Sara Solano

Professor Deborah Sullivan

EDU-211

Behavior Observation in Education

Learner Exercise #7

November 9, 2020

The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Teaching

In the TED Talk “The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Teaching” Pierre Pirard, a former

CEO turned teacher compares the common elements required to thrive in both the business

world and in education. Mr. Pirard shared that what drove him to make this drastic career

change was the epiphany he had during his mid-life crisis. He wanted to shift gears and embark

in a career that would be more fulfilling but less work. Mr. Pirard quickly discovered that

teaching was not the easy career choice he thought it would be. He came to realize, with the

help of his colleagues, that leadership is needed in the classroom just as much as it was in his

role as the CEO of a company. With a combination of his leadership skills and determination to

help his students, he was able to become an effective teacher in a school where many other

educators had given up.

Mr. Pirard began his teaching career in an underprivileged school, teaching children of

ages that ranged from ten to fifteen. He was perplexed to find out how low was the student

academic level, way below what is expected at their age. He couldn’t understand how this

could happen because the children were “far from being stupid”. Although student motivation

was very low, he could see their potential. Mr. Pirard also noticed, that the same students who
performed very poorly in one class, where able to do well in another. So, it came down to the

variable of the equation, the teacher. He decided to reach out to his colleagues and see what

were the differences between them. The teachers who obtained poor results from their

students, all had similar negative attitudes. They responded to the failure by blaming only the

students. They said things such as “there is very little teachers can do” and they talked about a

“lost generation”. In the other hand, a teacher who had regular student attendance and had

highly motivated students who achieved good grades, explained to him the basic principles of

effective teaching. To Mr. Pirard’s surprise, those principles where so similar to the ones he

employed during his twenty-five years of managing companies. The principles are as follows:

First, believe in your students. Second, make sure they know you believe in them. Third, set a

goal that is ambitious, measurable and meaningful. Fourth, once the goal is set make sure that

the goal becomes an everyday priority for both the student and the parents. Fifth, invest in

their life, dedicating time planning purposefully and carefully.

Just like Mr. Pirard ensured that each quarter was more profitable than the last, he

made sure his students’ goals were more ambitious each time. Mr. Pirard closed his lecture

with the following quote from Bill Owens, “True leadership lies in guiding other to success. In

ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they pledged to do and do it

well.” Without a doubt he did just that, he became the leader that his students needed and

guided them to success, as every teacher should aim to do.