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WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING?

Key characteristics of successful teaching from a teaching research perspective

There are numerous principles which, if observed, demonstrably render teaching more successful and effective. The most important of these are briefly summarized in this chapter with reference to the findings of the renowned teaching researchers John Hattie and Andreas Helmke, as well as the teaching expert Hilbert Meyer. By bringing together in an overall appraisal the teaching principles which Hattie, Helmke, and Meyer consider learning effective, a broad pedagogical consensus is presented, which reflects not only the German-speaking debate but does justice to the international discussion as well.

The fact that the good method of teaching does not exist becomes immediately apparent if one asks a few simple questions: good for what, under what conditions, good for whom, good for when? These questions suggest that good teaching can only be described in a specific context which, in conjunction with a given situation, must constantly be defined anew by the teaching practitioners themselves – taking into consideration the perspectives of all concerned. This perspective should not lead to the misunderstanding that there are no quality characteristics for teaching. “No, there is no such thing as the right teaching method”, says Andreas Helmke, “but there certainly exist instructional quality characteristics which are absolutely and unquestionably valid, there are well-founded standards of teacher behavior, and there are important benchmarks of teacher expertise, about which there is a broad consensus.”1 These characteristics relate to the learning atmosphere on the one hand, and, on the other, to the motivation of the learners but ultimately to the didactic-methodological procedures. Although we address the latter group of characteristics more broadly than the first two, it would not be right to attribute to it a greater significance for successful teaching. Successful teaching is the result of a balanced mixture of an atmosphere conducive to learning, adequate motivation and methodological-didactic know-how.

Most of the twelve characteristics considered will be easily identifiable in the follow-up discussions of the later chapters. For those interested in a more intensive discussion, there are suggestions for further self-study. With a digression to learning objectives and competences, several terms which are important for teacher education are briefly discussed. They should also be part of a general discussion as a link to the teaching methodology.