Professor Teacher – Distinctive Responsibilities Between Professors and Teachers

First year college students may be unaware of the differences between a high school teacher and a college professor. Although entrance into any sphere of education involves a focused training and evaluation period for both teachers and professors, the areas of expertise between the two are incredibly different. For example: the high school teacher works within the framework of a thirty-hour classroom instruction week. On the other hand, the college professor deals student instructions in a classroom with an agenda that considers twelve to fifteen hours per week a full college workload.

College professors live with the expectation that students will arrive in class having already studied the course materials. Their task is to stretch a willing student’s thinking muscles, complementing students' knowledge and fostering a positive environment for learning. Teachers, on the other hand, must often hammer data into the head of an unwilling student.

Professors, Not Teachers
Teachers rarely possess the credentials that would enable them to teach in college. But strangely, this condition also exists in reverse. Most college professors lack the credentials that would enable them to teach in high school, or even elementary school. This is, of course, due to the different needs of each type of institution. There are however, some college faculty members who are trained to be professor teachers.

Distinctive Differences
Keeping in mind that there are exceptions to nearly every rule, herein are some of the primary responsibilities and training methods that distinguish a professor from a teacher:

• Professors contribute toward ongoing scholarships in their fields of expertise as an essential function of their job
• Professors are given greater freedom to determine their own curricula
• Professors often establish their own grading systems
• Professors are not so classroom bound as their teacher counterparts
• Professors spend many hours pursuing research projects and committee services
• Professors must deal with the complications associated with adult students
• Professors make certain assumptions concerning the student’s responsibility for personal preparation

As a final point, remember that teachers manage a forced classroom while professors train voluntary students.
 

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