not make it so. In addition, parents tend to accept all kinds of mediocre instruction for their children, forcing themselves to believe that while schooling around the country may be poor, the schooling they are providing their own children is infused with "great" teachers.
I have been a consumer of schooling for 60 years, as a student, parent and grandparent. I have been a school director and teacher. In all that time I have only run across 1/2 dozen "great" teachers. What made them great was that they could demonstrate, with data, that their students learned above and beyond what occurs in the "normal" classroom.
One of the great advantages of DIRECT INSTRUCTION, (discussed throughout brainsarefun) is that it actually helps "teacher proof" the classroom, turning typical classrooms into great classrooms by providing both a curriculum and a system of delivery. That is, when teachers really learn how to teach, if he/she delivers the program, students have a better chance of learning skills and behaviors than they do in the more traditional "make it up as you go" classroom.
Providing both a curriculum and a system of delivery, Direct Instruction offers something that most schools simply do not have, no matter how vociferously they insist they do. Question my opinion? Find out for yourself. Just ask your local school, any grade level, to trot out its curriculum and see what you get. In virtually all cases you will be shocked to find very little, and even less of a system for delivering it in a way where students are able to demonstrate much learning.
Without a curriculum, a delivery system, and data to back up the claim, how can anyone call himself/herself a "great" teacher.
Also see: What Makes a Master Teacher?
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