Among many other traits she continues to develop, she was establishing a partnership with the students on the road of learning.

             Meanwhile, Buskist was trying to establish how teachers like Greenfield became good at what they were doing. What character traits are common among the truly good teachers, the masters? He found the answer was not always merely intelligence, nor firm grasp of the topic, nor the student group, but a whole set of skills that defined the paradigm of good teaching. "Of course," he says, "master teachers are also bright, knowledgeable, well-organized, highly-prepared, and incredibly hardworking, but these are not the qualities that distinguish average or even very good teachers." (25) Still a researcher at heart, but now with the study on teaching, Buskist set out across the country interviewing master teachers, examining their traits, and culling the skills that seemed to symbolize the best academia had to offer its students.

             He found ten traits that, across the board, were common among master teachers. First, master teachers do not hang their hats on lecturing and recitation, but instead focus on the problem-solving skills that excite critical thinking skills in the students. That does not preclude the importance of lectures, but merely shifts their design. At the same time, he found it integral to maintain the content of those lectures and classroom activities, keeping it current. Master teachers, he found, infuse their lessons with examples that relate their material to their students. Personal stories, anecdotes, and their own research stress the relevancy of the coursework to the students in an accessible manner that also finds a way to express the teacher's own excitement with the material.

             If the teacher is not excited about the material, the student will not be either. "Master teachers are enthusiastic about their subject matter, teaching, and students," he writes.