Origin of 'Those who can't do teach"
I was wondering if Woody Allen was the creator of this phrase. He wrote it in 1977:
"Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, teach gym". Does it date back earlier than that? |
Allen's version strikes me as a play on the original, taking it to the next level of absurdity and humor. Based on what little I know of Woody Allen, jokes, and language, I'd guess by the structure (three-part, rather than two-part) and context (a movie by a known comedian), that it's not the original.
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I believe the original to be...
He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches. Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists" George Bernard Shaw. |
Beat me to it - I use it frequently.
More's the pity. |
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Just had to testify for the man. |
I don't know the origin, but I've always known it as:
Those that can, do Those that can't, teach And those that can't teach teach teachers. Dave |
Or, the related version I know...
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, administrate. |
The version I use
Those who can, do Those who can't, teach Those who can't teach, write about those that do and teach. |
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Americans generally attribute it to Mencken, but I've never seen it given a date, and I'll have to say that Man and Superman is before Mencken was making quotable statements (he would've only been in his 20s 1903). |
I heard it as,
"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach at Community College." I'm sure it varies to circumstances. |
Those who can't do, teach.
Those who can't teach, manage. Those who can't manage, consult. There is a relevant short story by... Orson Scott Card? The main character is an assistant principal who works his behind off and is rewarded with the position of principal. CT (runs a consulting company, and manages) |
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I love being a librarian. |
It's a pragmatic statement, essentially playing on the difference between athletic and intellectual motivations. Because both disciplines would be superior, it quietly encourages it's own invalidation.
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To me the above implies external factors preventing one from taking action, while the modern versions seem to imply internal lack of ability. |
Ah ****. I can't do. That's plain enough. I tried teaching, but it turned out I couldn't do that either. What's left for me?
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Those who can, foster progress.
Those who can't, foster progress reports. |
I had a colleague who taught AP chemistry a few years back. He had this great T-shirt:
Those who can, do. Those who can do more, teach. :D And yes I'm a teacher. I teach high school AP physics & college physics/astronomy. There are a lot of damn good teachers out there, but I will also be the first to admit there are a lot of idiots in classrooms out there as well (and I don't mean the students). |
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If you want a brilliant physicist, it's hard enough to find them. If you want a brilliant physicist who is also a brilliant teacher, it's much harder. So it's not surprising that the DoD -- which doesn't care about teaching -- hires better physicists than St. Grottlesex. If you want a brilliant physicist who is also a brilliant teacher, a concert oboeist, and an Olympic gymnast.... I don't think such a person exists. So if you want to hire a physics teacher who can also play oboe in the school band and coach the gymnastics team, you'll have to settle for adequacy, or perhaps even "barely competent," in at least one of those areas. |
I've always said it this way "them what can does, them what can't talks about it"
I learned this as a kid, probably from my dad, who WANTED to be a teacher. |
I always thought it was
If you can't work, then teach. If you can't teach, then administrate. If you can't administrate, then legislate. If you can't legislate, then litigate. |
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His quotes, not always so bad. |
In Japan, it goes like this:
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach EFL. |
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I just couldn't disagree with you more. I see him and often think to myself: "There is no greater person on this planet". |
I don't know if Woody Allen said that but its true.
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What, about gym teachers?
Woody Allen was making a joke, a spoof, a parody, a send off of the original quote. Anybody who sincerely thinks the original is true probably doesn't know anything worth teaching. |
The phrase is a gross simplification of the truth. It probably refers to teachers of children only. I have been taught by teachers as a adult heaps of times. There are two types of teacher
1. Those that are good at teaching what they know. They teach as their job. However if you ask them a tricky question then they do not know the answer. This sort of person the phrase is aimed at. 2. These people are not really teachers. They only teach part time. For the rest of the time they actually do the work. They know everything or nearly everything about the subject. However they may not know how to teach. |
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A good teacher inspires students. See if you can. Those that can, do... thost that can do better teach... those that can't do either one, criticize. glenn |
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Anyone with an education can stand in front of students and regurgitate their brain. Try getting in front of a high school class or a middle school class and see how many are inspired. You will get to know your students fairly well... Give is a shot--see if you can survive--most don't. glenn |
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glenn |
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glenn |
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It's especially hard making people want to do something that's difficult and not especially fun. Did you ever play an instrument in school? I, personally, found that practicing was both dull and difficult, and there were usually other things that would have been more fun, like playing outside, watching TV, or sitting and reading a book. For the most part, I practiced because my parents yelled at me if I didn't. On the other hand, I enjoyed -- and still enjoy -- just "messing around" on my instrument; playing songs that I liked to play instead of songs that had been assigned by the teacher to master. Similarly, I always loved to read -- certain types of books, that is. I loved adventure fiction, fantasy, space opera, detective fiction, and a lot of non-fiction as well (although I always hated biography). But I also hated most of the stuff I was assigned in high school. I felt -- and still feel -- that most of the 19th century should be taken out and shot. Dickens is bad enough; I'll actually give him credit for A Christmas Carol, but Oliver Twist is just tedious. And the entire "gothic-fiction" genre (Turn of the Screw) made Oliver seem positively exciting. So I was the sort of student who would put down The Turn of the Screw to read Lives of a Cell. That delighted my biology teacher and ticked the hell out of my English lit teacher, for obvious reasons. What could the English teacher have done to make me actually want to put down Lives instead? That is inspiration, and that's something that typically only a very good teacher can do, especially for a class of forty. ETA: And, more specifically -- what could you have done? Go ahead, persuade the fifteen-year old me that what you want me to do is more important than what I want to do, enough that I'll actually go home and work on it. |
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Thanks for the life advice, Holler Hoojer. |
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