What do you think of when you think of a teacher? A rigid taskmaster with a red pen, or a benevolent guide who has students standing on desks reciting poetry?
We all have something we could teach others. It might be a skill, or some specialized knowledge, or the story of your experience that will save someone the trouble of taking a risk themselves. It’s not just in a classroom. Have you ever thought about how you approach teaching others?
We could look at a few things. Mercury will show you how you communicate, your style- you might be precise like a Virgo, jocular like a Sadge, or direct like an Aries. But getting them to learn the lesson, the process- how do you do that? I see two big hitters on opposite sides of the spectrum, that together make the best teachers: Jupiter and Saturn.
You use your Jupiter to inspire. You’re going to be a cheerleader, encourage openness, have fun with the topic. You might make a mess, you’ll welcome risk and be very tolerant of mistakes. Imagine a language teacher getting her students to express themselves in a conversation. They reach further as their competence increases. They expand. It won’t help them to nitpick; it will often discourage further learning.
Saturn is the authority figure. It’s not just facts and figures- you are going to give assignments, and your student is going to be tested. The student is going to understand there are rules, and that in order to accomplish a specific thing, this is what has to happen. A pastry chef working with his apprentice on a cake is going to outline the exact process, the exact ingredients and amounts needed, and the student will know exactly what the finished product is supposed to be. You want your student to be contained and bound by established procedure, or he will fail.
How is it that constricting Saturn and expansive Jupiter, that work so differently, end up teaching so much together? Because once you know the rules (Saturn) you can embellish them (Jupiter) to innovate. The classically trained painter goes wild and becomes Picasso. The actor riffs off a script. And the Jupiter-guided student, encouraged to explore and discover, amasses real, solid knowledge. And just like that, the amateur becomes the expert, and the student, the teacher.
How do you teach? Are you a taskmaster, a cheerleader, or both?
Hey everyone! This is Kumquat steppin’ up! Please welcome her! 🙂
Hello Kumquat, a welcome from a Duthc guest on Elsa’s blog.
Dutch!
Thank you!
Welcome Kumquat. Nice post!
Thank you! ?
Hi Kumquat. Great post! I’ve encountered both kinds of teachers and must say that I prefer the Jupiterian teacher. I think their method makes learning fun. The Saturnian teacher has a tougher, more rigid approach. That kind of teacher works well with subjects that require great detail, like accounting.
I’ve done my share of having small computer classes. My Mercury is in Scorpio trine Uranus and quincunx Jupiter. It is also square Pluto. I like to make learning exciting and fun, but can also explain things in depth when questions arise. I never used to like doing training, but after awhile I got better at it and actually enjoyed it.
I guess you can say I’m more of a cheerleader. I was always excited about computers and I wanted to make them excited about it too.
I agree about Saturnian teachers- some subjects need to be very grounded! Being a cheerleader is a lot more fun, though. You also get to crack a lot more jokes. 😉
Yas.
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Hey Kumquat! Nice post.
I love to cheer lead and inspire possibility. And when I was doing a lot of teaching and training it was the most fun to innovate an approach to a potentially ‘dry’ subject. I have Jupiter conj Venus in Sag and both trine a Saturn conjunction with Mars and Pluto. Your post makes lots of sense because at its best those two energies can create a wonderful environment for growth!
Thank you! And they definitely do. Some people need a boost, and some need more discipline. Most can use a little bit of both!
Thanks Kumquat, I enjoyed your first post!
Thank you klara!
Lovely post. The bit about Mercury in signs and the teaching style really sunk in!
My Sag Merc is definitely Jocular! I’m more cheerleader than task master. Sag Mars and Merc with Saturn in Pisces and Jupiter in Cancer. Definitely prefer nurturing and gently guiding to rules and tasks. All that water prefers soft edges but Sun Scorpio loves helping students build a firm foundation that they “get” not just recite.
Thanks for this Post!
Thank you and you’re welcome! I think you’ve described your teaching style perfectly. Nurturing with a little twinkle. 🙂
Good Post, usually I teach by example, I usually express what worked for me and what didn’t. mercury in scorpio.
Mercury in Scorpio will not shy away from the tough subjects either.
Hi Kumquat, welcome! Thank you, I think I am both a cheerleader and a task master at different times and sometimes the same time, if that makes sense.
It sure does! And thank you!
hi there nice post 🙂
Cap Sun/Mercury and Sag Moon/Ascendant
typical teacher/preacher here :)When I first started teaching I lead with my Sag and had a hard time reeling in the kids antics….I can inspire quite a bit of silliness. I have toned that down and now let out the Sag when we’ve accomplished enough to satisfy the Cap-tain.
Thanks jana! Work first, play later. It does work!
Very nice Kumquat.
I dont know the answer for myself:) I dont think Im a great teacher. I guess maybe I just try to stay present with people so that they can find their own way, but I dont know that its effective. I have Saturn conj Jupiter.
You’re a very good teacher. Many people have told you how much your insights into yourself have helped them. ?
Great post, Kumquat! Nice to read you here.
It’s a very interesting subject & also applicable, I think, to people (such as myself) who are not teachers. Sometimes I try to help out by sharing experience, professional or otherwise.
I suppose the Saturn=Jupiter approach could appply to parents too?
Thank you! And definitely applies to parenting. Can you imagine being only one way or the other with kids? You hear unhappy stories all the time of parents who were too strict or too permissive. It’s probably easier though to be very clear about behavior in the beginning- Saturn- and then move on to Jupiter after. It’s harder to control an empty balloon than one that’s filled with helium. 🙂
Interesting post, Kumquat.
I have a trine: Jupiter in Gemini and Saturn in Libra and Mercury is in Scorpio.
I secretly think I would be a very good teacher and mostly would try to find my way to the students who have bad results. No cheer leading here.
In real life no one takes me seriously.
I’ll bet you would! I imagine it would be easy for you to be diplomatic and to consider many different perspectives to find the right way to reach all students.
Interesting post kumquat. I go thru life thinking everything is about teaching or learning. Sometimes we are the teacher sometimes the student. Every situation good or bad I have been thru I have always thought am I here to be teaching them something or am I here to learn a lesson. It gets tiring and sometimes even hurtful to keep learning lessons but it’s just as exhausting being the teacher. When someone is learning off of you…especially the hard lessons they fight it they run they don’t like change etc. Ironically I’m a teacher lol I always say these kids are learning way more from us than just the school lessons we teach.
It does take a lot of energy and yes, they are paying attention! A lot of them are learning self-discipline more than anything else. It requires a lot of patience for sure.
Having a Cap Saturn in the 10th sextile the 8th Scorpio Jupiter I get this instantly. Although not a teacher I have taught people many times on many subjects just out of my enthusiasm for the subject. Personally and at the job. Maybe I missed my true calling because they tell me I help them to just “get it”.
That’s a good combination for communicating deep knowledge, with the patience to give them time to, yes, “get it”. People learn at different paces and it really helps to have a teacher who can reinforce when they need it and climb higher once they’ve mastered it.
Excellent post! As a teacher myself, I never really thought about it, but looking at my Pisces Jupiter and Aquar Saturn my teaching style makes a little more sense to me. My classroom management style is very much, you are in high school, please don’t be stupid and I won’t be condescending, we are all on a journey here. But if you are stupid, I will put you in a corner so the rest of us can move on and I don’t have to deal with you and you can learn on your own. Probably not very pc, but generally I only have to isolate one person before everyone else steps up and appreciates have their class time uninterrupted. Not sure how the Pisces fits, I’ll have to think about that one.
Maybe a Pisces Jupiter thinks that the benefit to the group should not be “undone” by the troublemaker?
Nice post Kumquat! I haven’t paid attention to this. . but my Saturn in sag relates to what is written! 🙂
Thank you, confusionconfusion! 🙂
Thank you! Some subjects really need Saturn in control- I’d say algebra is one of them! And sounds like you dig into information with an open mind.
Yay! Someone doesn’t look their age!
Tee hee. The Virgo keeps me in line.
Great article, Kumquat! I always like your comments on the forum side.
I am probably a taskmaster, being a Capricorn sun.
In my career, I was tasked as the section trainer for new people, then new people outside my section. That was followed by giving a portion of the training for statewide certifications. It was somewhat odd as I prefer to work alone while singing to the radio. Working in an open office stopped the singing.
I am an 9th house Capricorn Sun, Saturn in 6th house Libra, Jupiter rising in 1st house Taurus, and Mercury in 8th house Sagittarius. My Sun and Jupiter are in an exact trine. North node in Capricorn, too.
Thank you, Sue Ellen! I think they knew what they were doing, having you do the training!
A while back I was a school teacher! But now that I am not anymore, I’m actually having an effect on a younger person’s life just talking to him. It’s making all of my Cancer planets (in the 4th house) soooooo happy to help him. Mix of Jupiter and Saturn techniques I guess but really I’m just trying to be a springboard. I also just love playing mom.
Have you seen those videos of animals adopting other species- the mom just can’t help herself? Most people can use maternal energy in their lives. It’s good for you and good for him!
My 23 Cap Saturn and 27 Cap Jupiter in my 5th had me advertising my babysitting services at 13, and I was a hit with all the kids I sat, for the reasons you outline above. I had a rule that said that if their parents would allow it, I probably would too. Big catch, I would warn them that if the said their parent let them run around on the furniture, and I let them because they said so, I was going to tell their parents they said so when they got home. So if they lied, they would be punished for what they did, and for lying. Years later, the kids all remember me as the best ever.