We have seen that a teacher is expected to perform a number of tasks which could very well be above their current level of knowledge. They need to be: teachers, parents, friends, psychologists, allies, opponents, taskmasters, leaders, and humans. Only one of which is really taught to them: teacher.
So let’s look at these:
As a teacher, they need to be knowledgeable of the subject they are teaching so they can articulate the subject to the student.
As parents, they need to recognize that students need role models for things above just the subject at hand, as parents need to give a life to the children in a nurturing environment, so does the teacher need to make sure the student knows that the learning environment is a place where they are accepted and welcomed.
As friends, they need to give an ear to the student so as to be able to understand them and better teach them.
As psychologists, they need to be able to read emotions and personalities in order to help them to grow and to learn. As with being a friend, this also helps the teacher to understand the student so they can better help them.
As the student’s ally, the student needs to know that regardless of the situation (within reason) that the teacher is a person they can go to for help and that the teacher will help them once again within reason. It would be reasonable that a teacher would talk with a student who says they have a drug problem as far as pointing out sources of help or to be a shoulder to lean on when confronting parents or significant others. I personally would not consider it the domain of the teacher, however, to pay for any assistance or to be the person to talk to the parent or significant other.
As their opponent, students need challenge, and so do teachers now that I think about it. Debate is a wonderful tool as is competition. Student to student competition works well also, but being available to accept challenge through the act of learning can afford paths of learning that might not have been thought of before.
As taskmasters - and this I personally try to avoid - it is sometimes necessary to make a certain something happen, depending on the development of the previous subjects will make it more likely that such can be done with few problems.
As leaders, teachers show students what is needed by example. You will see this predominantly in trade schools or apprenticeships where the knowledge level required is such that hands on training, as well as education, is needed to learn.
Finally, as human beings, we need to remember that in the absence of everything else, we as human beings all have certain needs, that balancing those needs with the learning curve will always be an issue. We all find students we dislike for one reason or another; as humans who are teaching humans, it is incumbent upon us to get past that and find a method of reaching the student and helping them to learn.