What is a natural teacher? Can you teacher a teacher to teach? These are two questions I often think about because I truly believe in the "something special" aspect of effective teaching of natural teachers and wonder if that can be taught. How effective can an un-natural teacher actually be?
I have come to the conclusion that every teacher can be effective and that teaching can be taught. However, I think teachers/administrators/theorists/etc. must recognize the ranges of effective teachers; not everyone is going to be the best teacher; natural teachers are going to naturally be better than others when putting their best step forward.
I also want to say that I completely disagree with the book when they say that effective teachers often come out of a successful lesson thinking about what they did wrong, and how this is unproductive. I believe that a natural teacher accepts their ability and accomplishments but refuses to accept mediocracy and realizes that there is always room for improvement. A great lesson can always be a better lesson. Natural teachers naturally see how things can be better, and this to me is very productive.
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I think a reflective teacher isn't one who thinks about what they did wrong. A reflective teacher is one who considers what was learnt that lesson, and how the lesson could have been improved. However it's easy to talk about reflective teaching but show me the teacher who has the time to be reflective about every lesson. I know that after an 8 period day I'm lucky if I can stand, let alone reflect.
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