Perception of the good teacher from the perspective of Arab students in the elementary, secondary, and high school in the Arab society within the Green Line
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Abstract
What constitutes a good teacher is an archetypal concept that features the topic of various philosophical and educational theories that express an ideal. However, in actual fact, it is made up of many qualities and a variety of contents (e.g., Reichel & Arnon, 2009; Rusu, Soitu, & Panaite, 2011). This study is unique in its investigation and comparison of the perceptions of 'a good teacher' among Arab Palestinian students (n = 500 from inside the green line) at different levels of schooling. Interestingly, students at each level of schooling emphasized a particular characteristic as a criterion for being a good teacher. Specifically, professional, interpersonal, and moral characteristics played a central role in designing their perceptions. Students in elementary school focused on interpersonal characteristics in perceiving the "good teacher", and the secondaryschool students sought professionalism and moral characteristics. However, students in the middle school showed the same trend in all three dimensions of the good teacher. Further, all Arab students at all levels of schooling perceived 'treating students fairly and equally' as an important characteristic of a good teacher. Student gender did not play any role in their perception of the good teacher. This research has important implications for the teaching profession, student learning and motivation, and teacher–student relations, and for the Israeli educational system with its ramifications for the process of teacher training in Israel.