In this article I make the case that in order to understand what is special and distinctive about education, we ought to approach education from the angle of the teacher. I show that this suggestion goes against a current trend in educational discourse, which is to put learners and their learning in the centre of attention. I argue why such a turn is problematic, particularly because it runs the risk of undermining the important and unique work that teachers perform and forgetting the unique position that schools, colleges and universities as public institutions occupy in contemporary societies. Taking the angle of the teacher thus amounts to a defence of teaching and the school which, as I discuss throughout the article, is critical in order to push back against the ongoing learnification of educational practice, policy and research.