The question of how good teachers are made is particularly complex because ”good” may be defined in many different ways or in terms of very diverse variables. However, it seems clear that the defining features of a good teacher are also key elements in a community’s ”teaching ethos”. Based on this assumption, the article analyses the role of teachers from an ethical point of view, giving special attention to the links between teaching role and professional identity and moral leadership, which in turn are heavily influenced by attitudes and interpersonal relationships. This theoretical analysis substantiates and complements the emerging results of an empirical study with a sample of in-service teachers identified as ”good teachers” by their colleagues, thus providing an operational definition of good teaching.