A Reflective Report on Teacher Enthusiasm

【Abstract】A 25-minute interview was conducted on a TESOL MA student， Sarah （Alias） to study teacher enthusiasm. This reflective report discusses the qualities of being an enthusiastic teacher， the differences between enthusiastic teachers and unenthusiastic ones and the desirable level of enthusiasm.

【Key words】teacher enthusiasm; reflective report

【作者簡介】尤依萍，南京师范大学苏州实验学校高中部。

Having intrinsic interest for the subject area is one of the common qualities of an enthusiastic teacher. The passion for the subject can help teachers develop better pedagogy and enable students to study efficiently. Enthusiastic teachers always spend time studying new knowledge and revising and updating their teaching materials. During the class， they will create a positive environment and come up with more efficient ways to motivate students to study. When Sarah described the enthusiastic teacher in her high school， she mentioned that， “She always tried to design so many class activities for us， making the learning process not that boring”. Though she still had to do lots of homework due to the college entrance examination， she still had interesting class activities such as “self-learning” and “peer learning” which were different from the traditional ones. And later she added that， “For one thing， I think they do motivate students. They will have students feel more confident， more willing to learn the language， more willing to speaking， to communicate in the language， and feel less pressure， less anxiety on speaking with a target language”. In addition， it is likely that teacher enthusiasm will have great positive effects on students learning. Sarah said that she achieved good grades because of this enthusiastic teacher. Therefore， students can actually benefit from teachers better teaching methods and have satisfactory outcomes because of the teacher enthusiasm.

Comparing the enthusiastic teachers and the unenthusiastic ones， being responsible to students may be the biggest difference from students perspective. Having adequate knowledge about the subject area is essential for becoming a knowledgeable teacher， but is less of the concern of students. As Sarah said， she knows an unenthusiastic teacher who “has lots of techniques of teaching”， but “not that responsible for students”. From her point of view， being “not responsible for students” means “ignore your work” and “not concerned about how you learn， what you learn and what you can get from the classes”. She even commented some unenthusiastic teachers as “just want to get the money， get paid”. This is probably the worst comment that a teacher wants to hear. Teachers lack of enthusiasm， to be specific， being irresponsible for students， may not only demotivate students but also leave a very negative impression of the teacher as a person. Thus， it is important for teachers to have reflection of their teaching and behaviors from time to time and adjust their pedagogy if necessary. More importantly， teachers need to choose a motivational strategy for them in order to stay enthusiastic.

It becomes clear that being enthusiastic is essential for being a good teacher. Then arises another question — to what extent should a teacher be enthusiastic？ Sarah mentioned that some young teachers were too passionate to be organized during the teaching process. They tend to expand a lot on certain points. Students seem not to like those teachers. And she also experienced pressure from the enthusiastic teachers because “they will have expectation about students for being the same enthusiastic”. It can be a double-edged sword for students， either motivate students to work harder or stress them out. So it is advisable for new teachers to learn to show enthusiasm in a moderate level.

To summarize， enthusiastic teachers are those who are interested in the subject they teach and willing to spend time experimenting and providing interesting classes for students. They care about students learning process and give quick and precise feedback. And students are likely to be motivated by teacher enthusiasm and therefore achieve better results. However， facing students from different background， teachers need to adjust their way of expressing enthusiasm in order to be accepted by students.