What makes a good teacher great? | Azul Terronez | TEDxSantoDomingo

Come this: come experts, remember? Content experts. What if we hire

teacher

s not to be deep in content, custodians of knowledge, but to be deep in student understanding? How will our schools change and transform? But no wonder students don't care or

teacher

s don't listen. Because they never thought about it, but

what

if we listen? We spend three years of a student's life teaching them to read. And about 12 years of his life to teach them to write. And if they're lucky, they'll find a little time to learn public speaking. We find that they do not receive any education in listening skills.

The end result is zero. Think about it. When was the last time you were at a dinner party and someone asked you, "What is your job?" The answer was: "Listening skills teachers. Do I teach advanced listening skills in high school, listening communication skills, or beginning listening comprehension in elementary school?" We don't see any of that. However, because we don't believe in the importance of this in schools, listening is one of the most important skills at work and in life. But we don't teach it. We need to listen to our students. The future is in front of us in our classrooms.

Maya Angelou, Mother Teresa, Elon Musk. Can you imagine if we took the time to ask these students, "What

makes

a

great

teacher?" And if we listen to them, we can change schools and education. Thank you. (applause)