Personal Characteristics of Effective Teachers of Adolescent Aborigines

In an article based largely on overseas research into teacher effectiveness (e.g., Ryans, 1960; Kleinfeld, 1972) and Australian discussions of the non-Aboriginal teacher’s role in educating Aboriginal students (e.g., Hart, 1974), Fanshawe (1976) argues that the personal characteristics of effective teachers of adolescent Aborigines are likely to include: • being warm and supportive; • making realistic demands of students; • acting in a responsible, businesslike and systematic manner; • and being stimulating, imaginative and original.