Today, I passed by an elementary school in my area and started to reminisce about my days as a K-12 educator. I encounter this school from time to time, and I usually just acknowledge it and kept driving. But on this occasion, it triggered longterm memories of me during my teaching days. More specifically, I started to remember what a character I was and how I always tried to keep things exciting and interesting. Well, I’m still interesting, just in a more corporate, buttoned downed way.

You don’t believe me, do you? Well, how about this for fun. As an educator, I would use all of these zany synonyms to refer to myself and my fellow teachers. Words like pedagogue, docent, pedant, and didact to name a few. Why did I do it? Just to add a little variety to my vocabulary and show off some of the words I was learning for the GRE (Graduate Requisite Exam).

In this short blog, I want to share with you 45 synonyms for the title of teacher. As a heads up, some of these terms are weird, outlandish, and just plain comical. However, they all describe the various roles and forms that teachers assume. Try a few of them with other educators and see how it goes. It may seem awkward at first, but there is nothing wrong with a little fun.

1. academe
2. academic
3. academician
4. catechist
5. coach
6. dean
7. didact
8. docent
9. doctor
10. don
11. drillmaster
12. educationist
13. educator
14. governess
15. guide
16. guru
17. headmaster
18. headmistress
19. homeschooler
20. inculcator
21. instructor
22. instructress
23. lecturer
24. master
25. mentor
26. mistress
27. moralizer
28. pedagogue
29. pedant
30. preacher
31. preceptor
32. preparer
33. prof
34. professor
35. rector
36. regius professor
37. schoolmarm
38. schoolmaster
39. schoolmistress
40. schoolteacher
41. student teacher
42. teacher education candidate
43. trainer
44. tutor
45. tutoress