Personality Traits of Effective Teachers Represented in the Narratives of American and Chinese Preservice Teachers: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

This study explored personality traits of effective teachers represented in the narratives of American and Chinese preservice teachers. Narrative data were collected from 80 American and 75 Chinese teacher candidates. Coding and content analysis of the data generated twelve salient personality traits of effective teachers in America and China, including: adaptability, enthusiasm, fairness, high expectations, good humor, patience, responsibility, agreeableness, caring, friendliness, honesty, and respectfulness. MANOVAs and ANOVAs revealed that American preservice teachers attached greater importance to teachers’ adaptability, sense of humor, and responsibility while the Chinese attached greater importance to teachers’ patience, agreeableness, caring, and friendliness. Cross-culturally, females show greater concern than males about teacher expectations, while within each culture, American females are more concerned than males about teacher honesty, and Chinese females are more concerned than males about teacher adaptability and respectfulness. Findings were discussed by referring to American and Chinese cultures.