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Sorry if this is a bit out of date, but I get this list in digest form and
am only now catching up on my reading. A while back Ather Osama quoted
someone (actually, lots of someones!?) as saying:

<<<<Those who can, do, those who cannot, teach
>> Those who can't teach well become deans,
>> Lousy deans are consultants....

I've been a doer, a teacher, a consultant, but never a dean (though I ran a
university Learning Resource Center for three years). I have heard this
tired old saying many, many times and I have grown to hate it! So finally I
have decided to speak out and offer this rephrasing:

* Those who can, do.

* Those who can do really well (even joyfully), sometimes begin to see the
power and beauty of what they are doing and decide to become teachers to
share their passion and their skill with others.

* Those teachers who become aware of many other teachers struggling to share
their passions but burdened by political intrigue, lack of resources and
other institutional garbage, decide to become deans to help get the garbage
out of their way so the other teachers can teach.

* Successful deans and successful teachers and successful doers sometimes
decide that it might be challenging and fun and, yes, even socially redeeming
to fly around like bumble bees from one organization to another or from one
industry to another in order cross pollinate and to challenge themselves to
see if their suggestions and theories will work in a bunch of different
environments. So they become consultants.

Thanks for reading this and for giving me an opportunity to rave about this.
Happy Holidays!

Michael Greer -- mgreer6062@aol.com
Author of _The Project Manager's Partner_ (HRD Press), _ID Project
Management_(Ed. Tech. Pub.) and other PM Resources -- For free handouts, etc.
see:
http://members.aol.com/GreersPM/mg-home.htm

My first degree was a B.Ed. We used to say:

Those who can't do teach,
Those who can't teach teach teachers.

Barbara Austin wrote:
>
> My first degree was a B.Ed. We used to say:
>
> Those who can't do teach,
> Those who can't teach teach teachers.

These sayings have really nothing to do with teaching but are a
commentary on the educational system we have allowed to develop in this
country. The real act of teaching, of facilitating the learning of
others, requires rare gifts that not many possess. When one sees a true
teacher in action one is in awe of that person's ability to manage both
the people (moreso perhaps with children) and the process and one
marvels at the magic of human learning and development.

Unfortunately, we have allowed an educational system to develop which
more often than not devalues true teaching gifts in favor of
classroom management techniques based on control and not learning
administrators who are more interested in power and control than in
human development
a politicized and competitive process for structuring authority which
sets teachers against administration and teachers against teachers.

David Miron
djmiron@concentric.net