Middle school students described preferred teachers in terms not unlike those used by Carl Rogers in his depiction of the client centered therapist or the person centered teacher. A characterization of the preferred or ideal teacher was derived from a content analysis of 1,305 students' statements. The young adolescents, ages 12 to 14 years, represented the preferred teacher as good-humored and non-threatening ("nice' was the most frequently used term); easy to talk to, willing to listen to his or her students (communicates well); as being fair, showing neither prejudice nor favoritism (accepting); and as respecting student needs, as providing a caring supportive atmosphere in the classroom (empathic support). Some gender differences were found: boys showed a stronger preference for male teachers than girls and girls' statements tended to be 50 percent longer than boys.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Blyth, D. A.
, Simmons, R. G., & Carlton-Ford, S. (1983). The adjustment of early adolescents to school transitions. Journal of Early Adolescence, 3, 105-120.
2.
Broudy, H. S.
(1975). Three modes of teaching and their evaluation. In W. J. Gephart, R. B. Ingle, & G. Saretsky (Eds.), Report of the evaluation of teaching. National Symposium for Professors of Educational Research. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa.
3.
Bybee, R.
(1975). The ideal elementary science teacher; Perceptions of children's preservice and inservice elementary science teachers. School Science and Mathematics, 75, 229-325.
4.
Cangemi, J. P.
(1976). How culturally different gifted and creative students perceive their teachers. The Learning House, 419-420.
5.
Combs, A. W.
(1981). What the future demands of education. Phi Delta Kappan, 62, 369-372.
6.
Coward, R. J.
, Davis, J. K., & Wichern, R. L. (1978). Cognitive style and perceptions of the ideal teacher. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 3, 232-238.
7.
Elkind, D.
(1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025-1033.
8.
Gage, N. L.
(1963). A method for improving teacher behavior. Journal of Teacher Education, 14, 261-266.
9.
Gardner, L. H.
(1980). Racial, ethnic and social class considerations in psychotherapy supervision. In A. K. Hess (Ed.), Psychotherapy supervision: Theory, research and practice (pp. 474-508). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
10.
Ginott, H. G.
(1972). Teacher and child. New York: Macmillan.
11.
Goodlad, J. I.
(1984). A place called school. New York: McGraw-Hill.
12.
Haak, R. A.
, Kleiber, D. A., & Peck, R. (1972). Student evaluation of teacher instrument II. Austin: University of Texas, Research and Development Center for Teacher Education.
13.
Krippendorf, K.
(1980). Content Analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
14.
Langs, R. J.
(1980). Supervision and the bipersonal field. In A. K. Hess (Ed.), Psychotherapy supervision: Theory, research and practice (pp. 103-125). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
15.
Lipsitz, J. S.
(1980). The age group. In M. Johnson (Ed.), Toward adolescence: the middle school year Seventy-ninth yearbook of the NSSE (pp. 7-31). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
16.
Lipsitz, J. S.
(1981). Educating the early adolescent. American Education, 13-17.
17.
McEwin, C. K.
& Cross, A. H. (1982). A comparative study of perceived victimization, perceived anonymity, self-esteem, and preferred teacher characteristics of gifted and talented and non-labeled early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 2, 247-254.
18.
Orlinsky, E. D.
, & Howard, K. I. (1978). The relation of process to outcome in psychotherapy. In S. L. Garfield and A. E. Bergin (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change: An empirical analysis (pp. 283-329). New York: John Wiley.
19.
Peterson, K.
& Mayes, B. (1981). Ideal teacher behavior perceptions of science students: Success, gender, course. School Science and Mathematics, 81, 315-321.
20.
Phillips, G.
& Kantor, C. (1984). Mutuality in psychotherapy supervision. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 21, 178-183.
21.
Rogers, C.
(1983). Freedom to learn for the '80&Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
22.
Ryans, D. G.
(1960). Characteristics of teachers: Their description, comparison and appraisal. Washington, DC: American Council of Education.
23.
Samuels, D. D.
& Griffore, R. J. (1980). Students' perceptions of the characteristics of "good teachers."Journal of Instructional Psychology, 7, 28 - 34.
24.
Sizemore, R.
(1981). Do black and white students look for the same characteristics in teachers?Journal of Negro Education, 50, 48-53.
25.
Sweeting, L. M.
, Willower, D. J., & Helsel, A. R. (1978). Teacher pupil relationships: Black students' perceptions of actual and ideal teachers. Urban Education, 13, 71-81.
26.
Thornburg, H. D.
(1983a). Can educational systems respond to the needs of early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 3, 23-36.
27.
Thomburg, H. D.
(1983b). Is early adolescence really a stage of development?Theory Into Practice, 22, 79-84.
28.
Thomburg, H. D.
(1982). The total early adolescent in contemporary society. High School Journal, 65, 272-278.
29.
Thornburg, H. D.
& Glider, P. (1984). Dimensions of early adolescent social perceptions and preferences. Journal of Early Adolescence, 4, 387-406.
30.
Truaz, C. B.
& Carkoff, R. R. (1967). Toward effective counseling and psychotherapy. Chicago: Aldine.
31.
Veldman, D. J.
& Peck, R. F. (1963). Student teacher characteristics from the students' viewpoint. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 346 - 355.
32.
Weinstein, R. S.
(1983). Student perceptions of schooliing. The Elementary School Journal, 83, 287-312.
33.
Wright, R.
& Alley, R. (1977). A profile of the ideal black teacher. NAASP Bulletin, 61, 60-64.
