A Descriptive Analysis of Good Teaching and Good Teachers from the Perspective of Preservice Teachers.

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine what good teaching is and what characteristics good teachers carry for preservice teachers who were registered in an introductory teaching class at a land-grant university in Midwest, USA. Participants included 18 teacher candidates. I collected the data by conducting semi-structured interviews with the participants. The findings of the study indicate that good teaching is (1) creative, (2) studentcentered, (3) stimulative, (4) relevant, (5) adaptable, and (6) challenging. Similarly, the findings also reveal that good teachers (1) build personal relationships with their students, (2) mentor their students, (3) are enthusiastic, (4) respect their students, and (5) are experts in their field. Based on the findings of the study, I argue that the conception of good teaching and good teachers that emerged from this study is congruent with other teaching frameworks such as culturally relevant teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]