William Ayers answers in his book To Teach—The Journey of a Teacher:
“Good teaching requires most of all a thoughtful, caring teacher committed to the lives of students. . . . Good teaching is not a matter of specific techniques or styles, plans or actions. . . . Teaching is primarily a matter of love.” So who is the successful teacher? He says: “The teacher who touched your heart, the teacher who understood you or who cared about you as a person, the teacher whose passion for something—music, math, Latin, kites—was infectious and energizing.”
