Walking Encyclopedias, Cash Clerks and Nose Wipers

Two months ago, a colleague shared with me a T-shirt describing a long list of responsibilities horrifying in scope and scale. Including roles such as 'petty cash clerk, walking encyclopedia, scapegoat and nose wiper', the T-Shirt comically concluded that "You can just call me a Teacher!" I laughed, but as an education professional who has worked closely with schools, the joke's implicit thesis haunted me.

In 2000, Newcastle University published a medical education guide which split the profession of a teacher-not into one, two or three roles but into twelve different ones. Outside of classroom instruction, teacher responsibilities have historically ranged from assessing performance to mentoring students and even managing the expectations of overeager parents. But I began to question this status quo, for how could any single human being however talented realistically manage all of these responsibilities at once?

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