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I don’t remember any particular lesson or skill my elementary art teacher, whom we affectionately called “Miss Y.,” helped me learn. But I remember how I would sometimes eat lunch with her and a small group of friends in her colorful, eclectic classroom. I remember how Miss Y. always seemed as excited to spend time with me as I was with her.
It turns out, most Americans, regardless of political affiliation, will describe their favorite teachers to you in a similar way.
“Most people will say that they learned a lot from a teacher who knew them, cared about them and made learning relevant to their lives,” write education policy scholars Gustavo E. Fischman and Margarita Pivovarova of Arizona State and Eric Haas of California State University, East Bay.
People generally do not prioritize other factors, like whether a teacher covers a lot of material in class or runs a disciplined classroom.
The findings were surprising to these scholars, who ran surveys over the past few years on this subject. After all, education in the U.S. often prompts a lot of debate and division. But when envisioning a good teacher, Americans have more in common than they might assume.
“We expected deep partisan divides. Instead, we found something rare: genuine, cross-partisan agreement,” the scholars write.
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