If you take an objective step back and seriously consider the question: What or who is the best teacher, you will come up with a couple of different points of view. There are many different teachers in the world. Parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, children, and of course those special individuals who have decided to pursue a career in a formal educational setting. It is important to remember that when we talk about teaching, there is the implication that learning in some form is involved. The way I see it there are two different educational experiences we go through as individuals. The first being our life lessons, these start from birth and pretty much continue until the day we die. Secondly, there is the traditional definition of education, the twelve to thirteen years we spend in the classroom, and the higher educational levels. I would like to touch on both them.
First, let's discuss our life lessons. These lessons are and accumulation of knowledge based either on first or second hand knowledge. Everyone understands that an infant is not capable of speaking, therefore they are not able to tell us when they are hungry, need a diaper change, or are not feeling well. So what do they do? They cry, scream, or wail until they get what they need. Even at that young of an age, we learned how to get our parents attention. We cried, they came. If you are thinking to yourself that this is a huge stretch, I will accept that and move on to the formative years. Think back to when you were a child. How many times did our parents say "don't touch that it's hot" or "no, no, you'll get a boo boo"? Now think about how many times you didn't listen, and got burnt or got the boo boo. We had to learn for ourselves that our parents were not lying. Unfortunately, this affliction was destined to follow most of us into our adulthoods and now our children are afflicted with it. The point being that after being burned we learned for ourselves that the iron was hot, after getting the boo boo that the sharp knife cut. We stopped doing what we knew would hurt because we had first hand knowledge of the pain it caused. Now think back to one of the millions of questions you asked your parents. Like why do zebras have stripes, or how does the sun stay in sky. Those answers were obtained through second hand knowledge, our parents gave us the answers. We did not have to learn from our experiences. I will not continue with examples, there are probably zillions of them. My point is that we never stop learning from our experiences. Whether good or bad. Life itself, is a extraordinary teacher, if we are willing to listen and learn.
Now let's move on to the traditional educational setting. This is place to be to get the academic information necessary to make it as an adult in this ever changing world. No one can argue the importance of this part of our experience. So, who or what is the best teacher? From now on when I refer to the best teacher, I will be referring to those individuals employed to train our children academically. The best teacher is the one who finds a way to inspire, excite, and keep their student's attention. The best teacher is the one who excepts nothing less than the best possible performance from his/her student on an individual basis. The best teacher is the one who understands that children are going to make some real wacky choices, and can discipline the child/children without damaging their self-esteem. The best teacher is the one who recognizes when their student(s) is/are in trouble or is struggling, and takes the time to get involved and try to help or explain the lesson more. In short, the best teacher is the one who genuinely cares about their students and believes in what they are doing. The best teacher knows they make a difference on a daily basis. Even when no one gives them not one lick of credit.
In closing, there are two answers to this question. Experience is the best teacher if we are speaking about life. If we are speaking about academics, it's the teacher who is willing to give of themselves to ensure that their students are receiving what they deserve.