difference between a mentor and a teacher

Not exactly interchangeably. A teacher can sometimes be a mentor. A mentor can sometimes be a teacher. There is a subtle difference. I am lucky enough to have had good ones of both, and now I do both teaching and mentoring, and both intersect. A teacher imparts information directly. This is a verb, or a noun. This is how you find the circumference. This is how valence works. Direct; immediate. A mentor is a guide, an intellectual co-pilot. A mentor helps you find for yourself that which you seek. (my view) In my day job, I teach English, from Beginner to Advanced. Rules and forms of construction and whys and why nots. In other circumstances, I mentor Masters and Doctoral candidates in their work, helping them to clarify their thinking and writing. I discuss and argue and listen and hug and criticize. In the mentoring, there is teaching. In the teaching, there is mentoring. Here, for me, is the critical difference: A teacher shows you what to think. A mentor shows you how to think. A teacher/mentor guides you in how to think about what you think. The most important role, in my view, of a mentor, is lighting the fire of metacognition. Students may establish life-long relationships with both teachers and mentors. My most recent (and successful) doctoral student (special education) stopped by a few hours ago to ask questions about and discuss philosophy. A mentor's door is never closed. But, the acceptance of a mentee is a gift, not a given.