I do and the ones I remember most favorably did not work at academic institutions. They were mentors and peers where I worked.
I remember one teacher who in 7th grade yanked me out of my chair, dragged me into the hall, picked me up and slammed me against the wall because he overheard me whispering to a class mate when I said he was an idiot for not understanding my drawing for his assignment.
I will admit that I got to go to decent schools and learned important things but I don't think any of my teachers were exceptional and some of them were just wrong and taught lies. Lucky are those kids who go to schools that teach creationism.
Even at an early age I knew more about subjects in which I was interested than did my teachers. In eighth grade I drew a sketch of a Titian III rocket that had two large strap on boosters. My teacher told me rockets did not look like that! She knew nothing more about rockets than was on the TV News or Time magazine. I was daydreaming about making a flying model of that Titian Rocket.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=lF0QECCy&id=FE2E749779F04F7C786FE79B9F0AC01D09F39806&thid=OIP.lF0QECCysgTZTHs9VLScCQHaJn&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.afspacemuseum.org%2fmissiles%2fTitan%2fTitan_IIIC_660826_0092.jpg&exph=436&expw=336&q=Titian+IIIc&simid=608033572170367372&ck=F1B43AF8EBC73001A264277465C558A9&selectedIndex=9&ajaxhist=0
I do retain some respect for a small few of my academic teachers but not enough to agree with your response. Few teachers are so special that they on their own create great outcomes. Many great and successful people dropped out of school and made it on their own. My High School did not even have a Calculus class but I am an aeronautical engineer and a published scientist. I did not master calculus because of my teacher, I mastered it because I wanted to learn it.
Most of the credit goes to Newton not the text we used or the professor at the head of the class. I would have learned it with almost any good text and I just needed a professor to grade the tests and give me credit toward my degree.
If a teacher takes a student under their wing and guides them when they lost they can make a big difference but mostly Academia is like a big mass production operation focused on profit and prestige. It did produce outcomes that justified the cost but I believe that is no longer the case.
Can you name a single teacher who taught a thousand billionaires or even one hundred or even 10 Nobel Laureates. A lot of teachers had more than 40 years to reach that kind of production but no dice.
TEK
Your statement is not incorrect but "some" is not a very precise measurement.
