This article is concerned first with identifying teacher characteristics connected with excellence. It then analyses the results of a survey conducted among primary school teachers in one local authority area in Scotland. Teachers responded to a questionnaire which asked them to rate in importance 44 characteristics of excellence. The findings suggest that teachers have a clear view of excellence. They consistently described excellence in terms of personal qualities and interpersonal skills. Teachers gave high ratings to qualities which demonstrated their expectations of positive classroom ethos and positive relationships with students. Practitioners consistently rated characteristics related to classroom "relationships in action" as essential characteristics for excellent teachers. These findings suggest a new emphasis on interpersonal skills in continuing professional development for teachers who are increasingly expected to develop students' dispositions relating to openness to new thinking; self-respect and a commitment to responsible participation in social, cultural, economic and political life. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)