“Popular” is a difficult word in school, and it isn’t just the students who struggle with it.

In every school, there are one or two teachers who, for whatever reason, gain celebrity status among students (even ones they’ve never taught).

But how did they get this revered position, and is it more difficult than it looks?

Being a ‘popular’ teacher

Ask students and teachers what makes a teacher popular, and the answers will likely fall into two distinct camps.

One will be centred around a laidback teacher, the kind who is definitely more fun than you in lessons, has Instagram-worthy displays and is often whispered about for being a little more relaxed with discipline than some of their colleagues.

The other will centre around that aspirational Venn diagram mixture of being knowledgeable, being fair, and getting great results, all of which come together to become that most unattainable of attributes: cool.

The behaviour question

A misconception of popularity is that it stems from students having an easy time in lessons… it makes sense that students will like a teacher when the lessons are fun, behaviour management is non-existent and detentions become a myth for three hours a week, right?

Well, research suggests that, actually, students are much more critical in their views than staff may think.

A 2018 study found that while features such as behaviour management and experiencing cognitive difficulties are important, students view teacher motivation and self-confidence to be the two most important factors in what makes a teacher popular.

A little confidence

This combination both impacts and improves motivation and feelings of respect both to and from students, leading to a better classroom experience, with students feeling the desire to achieve and succeed with their teacher.

The study even argues that “knowing the popularity of a teacher gives us relevant information… mean[ing] that teacher popularity is a useful indicator of teacher quality”.

The idea that a teacher can be effective and popular often doesn’t sit well in staffrooms, though, and being a popular teacher can be difficult.

The downside of popularity

The judgements of everything from outfits and personality types to results and performance management can be exhausting on top of the demands of a normal day in the classroom.

Often ignored, too, is the stress that comes with being popular. Students are more likely to want to be around them and parents more likely to reach out (even about unrelated issues because “you’re their favourite teacher”).

With demands eating into precious breaktimes and the feeling of being unable to say no, being popular can be a very pressurised role.

Simultaneously, popular teachers may lack allies in the staffroom because it looks as if they’re giving up yet another lunchtime for a revision session that you just couldn’t find time or energy to host.

Of course, every teacher is popular with a certain batch of students, and we’ve all experienced the emotive highs and exhausting lows that come with it, but it may be worth taking some time to check in with that teacher who is always surrounded by students.

The chances are, they’re in as much need of a strong coffee and a chat as their less popular colleagues.

Lauran Hampshire-Dell is a teacher and tutor