教師, 教員, and 講師: Teaching Roles and a Question Sent to an Instructor
Read a science teacher, a new faculty member, and a course instructor. Distinguish recording opinions, discussion, and sending a question from agreement, hiring, answers, or a course already held.
A teaching occupation and opinions recorded
教師 (きょうし) means teacher. 「姉は中学校で理科の教師をしている。」 — “My older sister works as a science teacher at a middle school.” The sentence identifies a science-teaching occupation at a middle school. The people identified by 教師, 教員, and 講師 may overlap; the examples do not establish ranks of degrees or employment terms.
「教師は生徒の意見を黒板に一つずつ書いた。」 — “The teacher wrote the students' opinions on the board one by one.” The teacher wrote the students' opinions on the board one by one. Recording them does not establish agreement with every opinion.
An introduced faculty member and a discussion
教員 (きょういん) means teacher or faculty member. 「新任の教員が職員室で紹介された。」 — “The new faculty member was introduced in the staff room.” The introduced person is the new faculty member, and the location is the staff room.
「教員と保護者が学習環境について話し合った。」 — “A teacher and a guardian discussed the learning environment.” The teacher and guardian discussed the learning environment. Keep those roles distinct without turning the discussion into a report that the guardian was hired as a teacher.
An explanation and a question sent to an instructor
講師 (こうし) means instructor or lecturer. 「講師が写真を使って分かりやすく説明した。」 — “The instructor used photographs to explain it clearly.” The instructor explained using photographs. This role is not made into a credential level exclusive of the other teaching terms.
「来月の講座を担当する講師に質問を送った。」 — “I sent a question to the instructor teaching next month's course.” A question was sent to the instructor responsible for next month's course. The sending is a past action, while the course is next month's; the sentence does not report an answer received or a course already held.
What does sending a question to the 講師 of next month's course tell us?
Show the answer and why
It identifies the recipient as that course's instructor. It does not report receiving an answer or the course already taking place. Preserve possible overlap among 教師, 教員, and 講師 without inventing employment or degree ranks.