<p>班主任 The director of a class. It functions as a combination of home room teacher and counselor in US. All school levels up to college have this role.</p>
<p>副班主任 The vice director of a class. This is usually in a large school or college. Lots of smaller schools do not have this role.</p>
<p>助教 TA-Teaching Assistant. It is only available in college.</p>
<p>主班老师 and 配班老师? There is no such thing in standard Chinese at least in mainland China. It could be a dialect of some places or some other language region like Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia or some one just made it up in a bad translation and the bad translation spreads to more places.</p>
<p>主教 In a school settings especially in a college campus, it means the Main Academic Building, Main Classroom Building, or Main Lecture Hall. 主要的+教学楼=主教. It literally means &quot;Main Classroom Building&quot;. Some colleges has 副教(secondary classroom building), 一教(Classroom building 1),二教(Classroom building 2),三教(Classroom building 3) etc. You can call Harvard Hall as 主教 in Harvard University. Nobody calls a teacher 主教 because the word has a religious meaning as explained below.</p>
<p>主教 In a religious context, it means Bishop.</p>
<p>天主教 It means Catholic. 教 means religion here. The three words literally mean &quot;Heaven + Master + Religion&quot;, i.e., the religion of master of heaven.</p>
<p>基督教 means Christian. 基督 is the transliteration of Jesus. The whole thing means &quot;the religion of Jesus&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-19T15:14:17.747Z
Wow, I didn't realize 主教 can be the juxtapose（并列）of 主教学楼. Also, I do agree that bad translations spreads to more places a lot of the times, however, the structure of 「主班老师」 and 「配班老师」do make sense. I would say 「主教」as a mistranslation of a homeroom teacher is more of a bad translation.
Monokuma
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-17T18:27:29.647Z
2024-09-17T18:42:05.597Z
2024-09-17T18:42:05.597Z
Frankz
<p>Homeroom teacher = 班主任 / 級任老师 / 班導师 (the latter two are the name for homeroom teachers in Taiwan)</p>
<p>Assistant teacher/Teacher's assistance/aides = 教师助理 / 客堂助理 / 教学助理</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-15T21:50:12.210Z
2024-09-15T21:50:12.210Z
r13
<p>I have seen the use of <strong>班主任</strong> and <strong>助教</strong> in real life. However, the latter <strong>主班老师</strong> and <strong>配班老师</strong> have been on media sometimes, as when I look up videos in regards to classroom tips.</p>
<p>I am wondering if there are differences between the former and the latter.</p>
<p>Summarized understanding (based on feedback):</p>
<h2>Homeroom teacher:</h2>
<h2>班主任
<em>(General term)</em></h2>
<p><em>Breakdown</em>:
班 + 主任</p>
<pre><code>班 = Classroom 
主任 = head/director in charge of a specific role.
</code></pre>
<p><em>Combine</em>:</p>
<pre><code>班 (Classroom) + 主任 (Head/Director) = The head of a classroom.
班主任 = Homeroom Teacher
</code></pre>
<h2>主班老师 <em>(Kindergarten setting)</em></h2>
<p><em>Breakdown</em>: 主班 + 老师</p>
<pre><code>主班 = &quot;Main class&quot; or &quot;Lead class&quot;
老师 = Class Teacher
</code></pre>
<p><em>Combine</em>:</p>
<pre><code>主班老师 = leading teacher, or the homeroom teacher.

(However, you should not translate it directly to &quot;lead teacher&quot; / &quot;head teacher&quot;, as in the context of education,
it already has the meaning of the someone who provides guidance as the head of department or a specific grade level.
Sometimes it means a principal.)
</code></pre>
<hr />
<h2>Assistant teacher:</h2>
<h2>助教 <em>(General term)</em></h2>
<p>全称/Full Title: <strong>助理老师</strong></p>
<p>简称/abbreviation: <strong>助教/TA</strong></p>
<p>(General term)</p>
<p><em>Breakdown</em>: 助 + 教</p>
<pre><code>助 = To assist or support
教 = To teach
</code></pre>
<p><em>Combine</em>:</p>
<p>助教 = Assistance teacher, or the co-teacher</p>
<h2>配班老师 <em>(Kindergarten setting)</em></h2>
<p><em>Breakdown:</em> 配班 + 老师</p>
<pre><code>配班 = Class support, as 配 refers to support side-to-side
老师 = Class Teacher
</code></pre>
<p><em>Combine:</em></p>
<pre><code>配班老师 = Supporting teacher, as someone who supports the management of a class. 
Especially in a k-2 setting.
</code></pre>
<h2>副班主任 <em>(Teaching assistant but with equivalent level as a homeroom teacher)</em></h2>
<p><em>Breakdown</em>:</p>
<pre><code>副 = Deputy, someone who is a substitute in management
班主任 = Homeroom teacher
</code></pre>
<p><em>Combine</em>:</p>
<pre><code>副班主任 = Assistance teacher, who works as the same workload as the homeroom teacher.
They work as classroom support, especially common in a co-teaching environment.
If directly translated into English, it would mean: Deputy Homeroom Teacher.
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>On a side note, I do notice people saying the abridged version of <strong>主班老师</strong>，that being <strong>“主教”</strong>.
However, I personally think its similarity to the pronunciation of 助教 can cause confusions in some cases. It isn't the word I choose in Chinese for homeroom teacher. To which I usually use 班主任 for. Furthermore, &quot;主教&quot; in Chinese already has the meaning of a bishop, fully written as “天主教”. This is why I am unsure if people are using it correctly when expressing a homeroom teacher in Chinese.</p>
<p>These are my understanding. I am unsure if they are correct or not.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-16T00:35:35.277Z
I have never heard anyone use "主教" to refer to teachers in Taiwan or China before.
James
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-16T02:34:24.027Z
From search results, it seems that 主班老师 and 配班老师 are used in the context of 幼儿园.
kyc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-16T18:44:37.507Z
I am in America and some of my classmates who are teachers say 「主教」.However, I do think that since no one in China or Taiwan say this, this might be a misuse of the word. They might trying to directly translate "main teacher" into Chinese for simplicity
Monokuma
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-16T18:47:06.473Z
I see, so 主班 and 配班 are used in the context of kindergarten. This cleared up some of my confusion. Maybe 主教 refers to  shorten 主班老师
Monokuma
<translation><word-choice><vocabulary><word><terminology>
Are the meanings of 班主任 and 助教 equivalent to 主班老师 and 配班老师?
# Are the meanings of 班主任 and 助教 equivalent to 主班老师 and 配班老师?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-15)

I have seen the use of **班主任** and **助教** in real life. However, the latter **主班老师** and **配班老师** have been on media sometimes, as when I look up videos in regards to classroom tips.

I am wondering if there are differences between the former and the latter.

Summarized understanding (based on feedback):

## Homeroom teacher:

## 班主任 *(General term)*

*Breakdown*:
班 + 主任

```
班 = Classroom 
主任 = head/director in charge of a specific role.

```

*Combine*:

```
班 (Classroom) + 主任 (Head/Director) = The head of a classroom.
班主任 = Homeroom Teacher

```

## 主班老师 *(Kindergarten setting)*

*Breakdown*: 主班 + 老师

```
主班 = "Main class" or "Lead class"
老师 = Class Teacher

```

*Combine*:

```
主班老师 = leading teacher, or the homeroom teacher.

(However, you should not translate it directly to "lead teacher" / "head teacher", as in the context of education,
it already has the meaning of the someone who provides guidance as the head of department or a specific grade level.
Sometimes it means a principal.)

```

---

## Assistant teacher:

## 助教 *(General term)*

全称/Full Title: **助理老师**

简称/abbreviation: **助教/TA**

(General term)

*Breakdown*: 助 + 教

```
助 = To assist or support
教 = To teach

```

*Combine*:

助教 = Assistance teacher, or the co-teacher

## 配班老师 *(Kindergarten setting)*

*Breakdown:* 配班 + 老师

```
配班 = Class support, as 配 refers to support side-to-side
老师 = Class Teacher

```

*Combine:*

```
配班老师 = Supporting teacher, as someone who supports the management of a class. 
Especially in a k-2 setting.

```

## 副班主任 *(Teaching assistant but with equivalent level as a homeroom teacher)*

*Breakdown*:

```
副 = Deputy, someone who is a substitute in management
班主任 = Homeroom teacher

```

*Combine*:

```
副班主任 = Assistance teacher, who works as the same workload as the homeroom teacher.
They work as classroom support, especially common in a co-teaching environment.
If directly translated into English, it would mean: Deputy Homeroom Teacher.

```

---

On a side note, I do notice people saying the abridged version of **主班老师**，that being **“主教”**.
However, I personally think its similarity to the pronunciation of 助教 can cause confusions in some cases. It isn't the word I choose in Chinese for homeroom teacher. To which I usually use 班主任 for. Furthermore, "主教" in Chinese already has the meaning of a bishop, fully written as “天主教”. This is why I am unsure if people are using it correctly when expressing a homeroom teacher in Chinese.

These are my understanding. I am unsure if they are correct or not.

**Tags:** translation, word-choice, vocabulary, word, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I have never heard anyone use "主教" to refer to teachers in Taiwan or China before.  
> **username_2**: From search results, it seems that 主班老师 and 配班老师 are used in the context of 幼儿园.  
> **username_0**: I am in America and some of my classmates who are teachers say 「主教」.However, I do think that since no one in China or Taiwan say this, this might be a misuse of the word. They might trying to directly translate "main teacher" into Chinese for simplicity  
> **username_0**: I see, so 主班 and 配班 are used in the context of kindergarten. This cleared up some of my confusion. Maybe 主教 refers to  shorten 主班老师  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-09-17. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

班主任 The director of a class. It functions as a combination of home room teacher and counselor in US. All school levels up to college have this role.

副班主任 The vice director of a class. This is usually in a large school or college. Lots of smaller schools do not have this role.

助教 TA-Teaching Assistant. It is only available in college.

主班老师 and 配班老师? There is no such thing in standard Chinese at least in mainland China. It could be a dialect of some places or some other language region like Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia or some one just made it up in a bad translation and the bad translation spreads to more places.

主教 In a school settings especially in a college campus, it means the Main Academic Building, Main Classroom Building, or Main Lecture Hall. 主要的+教学楼=主教. It literally means "Main Classroom Building". Some colleges has 副教(secondary classroom building), 一教(Classroom building 1),二教(Classroom building 2),三教(Classroom building 3) etc. You can call Harvard Hall as 主教 in Harvard University. Nobody calls a teacher 主教 because the word has a religious meaning as explained below.

主教 In a religious context, it means Bishop.

天主教 It means Catholic. 教 means religion here. The three words literally mean "Heaven + Master + Religion", i.e., the religion of master of heaven.

基督教 means Christian. 基督 is the transliteration of Jesus. The whole thing means "the religion of Jesus".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Wow, I didn't realize 主教 can be the juxtapose（并列）of 主教学楼. Also, I do agree that bad translations spreads to more places a lot of the times, however, the structure of 「主班老师」 and 「配班老师」do make sense. I would say 「主教」as a mistranslation of a homeroom teacher is more of a bad translation.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-09-15. Score: 1

Homeroom teacher = 班主任 / 級任老师 / 班導师 (the latter two are the name for homeroom teachers in Taiwan)

Assistant teacher/Teacher's assistance/aides = 教师助理 / 客堂助理 / 教学助理


---

