The debate about what constitutes good teaching in the industrialized countries of the world tends to be carried over into the developing world without examining ways in which social and cultural contexts of the originating countries differ from those of the receiving ones. This study explores differences in perceptions of elementary education students in four countries (Finland, United States, Botswana, and Zimbabwe) and the extent to which effective classroom practices and teaching methodologies interact with social norms and expectations. Teachers in training (N=279) from the four countries completed a two-part questionnaire identifying their own most effective and ineffective elementary school teacher and rank-ordering 14 teacher characteristics in terms of how important they thought each of these to have been in contributing toward making this teacher seem effective. Results indicate broad agreement among respondents with respect to effective and ineffective teacher characteristics; disagreement was reflected in terms of educational traditions and social and cultural contexts, which may lead to different philosophical assumptions about the role and purpose of education and teaching. (A summary of findings and rankings for each country is displayed in tabular form.) (Contains 32 references.) (LL)