Responsibilities of a Teacher

At the heart of the instructional program is the individual teacher. Nothing is more important than the quality of the teacher. What he/she is, in many respects, will determine the development of his/her students, their achievements, their characters, their attitudes, and their futures. Although day-to-day change may be negligible, the student is affected both negatively and positively by the influences of his/her teachers, and the final product of these many influences is either an asset or a liability to society. A teacher's responsibility is awesome.

Since the teacher performs such a vital function in the shaping of youth, Boiling Springs High School expects only the highest quality of performance from its staff. Care is taken to hire the most qualified personnel and to see that their efforts are supported with the finest facilities, books, teaching aids, and other resources available. Additionally, the faculty receives strong disciplinary support in order to ensure that an environment conducive to learning is maintained. In return, the school expects the highest standards of professionalism from its faculty.

The most important qualities of an excellent teacher are as follows:

1. Teachers should love young people. From this characteristic will come the incentive to serve them well, to care enough to try again when failure persists, and to ever strive to improve teaching abilities.

2. Believe that every student has worth and ability to learn. To assume that a student is a "lost cause" is to insure the fact; to assume the reverse is to extend an invitation to success.

3. Teachers should love teaching. From this characteristic will come the desire, the enthusiasm, the perseverance, and the initiative needed in the teacher.

4. Teachers should show self-confidence and pride. From these characteristics flow the integrity, the candor, the security, and tolerance, as well as the poise and demeanor, needed for communicating powerful truth and for producing the cooperative atmosphere needed to sustain the learning dialogue.