The Elements of Teaching

“Teaching as an art is given much-needed attention in this guided tour through its intricacies by two experienced and empathetic cicerones.”—Publisher's Weekly
 
“There are not many books like this around these days.”—Times Educational Supplement
 
“This valentine to dedicated teachers should be required reading.”—Patricia Kean, Washington Post Education Review
 
What are the characteristics of a great teacher? What qualities of mind and spirit are necessary to help others acquire the knowledge through which they can understand and live a good life? In this book, James Banner and Harold Cannon draw on many years of experience to set forth the intellectual, moral, and emotional capacities that they believe the best teachers must possess. Their book is an inspiring guide to current and future school teachers and to college and university professors—indeed to everyone who teaches anything to anyone else.
 
Arguing that teaching is an art, Banner and Cannon help teachers understand its components. They analyze the specific qualities of successful teachers and the ways in which these qualities promote learning and understanding. Throughout, they illustrate their discussion with sharply etched portraits of fictional teachers who exemplify—or fail to exemplify—a particular quality. Neither a how-to book nor a consideration of the philosophy, methods, or activities of teaching, this book, more precisely, assesses what it takes to teach. It encourages teachers to consider how they might strengthen their own level of professional performance.

James M. Banner, Jr., is an independent scholar, writer, teacher, association director, and book publisher. Harold C. Cannon, now retired, was division director at the National Endowment for the Humanities.