What Makes a Good Teacher? Voices of Estonian Students

The dynamic of relationships between teachers and students has been of particular significance since cooperative learning became recognized as a most supportive environment for studies. This led the authors to the idea of studying a target group of students (N = 972) to find out how often they noticed and perceived quality instruction and how they described good teachers in their essays. Their research was based on hermeneutical analysis of these essays. The criteria for interpretative analysis were teacher as a person; teacher as a skilled professional; and teacher as an ethical person and professional. The statements provided by students allow wider reflections on organization of teachers' pre-and inservice training. The personal characteristics and professional skills and activities the students highlighted deserve attention as expected traits and competencies for which teachers could aspire while building cumulative knowledge and pedagogical capability across the profession in order to develop educational excellence. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]