What do lecturers value in their students?

A healthy disregard for authority, and curiosity. Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm and drive is the key. I think, ultimately, is a willingness to take risks with their ideas and curiosity. Students who are not afraid to deal with and embrace the difficulty that often accompanies literary study. In a good student, I value the ability to pause and to take time in responses, and to take time and care in their work. I really value enthusiasm. I think you can teach a student anything who is an enthusiastic learner of the subject that they are at higher education to learn. We’re interested in what we’re doing and we like to be around people who are also very interested in what they’re doing because it makes it exciting.

The attributes that I value most is their critical ability and their ability to take information from a number of sources and being able to synthesise their own understanding from that. The enthusiasm, the desire to learn, the feeling that they are here because they want to be here. And they’re really excited to hear what you’ve got to say and they’re really interested in it. And actually, that doesn’t take much academic ability. That just takes a really lively mind. The ability to learn fast. The ability to present their work in an effective and clear way. The ability to abide by deadlines, tight deadlines. And the ability to interact with their peers and with me. Good students are fun, interesting, interested.

They have enthusiasm. They have drive. They are just a joy to teach. If you’ve got that, then all else will follow.