Benjamin Franklin apparently said. "Tell me and I forget. [1] Teach me and I remember. [2] Involve me and I learn." [3] But what do we REALLY know about effective learning hundred years later? [4]

Many respected economists and educators from the world's leading universities researched this topic. [1] They discovered that many things don’t matter, such as classroom size, new technology, or fancy uniforms. [2] Their evidence suggests [3.1] that the secret to thriving students are amazing teachers. [3] Here's what they have learned. [P]

First we have to acknowledge that teaching is a highly complex skill. [1] It involves a deep understanding of the subject matter and the ability to explain complex issues in simple ways. [2] But it also requires an understanding of psychology, pedagogy, as well as a wide range of management skills in order to get the student's first quiet and then excited. [3]

Rob Coe, Professor at Durham University reported that many widely used methods don’t work: [1] for example grouping students by ability, [2.1] giving unearned praise, [2.2] or the idea that students can discover complex concepts by themselves. [2.3] Instead, master instructors have high exceptions and maximize the lesson time. [3] But most importantly, they combine high quality instruction with pedagogical content knowledge. [4.1] They don’t teach a subject, [4.2] they teach their students how to learn it for themselves. [4.3]

In order to get it right, we have to treat and train teachers like brain surgeons. After all they also operate on human brains. [1] Like aspiring doctors, they are best trained in the field where they receive professional feedback when they made mistakes. [2] Effective schools of education therefore, train teaching like a craft, rather than an abstract science. [3] At Sposato, a Graduate School of Education known for creating effective teachers, students spend a lot of their time tutoring or assisting professionals. [4]

Teachers who are already in the classroom, need regular professional feedback on the job. [1] A vast study by Roland Fryer from Harvard [2.1] found that teachers who receive precise instructions together with specific regular feedback from a lead teacher, [2.2] will improve the most. [2.3] Other good ideas to improve teachers are to ask the students for feedback [3.1] or to record lessons on video and let the teachers watch themselves. [3.2]

Doug Lemov, founder of UnCommon Schools and author of Teach Like A Champion, identified many methods that great teachers use: [1.3] they greet each student at the door so students feel welcomed and acknowledged of their existence. [1.4] Later they use a strong voice and don’t stop talking until they have everyone’s attention. [2] Plus, they teach for mastery learning to ensure students get it 100% right before they proceed. [3] But maybe most importantly, great teachers first get their students excited [4] and then keep their attention through story-telling and engaging activities that sparks their imaginations. [5]

A paper published by Stanford in 2009 showed that leadership makes a big difference too. [1] At low performing schools, [2.1] principals hardly ever show up in the classrooms, [2.3] but instead spend most of their time on administration, documents or finance. [2.4]. Schools with better students, have principals that get out of their office [3.3] and spend a lot of time in the classrooms, supervising and developing the teachers. [3.4] Together, they can make a big different in their students life [P]

Economist Raj Chetty and his team, analyzed the data of 2.5 million US students [1.2] and 18 million test results. [1.3] He thinks that instructors who are good at teaching to the test, have a big impact. [2.2] On average, having such a teacher for just ONE year, [2.3] raises the students test scores [2.4] and cumulative lifetime income [3.2] by 14,500 - in 2011 dollars. [3.3] On early childhood education, he has another hypothesis: [4] Great kindergarten teachers help to develop social skills, discipline and character. [5] Their impact does not improve test scores during the school years, [6] but surprisingly reemerges years later, [7.1] when their former students apply those skills to advance in their careers [7.3] and find meaningful and well-paying jobs. [7.4]

Eric Hanushek, Professor at Stanford University, computed how much good teachers really matter. [1.3] He found out that top teachers get students to learn 50% more each year than an average instructor. [1.5] Poorly trained ones, just half of the average. [2] That means that 10 years at school [3.1]can either result in 15 years of actual learning [3.3] or just a mere 5 years. [3.5] This is a massive difference that mainly hurts children from low-income families who can't afford extra classes or changing to a better school. [4]

American novelist Gail Godwin once wrote: "good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre." [1] To see a great actors in action watch Michael Sandel from Harvard teach Law, [2.2] Robert Sapolsky from Stanford teach Behavioral Biology, [2.3] Walter Michel from MIT teach Physics [2.4] or Mr. Hester managing a classroom of teenagers. [2.5] Links are in the description below and other great instructors in our channel playlists. [3] Now please share YOUR favorite teachers in the comments below! [P]