In the Lake Geneva region, where families often balance languages, cultures, and future university plans, the question “What makes a good teacher?” becomes more than philosophical. It becomes practical. 

This demands more questions such as: Which classrooms will help my child grow? Which teachers will notice when performance dips? Which adults will handle my child’s questions with seriousness and kindness?

I write this as an English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher, and as a parent living in Vaud with a 16 year‑old daughter. My career has included classroom teaching, testing and marking thousands of candidates in speaking and writing for the British Council, and creating communications content for international organizations. As I reflect on my career over more than two decades, I share here what I think a good teacher is and how teachers should aspire to be.

Clarity

Good teachers are clear. For multilingual learners, clarity is kindness. If a child is working in their second or third language, ambiguity becomes a hidden barrier. A good teacher helps explain new language unambiguously, with support if necessary, so that the student’s thinking can shine through.

Attentive care

Parents often talk about whether a teacher is “caring.” Children often talk about whether a teacher “actually cares if I get better.” In fact, both are important and form the foundation of good teaching. Students respond powerfully to this kind of attention. When children sense that an adult is invested in their improvement, they often work harder, not out of fear, but out of belonging.

A supportive environment

Many parents have experienced tough teaching in their own learning journeys. This takes the form of sarcasm, public correction, or “motivational” pressure. I remember having a teacher we called ‘Mr. Z’ who once threw a piece of chalk at a student in anger. We now understand that aggressive environments may produce compliance, but often at reduced learning.

Good teachers:

• Correct without humiliation;

• Maintain boundaries without raising the emotional temperature;

• Create routines that reduce anxiety;

• Intervene early when peer dynamics become unkind.

This matters especially for teenagers. Adolescence is a time of heightened sensitivity to social risk. In an aggressive classroom, teenagers protect themselves by withdrawing, pretending not to care, or becoming disruptive. In a supportive classroom, they are more willing to try, fail, and try again. This is the only way learning actually happens.

Letting students work things out for themselves

One of the most important skills a teacher can develop is the ability to step back at the right moment. Good teachers (and for that matter good parents) do not rescue students too quickly. They design learning so that students struggle productively by working things out, making sense of confusion, and gaining ownership over understanding.

This is different from leaving students to flounder. Productive struggle requires scaffolding. A good teacher might:

• Ask a better question instead of giving the answer;

• Provide hints;

• Offer a model after students have attempted the task;

• Teach students how to check their own work;

• Provide feedback that improves the work and improves the learner.

Ever since I have studied different teaching theories, I’ve been a big fan of task-based learning. This study style is important because it aligns with how language acquisition is now understood to happen: through purposeful activity, social interaction, reflection, and growing learner autonomy, rather than through passive transmission of knowledge.

When students work something out for themselves, the learning sticks. They develop self-efficacy: the belief that they can solve problems. That belief matters as much as any curriculum because it carries into new subjects, new schools, and later life.

High expectations with realistic pathways

Good teachers hold high expectations. They do not lower the bar to be kind. But they also do not confuse high expectations with fast pace or constant pressure. They build realistic pathways for students to reach.

In multilingual settings, a student may have sophisticated ideas but limited language. A good teacher assesses the thinking while teaching the language needed to express that thinking.

Partnership with parents

Parents want to be partners, but they often feel shut out. There is an immense amount of trust that parents place in their child’s teachers. A good teacher communicates early and clearly. They share not only what a child is doing, but what the child is learning and how parents can help.

Good communication is also honest. 

It congratulates successes and does not catastrophize or sugarcoat weaknesses. 

It frames challenges as solvable and provides concrete next steps.

Humility: the teacher who keeps learning

Finally, good teachers keep learning. They reflect on lessons, and ask, “what can I change to improve reaching lesson goals – to maximize learning?” They participate in professional training days, they read up about advances in our understanding of pedagogy (the theory and practice of learning) and paedology (the study of children’s behavior and development).

When adults look back on school, they rarely remember the worksheet they did in class. They remember how a teacher made them feel. Good teachers create classrooms where children are challenged, supported, and respected. They allow students to work things out for themselves, they care about improvement, and they hold high standards.

For parents choosing schools in Geneva and Vaud, the most important question may therefore be simple: “Will my child be taught by adults who are skilled and kind?” When the answer is yes, children tend to learn more, worry less, and grow into confident learners.

As a parent, I have seen how supportive teachers have encouraged my daughter’s relationship with schooling. Likewise, as a teacher myself, I do not expect my students to stand on their desks one day and say ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ as they did so memorably in support of their teacher (played by Robin Williams) in the film Dead Poets Society. As long as they leave having learned something, enjoyed learning, and can build on that, I’ve done my job.