those who can't do, teach

English

Proverb

those who can't do, teach

1. (derogatory) It is easier to get a job teaching how to do something than to get a job actually doing that thing.
   • 2004, Shirley M. Hord, Learning Together, Leading Together, →ISBN:

     If those who can't do, teach — then what will those who can't teach, do?

   • 2007, Roy Vincent, Listening to the Silences, →ISBN, page 21:

     Now, there is an unkind saying in education that “those who can, 'do'; those who can't 'do', teach; those who can't teach, teach others to teach; while those who can't teach others to teach become either education administrators or researchers”.

   • 2010, Charles J. Mertz, So,You Want To Be a Teacher, →ISBN, page 12:

     They say, “Those who can't do, teach.” Don't you believe it. Those who teach show those who can't how to.

Usage notes

• This is often used to attack the competence of teachers in technical fields where teachers make less money than workers in those fields, the presumption being that no one would take a lower-paying job if they had the skills and training for the higher-paying job. Whether this is true is disputed. Aristole's original observation was "those that can, do; those that understand, teach."