Looking for a short story where the protagonist's education and training is described as he ascends up the ladder of accomplishment. Turns out the ultimate respected and rewarded occupation in his field of education is as a classroom teacher. I'd like to give a copy of this to my child's teacher. Thx.
To be more specific: I'm 99% sure this was in a short story collection and 50% sure it's by a known science fiction author and was read in either the 70's or 80's, though it may have been written earlier. The details are very fuzzy. I think it was set in a future where the denouement included something about a reorganization/maturation of humanity.