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Huang, Y.-C., & Lin, S.-H. (2014). Assessment of Charisma as a Factor in Effective Teaching.

Educational
Technology & Society, 17 (2), 284–295.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1cac/e429083b42207f7d5d79148a94e4654ae4c4.pdf

ABSTRACT

In order to advance the effectiveness of higher education, we concentrated attention on teachers’


classroom behaviours and aimed to develop an inventory for evaluating teacher’s charisma in college
settings. This study identified teacher characteristics that are indicators of teaching charisma and then
developed a teaching evaluation questionnaire based on these indicators. The exploratory factor
analysis and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a 23-item Inventory of Teaching Charisma in
College Classroom (ITCCC) that comprises four factors: knowledge, character traits, teaching techniques,
and humor. As opposed to the questionnaire widely used in higher education institutions in Taiwan that
mainly focuses on the evaluation of teacher’s teaching method or attitude, the new measure enables
college students to evaluate teacher’s teaching in terms of their charisma. An advantage of thus
instrument is that it has just a few items and is therefore easy to administer and to complete. It results
in good response rates from students and the analysis is straightforward, since the scores on the items
are simply summed to get the subscale scores. The results can serve as a basis for teachers to improve
these skills or qualities and may provide a framework to help teachers to increase their teaching
efficiency.

Keywords: Character traits, Humor, Knowledge, Teaching techniques

DEFINIȚIE teaching charisma = „It is common to hear that some teacher is so welcome or popular that
students like to attend his/her class. There may be some quality that deeply attracts students that not
all teachers possess. We call this teaching charisma. The meaning of charisma comes from the Greek
word translated as “gift,” suggesting that charismatic teachers have special gifts to distribute. It is
commonly thought that it is the pleasing personality of the charismatic person that is his/her greatest
gift (Raelin, 2006). We define teaching charisma as the positive behaviours of teacher, in the college
classroom, which can deeply attract students to learn. A charismatic teacher not only is good in
students’ perception but has appeal for students.” (pg. 285)

TRĂSĂTURI CHARISMATICE (CALITĂȚI) ALE PROFESORILOR ATESTATE DE STUDII ȘTIINȚIFICE:

„What are the essential qualities of a charismatic teacher? Certainly, he/she should have the
characteristics which are considered to be good or desired to students. Several researchers have
attempted to describe a good teacher or students’ desires regarding an ideal teacher. For example,
Greimel-Fuhrmann and Geyer (2003) pointed out that a good teacher should offer explanations, answer
questions, vary their teaching methods, and should be interested in and express concern for their
students and their learning progress. Brown (2004) indicated that competent teachers know their
subject, are willing to answer questions, are approachable, and also have a sense of humor. Gregory
(2011) suggested that students favor teachers who are demanding, yet helpful and attentive, and a class
that is strict, fair, and informative, and thereby perceive quality teaching and learning to comprise the
same. Most of students want teachers to be friendly, knowledgeable, well-organized, encouraging,
helpful, sympathetic, concerning for students’ individual needs, and strongly interested in the students’
learning (Andreson, 2000; Hill et al., 2003; Lammers & Murphy, 2002; Voss & Gruber, 2006). As revealed
from the above studies, in the eyes of students, there are several commonly held characteristics of good
teaching. We consider that these indicators are similarly essential for a charismatic teacher. First, he/she
is knowledgeable (Hill et al., 2003; Lammers & Murphy, 2002). It is an important attribute of teachers.
Teaching is a complicated practice that requires an interweaving of many kinds of specialized knowledge
(Koehler & Mishra, 2009). Scholars unanimously recognized that both subject matter knowledge and
pedagogical knowledge are crucial to good teaching (Shulman, 1986). Shulman (1986) suggested that
teaching expertise should be described and evaluated in terms of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK),
which concerns the manner in which teachers relate their subject matter knowledge to their
pedagogical knowledge. Central to Shulman’s conceptualization of PCK is the notion of the
transformation of the subject matter for teaching (Koehler & Mishra, 2009).

The study (Pozo-Munoz et al., 2000) concluded that competence is the by far most important
characteristic of ideal teachers. Teachers should have knowledge of their subject and be able to
communicate it clearly to their students (Voss & Gruber, 2006). Bain (2004) mentioned, in the book-
“What the Best College Teachers Do”, the outstanding teachers know their subjects extremely well.
More important, they know how to simplify and clarity complex subjects, to cut to the heart of the
matter with provocative insights, and they can think about their own thinking in the discipline, analyzing
its nature and evaluating its quality. Second, he/she has positive character traits such as friendliness,
approachability, patience and enthusiasm (Andreson, 2000; Greimel-Fuhrmann & Geyer, 2003; Hill et al.,
2003; Voss & Gruber, 2006). Teachers are expected to be good role models for the students, thus are
expected to possess high moral and ethical standards. Chou (1997) investigated the teacher-student
relationship and suggested that teachers should pay attention to the performance of the individual self.
Students expect teachers not to display unbecoming emotions in the classroom. Teacher’s behaviours
are always regarded as a model for students to imitate, thus students expect teachers to display
appropriate behaviours, especially in the aspect of morality. Hsiao (2009) pointed out, after interviewing
several outstanding teachers that their behaviours, attitudes, appearance, and character may influence
the image students perceive, and may even influence the interaction between teacher and student.
Third, he/she attaches importance to teaching methods (Greimel-Fuhrmann & Geyer, 2003; Voss &
Gruber, 2006). Research indicates that expert teachers have a large repertoire of teaching skills and
knowledge about when to use them (Stronge, 2002; Walls, Nardi, von Minden, & Hoffman, 2002). The
ability of teachers to choose the most suitable teaching method from a variety of teaching tools is
important to students as teachers can then offer interesting lessons, which results in students paying
better attention. Bain (2004) concluded that the best teachers use their knowledge to develop
techniques for grasping fundamental principles and organizing concepts that others can use to begin
building their own understanding and abilities. Effective teachers are more successful in their use of
classroom time, more organized, establish effective daily routines, and have successful classroom
management skills (Stronge, 2002).”

UMORUL PROFESORULUI:

A “sense of humor from the teacher” is always identified as an important factor that seriously influences
students’ learning, and might be considered as a strong indicator of a charismatic teacher. There is some
support for this assertion. Minchew (2001) and Neumann, Hood and Neumann (2009) pointed out that
students do prefer listening to teachers who incorporate humor into the lecture. Humor has the power
to make instructors more likable, approachable, facilitate comprehension, increase attentiveness,
improve creativity, and promote social relationships if using it appropriately (Lei, Cohen, & Russler,
2010; Minchew, 2001). Humor was found to lighten the mood during lectures and helped reduce stress
and anxiety in students (Neumann et al., 2009). According to Voss and Gruber (2006), students think
that they can perform well if the atmosphere in class is supportive, thus can be positively influenced by
the perceived humor and friendliness of the teacher. When college students were asked to identify what
makes a good instructor, among the first characteristics noted is a sense of humor (Lei et al., 2010).
Students often remember their favorite teachers as being those who created an interesting
environment. No wonder researchers documented a positive relationship between instructors' use of
humor and student evaluations of instructors (Torok, McMorris, & Lin, 2004). Therefore, in addition to
being knowledgeable, having positive character traits, and using great teaching techniques, a teacher
has a good sense of humor is likely to be considered charismatic.

SCOPUL CERCETĂRII The purpose of the study was to develop a teaching evaluation questionnaire, the
Inventory of Teaching Charisma in College Classroom (ITCCC), based on students' learning experiences
and selected teacher characteristics identified as indicators of teaching quality.

DISCUȚII

According to this result, the teaching charisma increases the engagement and satisfaction in student’s
learning. It is the evident support that teacher’s teaching behaviours play an important role in students’
learning.

Nevertheless, we do intend to offer a general framework for an applicable starting point for helping
teachers to perform well.

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