I am fortunate i was still able to attend schools when most teachers, most not all, but the large majority, still wanted their kids to learn properly and desired to see them increase their abilities and intelligence. These teachers were more old school and would not use methods that were inferior and kept students confused and not learning.
I remember several good teachers.
3rd grade teacher was elderly and drove a very old Cadillac. She still had the farm of her husband and ancestors.
The rumor in school, was that she was a terror (she was really, very old, silver hair, and almost always a black dress), but she was very kind to all of us.
It was her last year teaching; IIRC, she had started teaching just after WW-I.
She had all of our class, plus parents, out to her farm for a picnic, and it was wonderful.
Another good teacher - math - also had a terrible reputation *by rumors.* Yet she was kind, too; and worked hard to be her best.
We did not know much about cancer, yet we somehow sensed that she was in trouble. She continued to soldier on, wearing a wig.
She managed to finish the school year, and we were proud of her and let her know.
Another good teacher, and probably great, was a kind old gent who also started just after WW-I. He had great skill at helping students. We loved him. This was also his last year teaching.
9th grade teacher also had cancer, but she also soldiered on. Her husband was a bomb wing commander for the early SAC ops nearby.
We were lucky.