Teacher (noun): An unstoppable force meeting an immovable object

What exactly is a teacher? There are political and cultural debates about this in nearly every country on the planet. While those debates are generally related to the number of hours teachers spend inside of a school building per week or year or how much teachers are paid, I'd rather focus on something else. What do teachers think it means to be a teacher?

I have had many teachers in my years of education, but I will admit to liking only a very few select groups. That is not to say that being liked by your students is a necessary trait of the educator, but it certainly isn't a bad sign. Using the concept of Gestalt Psychology I'd like to propose that there are two archetypes for what a teacher is. The first, as seen above, is the "expert". Generally speaking this teacher probably the most knowledgeable about their subject and because of this can answer nearly every question you might have. There is no doubting their credentials and their expertise is beyond question. This sounds ideal, don't we want our teachers to be as knowledgeable in their field as possible? Without a doubt, but just because someone is an expert at fixing cars doesn't mean they'll be able to agilely explain to the layman how to do it for themselves. In the classroom the "expert" archetype tends to create a gap between themself and the students that can frustrate both parties. For the students they get lost in the thorough, but high level explanations that shoot well over their heads. The teacher, on the other hand, is frustrated that his/her students don't seem to show the same level of passion and desire to learn as they feel is warranted. This cognitive dissonance leads to friction and results ultimately in little success for either party.

The second archetype is the "cool" teacher. Everyone wants to eat lunch in their classroom at lunch and even more importantly to ask them advice about how to get to know their latest crush a little bit better. It doesn't really matter if this teacher has any idea what they're teaching, people always say that it's their favorite class anyway. This teacher is loved, but you may leave their class lacking the knowledge you actually need to succeed in the future as they're not actually focused on the content itself, but rather the social-emotional wellbeing of the students in their class. This teacher is a bit harder to compare to someone in the professional world, but if I had to do so I would likely compare it to the secretary who knows everyone's birthday, favorite snack, and allergies, but forgets to send out the burofax before the deadline passes. You will feel loved and cared for in this class, but it's not likely you'll be able to do square roots once it's all over.

There are, as I am sure you can imagine, many more potential types of teachers in the world. Those who don't care at all are an example I didn't cover here. However, I would argue that these are the two main "types" of teachers from a student perspective and that we can learn a lot from each. The question of which is better may come to mind. The simplest answer is, neither. They both have their pros and cons, but provide us with valuable insight into what we as teachers should be and what our students need from us. First, from the "expert" we should learn that students really do need us to be knowledgable in our field and love our subject. However, for them to truly care enough to understand our subject, we must take two key ingredients from the "cool" teacher. First, we must understand our students for who they really are. This helps us to present information in a way that is intelligible for them and that they will remember. Second, we must actually care about our students and show them that we do. Even the most difficult student will work hard for a teacher who they think cares about them. How do I know? Because I was that student.