those who can't do, teach

proverb

It is easier to get a job teaching how to do something than to get a job actually doing that thing.

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Meanings

proverb

alternative those who can't, teach

  1. derogatoryIt is easier to get a job teaching how to do something than to get a job actually doing that thing.

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

    2004, Shirley M. Hord, Learning Together, Leading Together, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    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”.

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

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

    2010, Charles J. Mertz, So,You Want To Be a Teacher, →ISBN, page 12
Cite this entry
APA

those who can't do, teach. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/those%20who%20can't%20do%2C%20teach

MLA

“those who can't do, teach.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/those%20who%20can't%20do%2C%20teach. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “those who can't do, teach,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/those%20who%20can't%20do%2C%20teach.

Source: those who can't do, teach on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.