Someone who gives instruction in the subject of geometry is called a geometry teacher. These teachers might be professors who instruct in colleges and universities or teachers who work in primary educational facilities. One definition of geometry is the study of properties and relations of lines, surfaces and solids. It also is said to be the visual study of various shapes, patterns, sizes and positions. In the United States, a geometry teacher usually is called a math teacher because geometry generally is taught in various math courses.
Typically, a geometry teacher is also someone who instructs his or her students in the history of the discipline. Many mathematicians believe that geometry was developed over time by analyzing the way that ordinary activities in daily life are carried out. For example, the construction of some of the seven wonders of the ancient world, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, is believed to have been made possible, in part, by applying geometric principles. Most mathematicians also affirm that man's quest to measure things, navigate the seas and use tools have all influenced the development of geometry.
It might be said that a geometry teacher is also somewhat of a history instructor, because early mathematicians studied the various daily activities of different cultures that related to the subject. Geometry has evolved into sub-disciplines: Euclidean, analytic and algebraic. There also is descriptive, differential and projective geometry. Some instructors, depending on the need for students to learn a certain type of geometry, might choose to specialize. Their class, however, is still usually referred to as a math class.
An instructor who focuses on Euclidean geometry, for example, imparts knowledge about representing objects in two and three dimensions. This type of geometry is based on the teachings of Euclid, a Greek mathematician. A teacher of analytic geometry specializes in expressing geometric relations of points on a plane or in space. It should also be remembered that even someone who only tutors others in the subject still can be referred to as a geometry teacher.
Most instructors who teach at a college or university have earned at least a bachelor's degree in mathematics, usually with an emphasis on teaching. Some children in the United States receive their primary education in their home and are taught by one or both of their parents. This type of education is known as home-schooling, in which case, a student's geometry teacher is his or her parent or legal guardian.
