What is the relationship between teacher and learner?

As the school year starts, this is a really interesting
question.  I think that you will find many different reads as to what is the
relationship between teacher and learner.  The most foundational of this connection is
that there is a shared experience of learning that should happen within the classroom
setting.  This learning is academic, hopefully real world, and can be interpreted as the
reflection of self that the student possesses.  From this, different teachers can pivot
towards different ends.  Some teachers will see a very structured and hierarchical
relationship between teachers and learners, a structure in which the teacher is the font
of all knowledge and understanding and the student's function in the relationship is to
absorb what is given by the teacher.  Other teachers will argue that there is a
relationship between student and teacher that is motivated through the defense of what
is right or reasonable with evidence.  This need for an evidential base or meeting such
a burden helps to transform the relationship between student and teacher to be one of
research and the student and teacher are both competitive researchers to find "the
truth" or that which is highly defensible.  There are other teachers who view the
relationship between student and teacher as representative of the social or emotional
dynamic that must be nurtured.  This relationship is one where there is a sense of
personal mentoring evident in the process of teaching and learning.  While there are
others who feel that the teacher and student relationship is one of exploration, one in
which teachers encourage students to take risks and immerse themselves in the content or
in the process of learning to explore new dimensions to themselves and the world around
them.  In the last two descriptions, there is less of a hierarchical focus than in the
previous two.