究竟一位好老師，或者說適合當老師的人，應該具備什麼特質？我想到以前看過一份1945年英國教育部徵求教師的傳單，抄在這裡給大家參考
Teaching as a CareerA 1945 leaflet, Ministry of Education, UKTeaching is an exciting profession and though it can and does afford a happy and satisfying life to those who are well equipped for it by disposition and attainments, it is a misery for those who choose it and find that they have missed their vocation. This warning is necessary in the interest of the children in the schools as well as in the interests of those who are weighing the question of becoming teachers.
On the other hand it would be foolish to regard teaching as some ‘mystery’ profession which only the very elect should pursue. There is no ideal teacher and there is no list of select gifts which every teacher must possess. For instance, it is no doubt desirable for a teacher to be patient; but this does not mean that no impatient person ever became a good teacher. One thing however must be emphasised. The chief characteristic of all children and young people is that they are growing; growing in body, mind and spirit; and any adult who does not possess, and cannot acquire an understanding of this characteristic and an appreciation of what it means in the daily life of a school had certainly better give up the idea of teaching. Again, those to whom little children are, and are likely always to be, a perpetual exasperation should not dream of teaching them.
Every child should have a good general education, and in particular be able to read, write, speak, and listen to his language intelligently. A teacher must be an educated person. But this does not mean that he should necessarily have amassed a great amount of knowledge, though obviously he cannot teach what he does not understand. The hall-mark of a good teacher is that he is himself always learning and always developing his knowledge and understanding of children and young people. In short a teacher should be a person who because of his attitude to knowledge, to ideas, to his fellows and to life generally is better educated today than he was yesterday and will tomorrow be better educated than he is today.
我覺得第2段所說的，正是'sympathy & patience'；然而我也看到不少"it is a misery for those who choose it and find that they have missed their vocation."，只是為了一份安穩的工作而勉強自己繼續下去。最後一句話，"better educated today than he was yesterday and will tomorrow be better educated than he is today"，就是我們經常說的「日新又新」；學校是求知的場所，不能只要求學生'better educated'，老師自己卻不進步。
又想到教育部前一陣子的推動閱讀計畫，免不了得訂定指標，其中一項要求學生每年至少閱讀30本書；卻沒規定老師得讀多少本書，擺明了欺負弱勢者。學校閱讀風氣不盛，大家可以找出很多原因；我想這件事若真的這麼重要，就得從大人開始做起。如果大人常讀書，在和孩子互動之中，不經意就會分享從閱讀中得到的樂趣/知識，學生自然就會被吸引來讀書了，不必訂定什麼量化指標，進行形式化的檢核。
