Many people influence our lives. The list for each person is as individual as the person themselves, but you will very often find a constant; their teachers.

A recent Department of Education campaign in England had the slogan 'no one forgets a good teacher'. This is true, but needs to be balanced with the phrase 'but no one forgets a really bad one either'. Perhaps that wouldn't have done the recruitment drive any good.

Types of teacher

There is a preconception that there is one type of good teacher. This is completely untrue. There is no set age, subject or personality type. Students recognise that not everyone over the age of twenty five is boring, and they realise that not even a teacher who can recite every song Nirvana ever performed, along with chord patterns and lots of shouting is automatically a good teacher.

What matters most is being genuine. A good teacher treats their students as intelligent individuals, even the ones who don't shine in their own particular subject. They care about getting good results, but they care because it will affect the students.

The best teachers are truly interested in their subject, and yet they understand that perhaps their students aren't. In England at least, many subjects are compulsory until the age of sixteen, and consequently many students are stuck doing subjects they hate. What makes it worse is if a teacher automatically assumes you want to be there. A good teacher will attempt to make the subject interesting, and will know that allowing a friendly atmosphere in the classroom will make students look forward to their lessons far more.

Interaction with students

Discipline is a fragile thing in classrooms, and the best teachers know when to relax the lesser rules in favour of keeping the peace, and when to enforce the letter of the law.

They take an interest in what you want to do with your life. They suggest the best routes, and what marks the truly brilliant teachers out is that they will recommend a subject other than the one they teach if they think it is best for you. A bad teacher, on the other hand, will spend time trying to convince you that yes, a career in chartered accountancy would be good for you, just so they can tick your name of on the list of people taking maths degrees.

A sense of humour is essential for all teachers, and students genuinely appreciate it. A good teacher will laugh with their students, not at them or at a little private joke they don't wish to share.

Admitting they're wrong

This is the thing many teachers find hardest to do. The truth is, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Even the good teachers. The worst mistake to make is to lose a piece of coursework. This is the height of unprofessionalism and it looks bad for all involved. However, a good teacher will admit it and work with the student to resolve the problem, while a bad teacher will immediately insist the student never handed it in.

The same goes for being asked awkward questions in lessons. Admitting you don't know something is hard for anyone, but making up the answer is infinitely worse, and a snappish 'go look it up' doesn't help anyone. Confessing your ignorance, on the other hand, not only makes you look human but it also guarantees you respect. As long as you do actually know something.