[[quoteright:212:[[BeavisAndButthead http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DavidVanDriessen.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:212:Let's get in touch with our inner-granola, m'kay?]]

May or may not be a good teacher, but ''never'' a good disciplinarian. Often let students call them by their first name ("Mr. Hippie Teacher is my father; you can call me Gary"). Definitely TruthInTelevision, since ''everyone'' has had an art teacher like this. In fiction, however, they can teach any subject.

Contrast with the SadistTeacher. Compare MisplacedKindergartenTeacher and PsychologistTeacher.
----
'''Examples:'''

* Mr. Van Driessen on ''BeavisAndButthead'' (pictured).
* Mr. O' Neill on ''{{Daria}}'', who is scarily similar to Mr. Van Driessen save for the fact that he's not overtly a hippie. When Daria and Jane come to visit his apartment in one episode, it's filled with new age-y paraphernalia, and he offers them tea with a gem tincture.
* Mr. Simmons in ''HeyArnold''.
* ''{{Recess}}'': Ms. Grotke is the most obvious example, but according to TheMovie, Principal Prickly and Ms. Finster were {{Hippie Teacher}}s back in the sixties.
* Mr. Rosso on ''FreaksAndGeeks''
* Mr. Burkenbake on ''TheFairlyOddparents'', literally a HippieTeacher. Also Mrs. Sunshine in "No Substitute for Crazy" [[spoiler:until Timmy wishes her into Mr Crocker's job, and she reveals herself [[EvilTeacher to be a scaryly competent Fairy Hunter]] whose professional name is Miss Doombringer]].
* Art Cooney on ''TheWedge''.
* Barbara Finney from ''TheCatAteMyGymsuit'' was the first person to help insecure Marcy Lewis break out of her shell. Her controversial teaching methods has also caused an uproar from a large portion of the school faculty.
*Although not actually hippieish, Madame Frout, headmistress of the Frout Academy of Learning Through Play in the ''[[{{Discworld}} Thief Of Time]]'', has invented a method of teaching that doesn't involve dicipline because she wasn't any good at it. Her best teacher, [[SternTeacher Susan Sto Helit]], completely ignores it.
* TruthInTelevision: Being a hippie is essentially a prerequisite for a professorship at [[InsistentTerminology The Evergreen State College]], an "alternative" institute of higher learning in Olympia, WA, which does away with, among other things, ''grades''.
**This troper (who is in high school) thinks that even if removing the grades isn't quite necessary, changing them so they reflect actual understanding and knowledge rather than ability to memorize lots of insignificant details is.
*** While not perfect, the average college class (especially in philosophy departments) is way better about testing understanding rather than memorization than the average high school class.
* ''{{Doug}}'''s school counselor straddles this and {{Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher}}. As that he is always suggesting "Hugs" and other "Make Love" solutions to problems, his office is plastered with feel-good posters, and he looks vaguely like a caricature of BobDylan in an ugly sweater.
* Mr. Jellineck from ''StrangersWithCandy'', in sharp contrast to his [[SadistTeacher secret lover]].
** [[WordOfGod According to Paul Dinello]], Jellineck (a totally insecure loser) was based on Hippie Teachers who in real life are often considered kind of creepy by their students, who don't really ''want'' a forty-year-old man giving them advice on problems he shouldn't even know about and insisting that he "gets" them all the time.
* Earth Mother (her codename), one of the Magical Arts instructors at Whateley Academy in the WhateleyUniverse. She was a 'flower power' superheroine in the 60's.
* Mr. Mandrill from ''MyGymPartnersAMonkey'', another hippie school counselor.
* [[KingOfTheHill Hank Hill]] has locked horns with his share of {{Hippie Teacher}}s over the years.
* Although he is too young to be a real hippie, Watanabe Osamu of ''{{The Prince Of Tennis}}'' fits the mold.
* Miracle from ''SitDownShutUp''.
* [[MeaningfulName Mr. Freeman]], the art teacher from the YA book ''Speak''.
* The music teacher in ''BridgeToTerabithia'' is an older example of this.
----
<<|{{Schoolteachers}}|>>