Motivating People to Want to learn

A NEW STUDY indicates that great teachers have a profound impact on people and society, in more ways than we ever thought possible. Its no secret that good teachers make a big difference, everyone knows that, but that they do so in every aspect of the future lives of their fortunate students is eye opening. In every way, economically, health wise, level of happiness, people who had the good fortune to study under excellent teachers fare better for having done so, far beter than those who were less fortunate, and had fewer good teachers. A good teacher is like a good salseman or politician; whatever you are trying to sell, you are selling yourself, and you must sell yourself, in order to sell whatever it is you wish to sell. Great teachers tend to be unconventional, full of life and personality, and extremely fun. Effective teaching, much like high volume sales, or corporate advancement, social status, or winning elections, is largely a matter of personality, not education or intellegence. Those latter two one can fake; with personality, one either has it, or doesn't. Sometimes it almost seems as if the most potentially high quality teachers choose not to enter the teaching profession. You see them all the time; people full of personality who seem to enjoy explaining things. It almost seems the way we choose and train teachers discourages the kind of creative classroom personality so impoartant in motivating people to want to learn. Above all, a great teachers must be a good actor, a good entertainer, attracting the attention of students, and engaging them, on the teacher's terms, with latent student permission. Sometimes the kids who dyed their hair blue in high school make the best teachers.