Most of us have memories of that one, stand-out educator who sparked our love for a particular subject. The role that such educators play in providing quality education cannot be overemphasised. How educators interact with learners is critical to learners’ conceptual understanding and to their overall performance in mathematics. Fabian Arends discusses educator instructional quality and practices, looking at data related to grade 9 mathematics educators from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019.