The main argument of this article is that the problematic nature of the artist teacher concept might not be the duality between art and education, but might refer to a limited understanding of education, in such a way that art would appear to be contrasting to education. A different definition of education is required to understand the qualities of the artist teacher. Pre-existing pedagogical practices where children initiate their own learning, like Reggio Emilia and the Dutch project "Toeval gezocht", transcend the boundaries of the educational paradigm. These democratic pedagogies can inform the notion of "artistic teaching" in such a way that the artist teacher concept is no longer one of conflicting paradigms but instead becomes a critical model for teaching.