What do high school students value in their teachers?

As high school students, we spend a significant amount of time with our teachers. High school teachers have a significant impact on the lives of their students. They not only teach us math or history but also play a crucial role in shaping their students’ personalities and guiding them toward a successful future. The influence of a teacher at this stage can make a lasting impact on a student’s academic and personal growth. We can find the answer to this question through interviews conducted with students where the question  “If you could hire anybody in the world to be your teacher, who would it be and why?” was asked. We can determine what makes an ideal teacher for a student. Though many of the answers were presented humorously, it still gives us insight into what they value from the people they admire, like teachers. 

      A consistent theme among the answers I was given was social media influencers. People like “Trisha Paytas” or “Brittney Broski” were a common answer. Both of these women were credited with their unique perspectives or pre-existing communication skills, as they both ran their podcasts. Two interesting truths are presented through answers like these: students care about originality in their teaching as well as natural, almost conversion-like style when it comes to their education. Nobody enjoys a flat class period full of a teacher just droning on, but listening to people talk is not an issue for students of our generation, perfectly demonstrated by the student’s willingness to listen to podcasts that sometimes last twice the length of a normal class period. That is as long as the person speaking is unique in their lecture and engaging.

As well as having a substantial presence in the public eye, it is also important to students that their teacher is passionate and active in their respective subjects. Other figures that students said that they would like to have as teachers are people along the lines of “Michelle Obama” and “Elon Musk.” Both figures are notably very significant in their fields, Musk has made several contributions to technology and space exploration, and Michelle Obama is well respected for her work in advocacy for education and health. These powerful figures would set a precedent for their students to devote themselves to the things they are passionate about to become successful both monetarily and socially.