Letter: Key qualities we want in our teachers

I've taught in primary education for more than 30 years, the last 12 as head at Dalmeny Primary in Edinburgh. I've worked alongside many very good teachers - some of them graduates and class teachers, others simply volunteers and support staff.

What makes a good teacher, I find, is, at the very least, a knowledge of the subject in hand, together with vitality to inspire learners. A very good teacher generally also has a combination of characteristics figuratively to be likened to the ability to keep a number of plates spinning on poles and an outstanding teacher is, in addition to all this, a learner themselves.

I have never believed a graduate profession would necessarily mean better teachers any more than I've thought that trainers, fresh from the armed forces or industry, would necessarily improve any standards apart from simple skills. Learners of any age learn best, it would seem, by being motivated, challenged and supported.

Ability to motivate doesn't come with a degree certificate and I've met qualified "teachers" who would have difficulty setting fire to the proverbial can of petrol.

Challenge requires empathy with the learner, knowing where the learner is already in their mental model and knowing how to get that learner to question their own world view. How many adults question their own ideas? How many of your readers who already know that the Moon is trapped by Earth's gravity and know (I hope) that it has a mass considerably in excess of the same volume of Wensleydale cheese (apologies Wallace and Gromit) nevertheless never question why said body doesn't fall from the sky?

Support requires plain, common-or-garden knowledge - I strongly suspect that you can't really help primary pupils understand our place in the galaxy if your own knowledge is still at a level that allows you to believe a star sign is a significant factor in anyone's life.

In the past, I've helped interview numbers of people for teaching posts and I look for abilities that I've hinted at above: knowledge, empathy, organisation and drive, ability to motivate and, above all, evidence that they themselves are still and will remain learners.

I continue to hold the belief that careful, thought-out selection and in-school training of our future teachers is key for primary education, not class size, not length of courses, not even qualification level. The Curriculum for Excellence will depend for its success on a level of professionalism measured by qualities of character rather than by degree, I think.

ROGER MEACHEM

Headteacher

Dalmeny Primary School Edinburgh