The Most Important Difference Between Teachers and Coaches
Exactly 9 months ago on this day I wrote about the differences between teachers and coaches. However, looking back on what I wrote I noticed one thing in particular that I failed to mention.
I think the most important difference between teachers and coaches is their accountability to the outcome. If a student fails, teachers are rarely held accountable for that failure. It’s far more common for a student to face 100% of the blame for a failure than for their teacher to get any blame at all. On the other hand, if a coach’s student fails it’s far different. More often than not, a coach is at least partially accountable for their student’s failure.
College sports is a great example. If a student athlete fails a class, and then becomes ineligible, their sports coach often gets the blame not their teacher. Furthermore, if a high profile college athlete breaks the law, it’s very common for their athletic coach to get a negative spotlight, not any of the student’s teachers or academic deans.
Not to take anything away from teachers, as many voluntarily take on the role as coach as well. However, this is the main reason why coaches are often willing to invest more in to their students than teachers. Most coaches are responsible for the outcomes their lessons produce, while most teachers are responsible only for delivering lessons.
This is why teachers get paid to teach and coaches get paid for results.