The true teacher is a learner.
Genuine
Yes. In Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (1894), Volume 10, To the Homes of Great Teachers (Memorial Edition, 1916), ‘Friedrich Froebel’, discussion of the young ‘school-mothers’.
Found word for word by program in the full text.
- Work
- Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (Little Journeys to the Homes of Good Men and Great), 1894
- Where
- Volume 10, To the Homes of Great Teachers (Memorial Edition, 1916), ‘Friedrich Froebel’, discussion of the young ‘school-mothers’
- Found at
- Paragraph 1039 of the text
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
Froebel utilized their services in teaching others in order that he might teach them.
He saw that the teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and that the true teacher is a learner. These girl teachers he called school-mothers, and thus was evolved the word and the person.
Froebel founded the first normal and model school for the education of women as teachers, and this was less than a hundred years ago.
The years went by and the little mothers had children of their own, and these children were the ones that formed the first actual, genuine kindergarten.
The scene
Hubbard describes Froebel bringing girls who cared for younger children into school along with their charges. He teaches these girls how to amuse and educate the children, and uses their teaching of others as a way to educate the girls themselves. This is Hubbard’s narration of the lesson Froebel drew, not a transcript of a sentence spoken by Froebel.
What it means
Teaching helps the teacher learn: a genuine teacher remains a learner rather than simply passing on a fixed stock of knowledge.
Often misread
The line is Hubbard’s report about Froebel’s educational practice, not a documented direct quotation from Froebel. It also describes practical learning through teaching, not just a general instruction to keep studying.
Topics
Related quotes
- Art is not a thing; it is a way.
- To teach is to influence, and influence never dies.
- Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. Steve Jobs
- Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search thereof when he is grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. Epicurus
- Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. (paraphrase) Henry David Thoreau
Sources
Cite it
Elbert Hubbard, Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (1894), Volume 10, To the Homes of Great Teachers (Memorial Edition, 1916), ‘Friedrich Froebel’, discussion of the young ‘school-mothers’. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/the-true-teacher-is-a-learner/ (31 October 2026).
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Checked by people
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