Beliefs about the psychological characteristics of effective teachers in five countries

Does cultural context influence the importance we place on the attributes of effective teachers? We know that organisational context (educational system and individual school factors) has an influence on teachers’ practices, but how do cultural and other contextual factors influence our beliefs about what makes an effective teacher? The purpose of this presentation is to consider the characteristics perceived to be associated with teacher effectiveness in five contexts: England, Finland, Hungary, Oman, and Australia. A better understanding of the cross-cultural characteristics of effective teachers could result in a more nuanced understanding of the cultural universality of factors associated with successful teaching and learning.