“What is the difference between a teacher and an educator?”
-Nell Bielecki, MS Science Teacher, Michigan
Hmmm. Great question, Nell, about what–at times–might be a tricky, sticky topic.
On the surface, it’s simple. A teacher is in the classroom. An educator is in the profession (or anywhere not in the classroom).
But in my experience with this distinction, there is often more at play than what’s on the surface. There is a “versus,” a need to make a distinction of what is a teacher and why that matters.
Teachers matter. Much suggests they matter most–both empirically and anecdotally. Teachers matter. But they don’t matter alone. Enter the educator, the supporting cast without whom teachers could not fully function. From administrators to counselors to paras to subs (to the list goes on), they all serve and support kids. Kids: our common ground. Each makes an impact. Each matters. So, why, then, the distinction? Aren’t we all teachers? No, we’re not. We’re all educators. But we are not all teachers. There is a distinction.
Proximity. Teachers are those closest to kids. We have an opportunity unlike any. Connection. That’s the distinction that matters. Teachers are connected to kids.
~sy
The question rings a loud bell for me. As a doctoral candidate in social psych I was employed on a one year basis teaching soc.psych at a local college. As an educator who believed that students should be able to apply what they learned, for part of my class I had break into small groups and discuss how they would apply what they had just learned to their own lives and interactions.
I was called into the office of a former Dept. Chair and forbidden to use that format because “Social psychology is not a self-help group.”
In other words, I was to be a teacher, but not an educator.
In the drive home I decided that, although I would finish my doctorate, I would not become a professional social psychologist. I became a very successful addictions counselor instead – and then a college professor of addictions counseling – where my students learned a great deal by applying what they learned to their own lives – for which, years later, they still write to thank me.
Thank you for connecting and chiming in, Diana. I appreciate your perspective.