humility

"to be truly great, one has to stand among people - not above them" - Montesquieu

I think that as a teacher it is important to be self assured and as the head of a classroom you need to have confidence in yourself as an authoritative figure. but there is a fine line between being confident and being cocky.

The difference, in my opinion, is whether you brag or not about yourself. You can be really good at something or be very confident in a subject and would not be considered arrogant. But the minute you decide to open your mouth and let everyone else know how good you are at this particular subject you become cocky.

I think another aspect that depicts the difference between being humble but also self assured is how you view other people. If you are critical of other people and not yourself you are often considered arrogant.

As a teacher it is so important to be self assured and confident in your teaching, but you must also be aware of what you say and how you treat other people so you don't come across as arrogant or cocky.