Good teachers have lots of knowledge and are able to teach well. Good teachers have a certain nobility. They model well for their students. They are kind and just. They train their students to be useful to society. Let me give you some examples of good teachers in my own life.
In elementary school, I was taught each year by a religious sister, often called a nun. At that stage in my life, each of them knew a lot more than I did. All of them had dedicated themselves to God, and each had accepted vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. This meant that they owned nothing for themselves. They were obedient to their responsible superiors. They gave up the prospect of romantic love or marriage. They provided good models for us of a dedicated and simple life. Most of them were kind and just. Sister Mary Frances taught me piano, pipe organ, learned to sing Gregorian Chant, used then in the Church services, older popular music, Irish melodies and Negro spirituals, and how best to use my voice as a gift both to God and for family continue to use my songs and voice as teaching techniques in my classes, for religious services and to entertain my friends. Sister Mary Frances, and the other nuns were surely good teachers for me.
In high school, I was taught by priests in religious orders, who also accepted the same permanent life vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity as had the religious sisters. Almost all of these holy men were very good teachers for me, and helped to shape my entire adult life and my character. They also taught me the value of living simply. For three years, I studied with religious monks in southern Indiana in the central part of the US. One of their special features was a great sense of hospitality, both for those whom we know and for strangers. Hospitality has been a major personal aspect for most of my adult life. This corresponds well with the sense of hospitality that many Chinese have shown to me during my teaching in China.
As an undergraduate student, and later as a graduate student in the university, I often had faculty members whom I respected greatly making special effort to guide me, to support my studies or extra curricular activities, to invite me to travel with them, or to host me and other students at their homes. Some made special efforts to ensure that I could write well. Some provided important professional opportunities for me. For example, one daxulty member had me travel in a small plane with him to a conference in another US state. When I wanted to work on my doctoral dissertation at the United Nations, my faculty advisor gained a grant so that I could spend six weeks at the UN gathering my materials for my research.
I have had many good teachers in my life. In turn, I have made a constant effort to be a good teacher myself for my students and to pass on good modeling for my own more than 6000 university students in their future lives.