Teaching is a job but PhD is a degree to increase teaching salary.

Regards

Do you think you have a good teacher? Teaching is art to learn or it is a gift from God. The PhD has nothing to do with teaching. That's my point of view Dr. Ali.

Dear Ali,

I think that a PhD makes you a better teacher at higher level courses and degrees. It probably does not impact much when someone is teaching a practical first year course. But, when you teach a Master's degree course, or when you teach students about research and prepare them for theses, then someone with a PhD tends to have more personal experience with that level of thinking (more conceptual and bigger picture). Most senior teaching staff at universities and tertiary institutions have PhD's. Many of these people enjoy teaching (even though a significant portion of our role has to do with research). It is also a matter of professional choice, some people may do both, and some people may prefer to do mostly research. Thank you for the interesting question.

Dear Dr. Ali,

I think that a Ph H makes you a better reseacher, mainly at the college or university level. However, from my own experience, I know of execellent researchers who deliver poor teaching. This aspect notwithstanding, in principle, when you perform research you have something new to teach to your students. If we do not perform reasearch what are we going to teach to our students? What others have researched.? This, I think, can be found in books, Juornals and the Internet. This is not the case when our teaching revolves around of what we are researching. I think that to teach at the college/university level requires in principle a Pd H. I say, in principle, because all of us know of excellent professionals, such as physicians, lawyers, and so forth, who do not have a Ph H and yet may deliver excellent teaching at the college and university level. Per my understanding, for one to be a good professor one should master what s/he teaches and be well versed in the details of the student's psychological develpment. If the former is not the case, then s/he is no teacher at all. If the latter is not the case, a teacher risks teaching material that is much above or below their students' ability to understand.

To sum up, for one to be a teacher at a Master or Ph D level, one should have, in principle, a Pd H. This prerequisite could not be enough because teaching requires skills not acquired when one gets a master/Ph D degree. At the college/university level, I am not in favor of separating teaching and reserching. Even so, the question you raise is a timely and interesting question.

Best wishes,

Orlando

I don''t support the opinion that the PhD has something to do with better or worse teaching.

Do you think if you have your PhD you can be a good teacher?

Not necessary - to me no. But I think it depends on individual teachers, who are their audience & what subject they are teaching. E.g. some PhD holders still can't teach even though they have more than one PhD, some teachers can teach very well even though without a degree. Some PhD teachers can teach well for undergraduate / full time students but some can't handle post-graduate students / part time working adults. Some PhD teachers can teach well in subject related to research methodology that they have gone through or in subject matter related to their research whereas some PhD teachers can't teach well in subject beyond their research area etc.

Dear Hein,

I respect your point of view. However, if the Ph H has nothing to do with better or worse teaching, why in the majority, if not all, universities, we need a Ph D to become assistant professors, let alone associate and full professors? More to the, how can we teach at the university level if we do not perform research? As a full professor of developmental psychology, several of my lectures at the course of developmental psychololy, even for undergraduate, revolved around my research. And without a Ph D, we are not, say, autonomus reseachers.

Best wishes.

Olando

Hi Ali

The teaching doesn't depend on getting ph.d but the teaching is based on skill , experience,and desire ...etc If you have these values then you can to be a good teacher but if not, you can't do it even if have ph.d.

Regards

Almaamari

Thanks a lot for all for their great answer. I want to make remarks in these answers. In my opinion Ph.D allowed to be a good researcher but never can you make you a good teacher. Teaching as it's indicated above it s related of the ability and the live of this job because it's a very hard and difficult job.

Not necessary

I do not think so ,

In order to be a successful teacher you need a lot of non-PhD personal skills, including a well-informed, well-informed technician, and you must have persuasive skills,

regards

No not at all.

In my opinion Ph. D. surely makes you a good researcher.

PhD is a proof of a good researcher. Pedagogy is another field where other skills are needed. Some PhD professors lost their job after bad feedback and continuous complain from the students. I know one who had to go to a research center.

I think , not necessary.

regards

I think no

Hi All.

I look at all the answers above. Most of them say that one does not need a PhD to be a teacher. Note, however, that one can be a teacher, for example, at the pre-primary, primary, secondary and college/university level. At the first three levels it seems obvious that a teacher does not need a Ph D. However, at the college/level a Ph D can help, even though it is not a guarantee of good teaching because to be a good/excellent professor requires pedagogical skills which are not acquired in the process of getting a Ph D.

Best regards,

Orlando

I am in agreement with Prof Orlando. We are looking at two different skill sets. Research Skills (for PhD). Pedagogical Skills (for Teaching and Learning). Requirements for both skill sets varies according to different levels of teaching. Nevertheless, effective teaching means using good pedagogical practice within its context, which in turn means that teachers must also be learners. And this is where a PhD to teach at whatever levels is definitely an advantage. What I mean by PhD is not only about the paper that one receives after the journey. Rather the learning and knowledge generated through research that can be transferred in real life teaching and in furthering research within a chosen field.

Let me share two real life examples.

Prof Abang Abdullah Abang Ali

Dr Peter Farrell at: https://independentresearcher.academia.edu/PeterFarrell

And another good teacher for all (not just in the classroom) without a PhD, the renowned Architect Frank Gehry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYt2SQPqTh0

While talking out his creative process:

"Let's look at it for awhile. Be irritated by it. I don't like it"

And after meddling with it for awhile:

"That is so stupid looking. It's great"

Absolutely not. Some of the greatest teachers never even received a college degree. Abraham Lincoln, Bill Gates, many prophets, others , etc.

The PhD will help you become a more experienced person capable of benefiting students if you think you like to teach. I have met several PhD holders who are hopeless teachers, not really interested to go in that direction.

A big NO

It is not necessary that if someone has PhD then he will be a good teacher.

But if a teacher is PhD then he can guide his students in carrying research work in a better way.

With best regards!

Teaching is a talent, and it has nothing to do with educational degrees.

Degrees are necessary but not a sufficient condition for teaching. However, as you have rightly pointed out, a PhD degree is a requirement for teaching at the tertiary levels. The art of teaching depends on the individual's ability in materializing his/her knowledge to satisfy the needs of particular groups of learners.

No. I dont believe PhD makes anyone a better teacher. However, it makes one a better researcher and perhaps policy developer.

No, I don't think so.

Thanks for all for their useful contribution in this question. As it's indicated above the majority think that to have a Ph.D it's no necessary to be a good teacher.

Teaching is a job but PhD is a degree to increase teaching salary.

Regards

Holding a PhD can make of you a skillful and good researcher, but not necessarily a good teacher.

Dear all,

I continue to think that at the college/university level to hold a Ph H can facilitate one's teaching. As we all know, when we get a Ph D, we are concerned with research for a period of 4-5 years. As a result we become, say, independent researchers. May be this is only my case, but when I give lectures to my graduate students, most of such lectures revolve around what I am doing in terms of research. Note also that there is a widespread saying that states: How can we teach if you don't do research? Of course, this is mainly applied at the research-oriented colleges/universities. Needless to say, to speak about our research and findings is an occasion for us to learn how to teach. For example, to appeal to, say, fancy methods means nothing in terms of content. The idea that the important thing in education is to help students to learn how to learn is a myth. In other words, content is part and parcel of a successful teaching and learning. That is, we can change the way we teac without deliver better teaching. What I desired when I was student was to learn contents.

This is a very personal opinion

Best regards,

Orlando

ان الدكتوراه شهادة علمية في اختصاص دقيق ما يجب على حاملها ان يجيد البحث في اختصاصه وليس شرطا ان يجيد تدريس اختصاصه - لان عملية التعليم تعد مهنة وعلم وفن وعملية إنسانية , فهي مهنة لها مستلزماتها وشروطها ومعاييرها كأي مهنة في المفهوم الحديث( للمهنة ) , وتعد علماً بإرتكازها واستقرارها على حقائق ومبادئ علمية ونظريات , إنها فن تحتاج الى امتلاك مهارات واساليب تعليم , كما انها عملية انسانية تحيط بها العواطف والقيم تلك التي لايمكن إخضاعها للمنهج العلمي , وان فن التعليم ينمو في قاعة الدرس , ويتطور من خلال الملاحظة الملموسة بالتعاطف والفهم , وهذا يحتاج الى دراسة مادة علم النفس التربوي بجميع ميادينه , اذ يشير( الازيرجاوي , 1991 ) أن اوزوبل يرى أن دراسة علم النفس التربوي تمثل سمة او علامة او تأشيرة دخول في معترك الحياة التدريسية بكافة مستوياتها, إذ تيسر لمن يقوم بالتعليم او التدريس ان يمتلك بصيرة نافذة لملاحظة ما يحدث داخل الصف

Of course no.

I would say it depends.

Teaching, just like any job has many dimensions.

Doing a PhD will help focusing on one and specialising in it. In that respect, YES, a PhD can help excelling in certain dimensions of the teaching work, therefore being a good teacher.

Now, what happens with the other dimensions.....

From my personal experience, PhD helped a lot my teaching work, by "introducing" me in research, not only in the field of my doctoral work but generally.

A good teacher should have knowledge. The PhD training leads to in-depth knowledge which is good for teaching. But to be a good teachers, one need knowledge, teaching skills, personal characters, among others.