I remember a few years ago I read this for a philosophy course and we compared it to movies mae within the past 20 years (The Matrix being the key movie) This time when reading it, it almost seemed like a different story when thinking about it in an educational context. First of all, I'd like to mention that I find it truly interesting when reading the end how many comparisons there seem to be to government right now. If someone did not know who or when plato wrote this, it is not impossible that it could be mistaken for something written recently. Now to the main point of the Educational aspect of the story.
The Allegory of the cave tells the story of what a person perceives as truth and what truly is reality or truth. The most simplistic way of explaining this is that there are those who know a small portion of the world. These people see the world in such a way that their viewpoint distorts the fact that they know of very little. In classroom context, these people whould be students. There are other people in the story that have seen things outside of the "thin" context that the other people "students." percieve. These people know of facts and realities that the "students" do not. In story context, they have been outside of the cave and seen the true sunlight. These people would be considered the "teachers." Plato says (as long as you take the governmental viewpoint away) that after the teachers have learned of what life is like outside of the cave, they should venture back to teach those who do not yet understand.
I'm sorry bout how long this post is but this is a short description of my viewpoint of the story. I look forward to seeing other peoples ideas on the subject.

First off, you have to give it up to plato for the imagery in this passage - it is so "the fountain"-esque (and if ya'll haven't seen that movie you absolutely have to - it's epic (and sooo romantic!)) with the light and dark comparison, and also, i often have difficulty -with these ancient texts- understanding what they are alluding to since there world was so different from ours. But in this case it is really effective because everyone has had trouble with light adjustment, whether going from Old Belk with no windows into severe sunlight beeming them in the eyes or going from laying on sanford lawn to class. But once you adjust to the light and warmth, it's hard to go back into the dungeon in to your shackles.

Most relevant in this article, and I love that Dr. Turner picked it, is because it is essentially saying that the most enlightened people are teachers (whether in the formal classroom or informal life situations), because only they come back from the light to bring more people to the light. The rest only gain the knowledge and bask in it for, pressumably, the rest of their lives (ie: being a paper pusher, which requires extensive knowledge, but no application), which implies all kinds of divine things about teachers.