The present research aimed to analyze the perception of high school students about the characteristics of a good teacher. The educational process refers essentially to a teacher-student relationship that unfolds in the classroom space, with the idea of generating more and better learning. In methodological terms, the study was based on the interpretive-comprehensive paradigm, through a qualitative methodology, which makes it a case study. The data were collected through four focus groups and four in-depth interviews conducted with secondary school students from a public high school in the province of Talca, Maule region, Chile. The results show the relevance of the handling of disciplinary content by teachers, as well as the pedagogical domain of teaching. On the other hand, it is evident from this study that good teachers are the ones who motivate students to learn, who show an understanding attitude with their learning, and generate a strong affective-emotional bond that transcends the classroom and connects with their lives. Among the limitations presented by the study is the need to increase the size of the sample, an issue that would allow a more comprehensive perspective on teaching. Regarding projections, the study provides useful background for comparison with research in different international contexts.
Keywords: Good teachers, High School, Learning, Secondary education, Teachers, Teacher characteristics.
Received: 19 July 2021 / Revised: 23 August 2021 / Accepted: 9 September 2021/ Published: 27 September 2021
This study contributes to the existing literature related to the characteristics and attributes of good secondary school teachers. It is also one of the first studies to use the interpretive/comprehensive paradigm as methodological option to examine teaching in secondary school from students' perspective.
The transformation process that education undergoes is generating a constant debate about the role that the teacher should have in today's society and even more, the responsibility of universities in the training and preparation of future teachers (Anderson et al., 2020; Marcelo & Vaillant, 2019). In this regard, past literature reports that teachers with better professional skills are required (Avalos, 2018; Da Silva-Cruz, 2020; Daumiller, Dickhäuser, & Dresel, 2019), hand in hand with the institutionalism garnered by faculties of education that develop teaching, research and extension with high quality standards (Darling-Hammond, 2017). In this context, there is a growing demand for teachers with the experience, knowledge and adequate management of teaching strategies that is in line with the challenges of the complexity of teaching today (Calogiannakis & Wolhuter, 2015; Kelchtermans, 2017; Okogbaa, 2017). On the other hand, the global trend for teachers to return to the center of attention in relation to the quality of teaching, has contributed to the debate on good teachers. Most studies relate inputs to results, emphasizing improving teacher training, in such a way as to achieve better results in student learning (Kennedy, 2016; Masino & Niño-Zarazúa, 2016).
Some studies propose that, for teachers to be effective and guarantee the motivation and good results of their students, they must have recognition and prestige, in addition to having good working conditions, as well as adequate financial incentives (Paolini, 2015; Stronge, 2018). Along these lines, a few studies on teachers (Akyeampong, 2017; Avalos, 2018; Darling-Hammond, 2017; Gitomer & Zisk, 2015; Marcelo & Vaillant, 2019) identified a list of intrinsic and extrinsic factors favorable to the good performance of the profession. Among the intrinsic factors, the one that stands out the most is the relationship with students, first, and then with managers and colleagues. Extrinsic factors include wages, working conditions, and recognition from society. The increase in the workloads, the loss of professional autonomy, and the indiscipline of the students appear as unfavorable factors.There is no dearth of studies related to the subject of aptitudes, knowledge, and dispositions and the development of good teachers. These aspects are integrated with those need of a school that are required to develop autonomy in students, openness to the world, tolerance towards other cultures, the taste for intellectual risk, the spirit of investigation, the sense of cooperation and solidarity (Aloni, 2013; Boghian, 2016; Halstead & Taylor, 2000). In the discussion about good teachers, it is important to insert elements that contribute to interpreting the teaching practice in its essence; that is the construction of the pedagogical knowledge that gives identity to the teachers, as shown by the studies of Chan and Yung (2018); Gess-Newsome et al. (2019); Kind and Chan (2019). On this subject, Shulman (1986); Shulman (2011) demonstrate that the knowledge of pedagogical content (PCK) constitutes the knowledge on which teaching is based. In other words, understanding and mastering the subject is not enough for the teacher. Consequently, to teach effectively, the teacher must understand the subject, its concepts and its structure. Subsequently, he must transform it, prepare the topic, equip himself with a repertoire of representations (analogies, metaphors, examples, etc.), and select the appropriate teaching strategies; before adapting all this to the characteristics of their students, taking into account the preconceptions, difficulties, motivations of their students (Marcelo & Vaillant, 2012; Meschede, Fiebranz, Möller, & Steffensky, 2017; Neumann, Kind, & Harms, 2019).
It is also evident that teachers' knowledge is acquired in the context of professional socialization, in which they are incorporated, modified, and adapted according to the moments and stages of their career, while the teacher learns to teach by doing his job (Da Silva-Cruz, 2020; Grant-Vallone & Ensher, 2017; Großschedl, Harms, Kleickmann, & Glowinski, 2015; Kelchtermans, 2017; König & Kramer, 2016). On the other hand, the set of pedagogical knowledge comes from professional training, knowledge transmitted by teacher training institutions, from disciplinary knowledge corresponding to specific fields of knowledge, from curricular knowledge included in school programs, and from experiential knowledge acquired in the daily work of the teaching activity (Korthagen, 2010; Tardif, 2013). Hence, it can be concluded that good teachers are constituted over time, when they are allowed to live their experiences in integration with other knowledge, in order to achieve the necessary skills for good practice.
In the context of secondary education, certain domains are identified to assess a good teacher. These domains include mastery of the content and its association with the curricular organization, planning related to the use of pedagogical strategies, work in teams, the need to know the students and get involved in the teaching-learning processes (Akyeampong, 2017; Capel, Leask, & Younie, 2013; Devine, Fahie, & McGillicuddy, 2013; Watkins & Zhang, 2006). Akyeampong (2017) reported that the practice and vision of good teaching by teacher educators consisted of the use of teaching and learning materials and activities in small groups, which allowed understanding the principles of pedagogy. This pedagogy was student-centered, applicable in a variety of classrooms and contexts. Devine et al. (2013), among their findings, highlighted the importance of reflection, planning, and social and moral dimension of the concepts of good teaching by Irish teachers. However, the contradictions between teachers' beliefs and the observation of their practices became evident in which the latter was mediated by the sociocultural context of the school. From another perspective, Ida (2017) presented the results of an investigation in which the expectations of high school students for a good teacher were explored, noting that they would like to have teachers who not only made efforts to help students in their process of learning, but also valued personalized attention, treatment of students' problems, fair treatment and mutual respect between both. Likewise, Jin, Li, Meirink, van der Want, and Admiraal (2019) reported that the support of expert teachers not only provided comments and suggestions for alternative teaching methods, but also encouraged and maintained the learning of beginning teachers.
On the other hand, the professional dimension is also evident in past studies, since it incorporates the issues of permanent education, valuing an epistemology of practice and commitment to the profession (Hofer, 2017; Marcelo. & Vaillant, 2019). In studying what secondary school teachers should know, it is emphasized that the teacher's knowledge should include not only the content to be taught, but also the ability to reflect deeply on teaching. Teachers need to have knowledge of students as learners, logic and epistemology, knowledge about teaching and the teaching of the subject, the didactics of the content and knowledge about the context, according to that reported by Boyd and Harris (2010); Dibaei-Saber, Abbasi, Fathi-Vajarghah, and Safaei-Movahed (2020); Samples and Copeland (2013). These characteristics of teaching require ethical options, commitment to teaching results, sensitivity and wisdom of secondary school teachers, in addition to preparation in the areas of specific and pedagogical knowledge.
This study aimed to analyze the perception of students of a high school in the province of Talca, Chile, with relation to the characteristics and attributes of a secondary school teacher. This will allow having a systematized background about the main domains that a secondary school teacher must have, identifying pedagogical practices, which, from the students' perspective, allow them to achieve more and better learning in the classroom.
3.1. Research Design
The present work belongs to the phenomenological research design, within the framework of the interpretive paradigm, which uses qualitative methodology, since it aims to understand, describe and analyze students' perceptions about good teaching. The study adopted this methodological option since it aimed to approach the subjective understanding that the subjects have in relation to a fact, event, situation, theme, that is, how the students mean, represent and in some way give meaning to the teaching good teachers (Bailey & Bailey, 2017; Flick, 2018; Given, 2008). The case study method was utilized, which according to Crowe et al. (2011), is ideal to investigate the particularity of a singular case. The most important characteristic of a case study is that it makes an in-depth study of a situation, event or specific case, in such a way that its internal characteristics are mainly taken into account, but also the context in which it occurs (Gokbulut, Akcamete, & Güneyli, 2020; Harrison, Birks, Franklin, & Mills, 2017; Radley & Chamberlain, 2012). In the present investigation, the case examines a public high school in the province of Talca, Maule region, Chile, which has 2000 students and 65 teachers.
3.2. Data Collection Tool
Four focus groups were conducted with students from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade secondary education levels, in addition to four semi-structured interviews adhering to the orientations reported by Robinson (2020) and Kallio, Pietilä, Johnson, and Kangasniemi (2016). For the selection of the sample, the following inclusion criteria were considered: students belonging to the respective educational level, willingness to participate in the session, signature of assent and informed or consent by the proxies. The exclusion criteria were that the student should not belong to the corresponding level. In the first place, the four focus groups were carried out, followed by the interviews, with the purpose of delving into those aspects addressed only tangentially during the group discussion. The data was not triangulated, but rather analyzed from a complex perspective, that is, the transcripts of the focus groups and interviews were incorporated into the Nvivo 11 software. The study data were collected during the months of March and May of the year 2021 and before the data collection; the researchers obtained written informed consent of all participants. The confidentiality of the names of participants was guaranteed taking into account their privacy and voluntary participation. The participants were informed about the purposes of the research and their authorization was requested to record the interview in order to safeguard the ethical aspects of the study, according to the Declaration of Helsinki. In this regard, it should be noted that the project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universidad Católica del Maule vide Act No. 255/2020. The focus groups and interviews were carried out through the Zoom application, due to the health emergency that the country was going through, with an average duration of 60 minutes.
3.3. Analysis of Data
For the treatment of the data, content analysis method was chosen (Graneheim, Lindgren, & Lundman, 2017; Vaismoradi, Turunen, & Bondas, 2013), which comprised three activity streams: the condensation of the data, the presentation of the data and the elaboration / verification of conclusions. The data were analyzed using the inductive logic of theoretical categorization, which was based on categorization as the main data analytical tool. The data analysis aimed at theorizing through operations and leading to theoretical construction (Morse, 2015; Silverman, 2014), This process was assisted by the NVivo 11 program. The research team conducted this stage in the following sequence: i) the data was reviewed in its entirety in an open manner, trying to answer the question “what do the data tell us?” The collected information was grouped into six classificatory categories that later evolved with certain predefined codes; ii) In the second phase, connections were established between the codes in order to construct descriptive, and explanatory categories. These categories have been detailed in the results section of this study; iii) In the last phase, the data analysis corresponded to the theoretical elaboration, whose purpose was to produce an explanatory framework that allowed understanding the perception of students of good teachers.
The matrix presented below in Table 1 specifies the mega category, which focuses on the perception of good secondary school teachers. Two primary categories emerge from it, which show the main scenario, where their knowledge is developed: Teaching attributes and Personal characteristics. From here, the secondary categories emerge, which are presented according to the codification given to the primary documents.
Table-1. Data systematization matrix and descriptors.
| Mega-category | Primary Category | Descriptor | Secondary Category |
| Perception of a Good High School Teacher | Teaching attributes | Category that refers to the attributes that good teachers possess from the students' perspective | Pedagogical knowledge Disciplinary knowledge Teaching strategies |
| Personal characteristics | Category that addresses the personal characteristics that high school students value in good teachers | Classroom attitude Motivation for teaching Affective-emotional bond |
Next, the description and interpretation of the categories obtained from the analysis of the interviews was presented, as well as the units of analysis (which were extracted from the reports), to account for the category obtained. Each story presented had a code that expressed the following nomenclature: Focus Group (FG); Interview (I); Number (N °) Page (P).
4.1. Primary Category: "Attributes of Teaching" - Secondary Category: Pedagogical Knowledge
In the pedagogical knowledge category, the interviewed students express that a good teacher must have pedagogical support at the time of teaching when they report the following:
“The best teacher I have ever had is in mathematics, and I felt as the subject he explained, not only explained it, but lived it, like he felt it a lot, and he made it come to me, and I'm not good at math. He made us do different exercises with many analogies and examples, and it was fun to do more than just understand and listen to the formula” (FG, N°1, P3)
"For me, the best teacher is the one who knows how to teach the subject, and who implements different strategies so that his students learn. I do not think that a teacher or someone who is an expert in the subject will be of much worth without knowing how to teach it. It requires a teacher with a lot of pedagogy so that we understand the subject” (I, N°4, P5)
"I like the chemistry teacher, who not only teaches theory, for example, she tells us when you light a match, this happens because it is a reaction. The teacher uses many examples from daily life to teach us her subject, it is not only something theoretical, but one can relate it to things that one does on a day-to-day basis, to me she is an excellent teacher” (I, N°1, P3)
From these stories emerged the facts that the domain in the pedagogical field allowed the teacher to display a more pertinent and contextualized knowledge, in such a way that the content was understandable to them, even more so in those subjects from the field of science. In this sense, good teachers made the connection to help high school students understand the meaning of the content of the lesson and its connection with the school.
4.2. Primary Category: "Attributes of Teaching" - Secondary Category: Disciplinary Knowledge
In the disciplinary knowledge category, the interviewed students expressed that a good teacher must have an adequate mastery of the subject he taught. He ought to give his students confidence in knowledge, an issue that is reflected in the following stories:
“Last year I had a history teacher who was good in the subject, very good, she always worked with guides, and she knew all the dates, all the names, as she told us the story with many details. You can see that she knew her subject in depth, and answered all our questions” (I. N°2, P7)
“For me, good teachers should be sure of what they teach; they should know the subject completely, from front to back. That is what I like about teachers, about good teachers, because there are some who are not sure of what they say, and simply repeat what is in the book, they repeat what comes out there, without delving into anything "(FG, N°3, P4)
“My language teacher was a real fun, she explained her subject well, and she knew it backward and forward. You could tell that she knew her subjects so well that she could even talk about university topics. She was an expert on her subject, she was among the teachers that I really feel I value, who have a lot of knowledge of what they teach” (FG. N°2, P1).
As a testimony of the stories narrated by students, their perception was unanimous when they said that good teachers must master the subject they teach, since this pedagogical characteristic generated in students confidence and security to face learning positively. In addition, it promoted trust and positive relationships that strengthen the teacher-student relationship. This also proves that the teaching process implemented by the teacher generated greater credibility and meaning to secondary school students.
4.3. Primary Category: "Attributes of Teaching" - Secondary Category: Teaching Strategies
In the teaching strategies category, students reported that good teachers developed a teaching practice of first orienting them about the subject. The objective was to help students learn the contents they teach. These good teachers used methods that generated positive experiences around their learning, as expressed below:
“A teacher, at least what I consider to be good, is when the teacher understands that not all 45 students learn at the same pace, and at the same speed. He understands me, so it can take anyone a minute to learn the subject, and another It can cost him two classes. He understands me, and when a teacher understands that, and cares about it too, there I consider him a good teacher” (FG, N°4, P9).
“The same thing happens to my partner, at least I understand much more with examples from everyday life, normally things are taught with particles, and in life we are going to have a situation where we have to handle particles? Instead, if they change it for a ball or something like that, it will be much easier to understand it, and I say it with an example of physics. Physics is especially difficult for me, I prefer the teacher who teaches me from the reality of life and that he is capable of teaching with different options” (I, N°3, P5).
"I would prefer a teacher who uses different techniques or as ways of learning. It is not worth knowing the subject by heart, or understanding many things if you do not enjoy knowing what you know, then a teacher who helps me to like the subject I am learning, and being interested is much better, because it creates an interest in my learning; in what I want to learn” (I. N°2, P8).
The interviewed participants realized that their teacher is teaching strategies made them interested in the content delivered and provoked interest in them. The teacher used different forms of representation and formulation of the content, made it understandable. This entails that a young person gets interested, and likes what the teacher shares from his or her disciplinary expertise.
4.4. Primary Category: "Personal characteristics" - Secondary Category: Attitude in the classroom
In the category attitude in the classroom, students reported that the teacher's attitude in the classroom was essentially required to generate adequate learning processes, since disposition is a quality that students value in a good teacher, a question that is reflected in the following stories:
“A history teacher that I had from 1st to 3rd grade. What made it different is that she showed a lot that she loved history, whenever she talked about history, it was obvious that she liked to teach, always positive, with the attitude of getting many things ahead to us. When one has doubts and sees that the teacher does not have a very good attitude, they do not want to ask or perhaps, they are afraid of how they can answer, then the attitude and approach of the teacher is essential towards the class and towards the students” (I, N°4, P1).
“For me something super important is the attitude and passion that the teacher puts in during teaching. For example, a lot happens to me in philosophy, that I do not know how I listen to the teacher speak, and how they talk that makes me connect to the class fast. When he says this happened to me yesterday and what we are seeing can be applied in such real-life situations, not be so strict and let go, not be so structured.” (FG, N°2, P5).
"I consider that more than anything it is to let go, not to be very strict and very square, for example. Explaining the subject and suddenly telling a joke, like that one as one student thinks: Ah, this teacher is not so angry, this teacher is like loser. In giving examples, she would say that: this happened to me yesterday and that we can apply it as it happened, she would not be so strict and let go, not so much to became friends but not be so structured too” (I, N°1, P2).
The interviewed high school students reported that the attitude factor of good teachers was evident in their actions. The students valued an attitude that favors the encounter, the closeness, the empathy in the pedagogical relationship. When the attitude category was considered in the classroom, the students referred to the teacher being close, an accessible person, with whom it was possible to dialogue and with whom the students were not afraid to ask, with a willingness to listen to him and to take off learning.
4.5. Primary Category: “Personal Characteristics” - Secondary Category: Motivation for Teaching:
In the category motivation to teach, the student’s report aimed at highlighting those aspects associated with the motivating role played by the good teacher. This would be a fundamental factor to generate adequate learning in the classroom, by presenting the following testimonies:
“There are teachers who motivate you. In a certain way, I study to be able to follow the conversation in class. For example, it is good to know what they teach because it is interesting, and if a teacher likes to do classes like that, one likes to be in the class too, you get motivated” (FG, N°3, P10).
“The biology teacher gets along well with the course because he talks to us as peers. His classes are like conversations, and he accepts many questions and he asks many questions. I feel that in general, this makes the course interesting with him as he motivate all the students with his class, because we need someone to motivate us to learn” (FG, N°1, P10).
“I think that the most important thing in a good teacher is the motivation with which they arrive to class. I understand that we are human, that you cannot be in the same spirit all day, and even less they who are from 8 o'clock the morning until 7 in the afternoon. But for example, the fact that they arrive with good motivation, that they greet us, that they show interest, that later they tell us that they can consult, that one feels that they have confidence with that teacher, or during the class to be able to ask you something you did not understand ”(I, N°3, P8).
In these different stories of high school students, it is observed that teacher motivation was essential, since the teacher was a generator of emotions and dynamics. A motivated teacher was a fundamental piece in the rules of teaching, since he was more likely to create students who were passionate about the subject he teaches. A motivated teacher increases the chances of a happy classroom, positively influencing the lives of students, as shown in the preceding stories.
4.6. Primary Category: "Personal Characteristics" - Secondary Category: Affective-Emotional Bond
In the affective-emotional bond category, the report of secondary school students was related to recognizing the relevance of generating a close-based pedagogical relationship. This allowed a relationship of respect and trust between teachers and students, as expressed in the following stories:
“I believe that apart from the theoretical and subject management by a good teacher, the bond that exists with the students is important for me. As an example, right now with this topic of online classes, it is not necessary for the teacher to be present and the students to remain silent throughout the class, or do not participate. It is only something by protocol, but there is a connection, an affective bond between teacher and student and that is closer” (FG, N°4, P7).
“I liked that some teachers care a lot about us, not so much about our grades, but about our learning, and how we are emotionally with this pandemic, because then a different, closer relationship is generated, more than trust” (I, N 3, P1).
“I can say that good teachers are the ones who care about us in the affective part. It is also very important so that we can learn in class. Good teachers care beyond taking the class or passing the subject; they worry about how we live and what happens to us on a daily basis” (GF, N°1, P2).
Thinking about the affective-emotional bond in a high school classroom means considering the characteristics and current reality of the space where this relationship unfolds, that is, the High School. This is an important place for teachers during the educational process. This invites students to investigate from the students' point of view to understand how they described, and how they positioned themselves in the face of this link, since this relationship allowed the student to grow as a person, together with their teacher. Consequently, in the report of the investigated subjects, the need for a connection was visualized, and for a close bond to generate the necessary trust from the affection that favors the students' learning.
In the present study, the first category emerged was the Attributes of Teaching, in which the key informants revealed the aspects associated with Pedagogical Knowledge, Disciplinary Knowledge and Teaching Mastery in those who were qualified as good teachers. In this scenario, a "good teacher" was the one who taught effectively and adapted their teaching to the context. There was a pertinent issue that implied that the teacher constantly reflected and reconstructed his teaching strategies, moved away from a role linked to the uncritical transmission of knowledge and approached a work oriented towards the guidance and generation of training environments.
In these environments, the students were able to create and build their own learning, diversify methodological strategies and individualize teaching based on the particularities of their students (Devine et al., 2013; Keeley, Ismail, & Buskist, 2016; Kennedy, 2016; Marcelo. & Vaillant, 2019). Knowing something allowed us to teach it, and to know a content in depth meant being mentally organized and well prepared to teach it was a general way, a question that was widely investigated by the authors who worked on the notion of pedagogical knowledge of content (Chan & Yung, 2018; Gess-Newsome et al., 2019; König & Kramer, 2016; Shulman, 2005). In this line and according to Tardif (2013), the teaching profession required knowledge of different epistemologies. Consequently, there was erudite knowledge linked to scientific knowledge, which was included in university disciplines and required to be transposed into school curricula, technical knowledge, knowledge of action, skills, and subjective knowledge. This marked human interactions and characterized teaching as work on others. The ways of acquiring this knowledge range from theoretical training to experiences acquired through work and personal life.
Thus, it can be concluded that "good teachers" are constituted over time, when they are allowed to live their experiences in integration with knowledge of others. They achieve the necessary competencies and demonstrate good pedagogical practice in secondary classroom, which is consistent the research of Akyeampong (2017); Capel et al. (2013); Darling-Hammond (2017); Dibaei-Saber et al. (2020). From the perspective of transferring knowledge to students, "good teachers" need to integrate a solid theoretical, disciplinary and pedagogical training with enriching experiences of their practice and of their own subjectivity. The performance of a "good teacher" is associated with the mastery of a group of specific contents for this purpose and the ways of transmitting them, to favor the best results in the learning processes with their students (Devine et al., 2013; Gitomer & Zisk, 2015; Großschedl et al., 2015; Ida, 2017; Kind & Chan, 2019).
The foregoing discussion is consistent with the findings of the present study, since secondary school students value the pedagogical knowledge of their teachers. They use different teaching strategies as examples, analogies and illustrations, hand in hand with a solid knowledge of the subject they teach. This reflects an excellent command of teaching which the fundamental attribute of good teaching is.
The reports of the second primary category called Personal Characteristics reflected the state of three factors: Attitude in the Classroom; Motivation to Teach; and Affective-emotional bond. In this line, the role played by the teacher was fundamental, since the teaching is a personal and professional commitment. It involves a series of behaviors, attitudes, values, social relationships and emotions that must be taken into account day by day while practicing pedagogy. The main objective should be to go beyond the delivery of knowledge and content, so that the student can transcend their personal and social development, as it is exposed in the studies of Calogiannakis and Wolhuter (2015); Miller-First and Ballard (2017); Stronge (2018). In this context, the performance of the "good teacher" is associated with the fact of dealing with diversity in the classroom, in the search for the selection of contents and strategies that can integrate the objectives of secondary education, considering the multiple interests of the students. Consequently, the motivating role of the teacher is an important challenge, since the subjectivity of the training role tends to distance young people from the meaning of school and knowledge (Han & Yin, 2016; Vibulphol, 2016).
The personal characteristics of a good teacher emerges in the context of a professional socialization, in which they are incorporated, modified, adapted according to various periods and stages of their career. A few studies report that a good teacher learns to teach by doing his or her work in the classroom (Da Silva-Cruz, 2020; Darling-Hammond, 2017; Grant-Vallone & Ensher, 2017; Jin et al., 2019). Consequently, a set of experiential knowledge is acquired in the daily work of teaching, adequately articulating theory and practice. Good teachers are constituted over time, when they are allowed to live their experiences in integration with other knowledge, to achieve the necessary competences that teaching demands today. This is consistent with the reports of König and Kramer (2016); Korthagen (2010); Marcelo and Vaillant (2012); Paolini (2015); Tardif (2013).
The teaching process is composed of the complex relationship between a teacher and his students. The teacher must have social skills and use them in favor of achieving better learning results. The teacher must also create a welcoming classroom climate that encourages participatory work and reflection (Capel et al., 2013; Dibaei-Saber et al., 2020; Etscheidt, Curran, & Sawyer, 2012; Graham, Greg, & Hastings, 2013; Hofer, 2017; Vettori & Warm, 2017). The teacher manifests a trustworthy or empathic attitude, which are qualities that are repeated in the discourse of the investigated subjects. These qualities are aligned with the motivational aspects and the affective-emotional bond that good teachers generate in the secondary school classroom. It is therefore well understood that teaching involves a positive interaction between a teacher and a group of students who attend their classes to train as people.
There is no single and exclusive reference to reflect on the effective action of good secondary school teachers. The characteristics of a "good teacher" are identified, and associated with the multiple pedagogical practices recognized as successful. Attention is also given to the different forms of teaching. The greater or lesser teaching skill emphasizes the experiential and relational knowledge of a teacher as well as the aspects related to the initial and continuous training of teachers. Through this study, it was possible to identify approaches in relation to a series of characteristics of "good teachers", especially with regard to questions of mastery of content, the need to master the subject and teaching strategies. The importance of attitude in the classroom, motivation displayed in students, and the affective-emotional ties established with the students are a few factors in a teaching-learning process. In the second phase of analysis, the need to have secondary school teachers require teachers to have an adequate mastery of the content. This characteristic allows the articulation of knowledge from professional and disciplinary training, with the experience built throughout their career path. On the other hand, the personal characteristics in this study are configured as a category that defines the good teacher as a reliable, sociable, close, empathic and an understanding person. All characteristics show that the role of teachers, which was a part of the context investigated, did not end once it students are outside the high school, but goes beyond these limits and involves the day-to-day life operations performed by a good teacher.
Among the limitations of the study is the need to increase the size of the sample, since the participants of this study belonged only to one educational establishment. Regarding projections, the study provides useful background for comparison with research in different international contexts, in order to understand how the secondary school students represent the characteristics and attributes of good teaching by teachers, which is expected during initial and in-service teacher training lead to the establishment of long-term development policies.
| Funding: The research was thankfully made possible with the support of the "FID UCM 1897”, project of the Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile. |
| Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. |
| Acknowledgement: All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study. |
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