The teacher, graduate, gets rest for a change (6)
I believe the answer is:
master
'the teacher' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'graduate gets rest for a change' is the wordplay.
'graduate' becomes 'ma' (abbreviation for Master of Arts).
'gets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'for a change' indicates an anagram.
'rest' with letters rearranged gives 'ster'.
'ma'+'ster'='MASTER'
(Other definitions for master that I've seen before include "One has consummate skill" , "An old one is a great European painter" , "With 1a [OLD], one who painted" , "Expert" , "An old one is one of the early and great European painters" .)