There are innate character traits in each of us. Of course education/training/practice can move the needle a little up or down, but you can't really turn a very introvert person into a very extrovert one, for example.

Not without being fake. People can change over time, but the core "being" of a person – what they're really like – tends to stay static.

Here's a specific example. You can be taught to overcome a fear of getting up onstage. You can't be taught to love and relish when you find just the right metaphor to convey an idea to a class.

The latter gives you a dopamine hit, or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, then you have an uphill battle.

From Mathematical Writing, on Donald Knuth:

> Don’s secret delight, he confessed today, is to “play a library as if it were a musical instrument.” Using the resources of a great library to solve a specific problem—now that, to him, is real living. One of his favourite ways to spend an afternoon is amongst the labyrinthine archives, pursuing obscure cross-references, tracking down ancient and neglected volumes, all in the hope of finding the perfect quotation with which to open or conclude a chapter. Don takes great pleasure in finding a really good aphorism with which to preface a piece of writing. So many people have written so many neat things down the ages, he said, that it behooves us to take every opportunity to pass them on. Don has been known to take such a liking to a phrase that he has written an article to publish along with it.

> So how are we to find that wonderfully apposite quotation with which to preface our term paper? Serendipity, said Don. Live a full and varied life, read widely, keep your eyes and ears open, live long and prosper. You will stumble across great quotations. For example, Webster defines ‘bit’ as “a boring tool”—Don was able to use this when introducing a computer science talk.

Of course, this isn't necessarily applicable to high school teaching, which is more about legally-mandated babysitting than about teaching. But the core question is an intriguing one.

You can’t teach someone to care. Teachers that don’t care deeply can’t push through all the barriers to succeed.

Not the way a physical technique, programming, cooking, etc., can.

There's an intangible aspect what cannot even define, much less teach. We can just mimic some external trappings.

That said, you can try and influence towards a certain personality/passion/etc. But it's not like "follow this X,Y and you'll get the Z result" guaranteed like teaching regular stuff. It requires innate drive.

Not really. Unless you love teaching you will always be a mediocre teacher at best. E.g., most teachers who say "Just google it" or "It is what it is" or "Its beyond the scope of this lecture" are generally not very good teachers. A good teacher is always inquisitive in knowing his/her audience, and formulating strategies to bridge that gap. The best teachers know exactly what the students struggles are, generally because they were in that same position as well. Great teachers formulate 100's of ideas and processes to identify which knowledge is worth telling at that moment, and which should be deferred for later. These same people will plan out exactly what the whiteboard will look like, before even lifting their marker.

I personally am not a great teacher... it doesn't excite me really. Partially because I have had to teach too many people that are not very good at picking up things, despite how many different methods I try. Also, because I've had to do a lot of sales work in my life... teaching is not that far different, having to repeat myself all the time can get frustrating. Plus, you don't get a return on investment on every student some are beyond help... and it makes you less inclined to want to teach others that are more capable.

There was a phase where I really enjoyed teaching but I am past that point now. I used to teach Elementary School/2nd grade at University, and did alot of tutoring from highschool to college. The passion might come again in the future, but its not today.

You don't have to be extroverted to be a good teacher, but you have to really enjoy planting ideas/seeds in others. Great teachers are also great storytellers too.

I wouldn't enjoy teaching unless it was paving a means for me to practice on making youtube tutorials, etc - where that content lives forever, and you no longer have to repeat yourself.

Pick up skills can be learned, leadership can be learned, why not personality?

"If you don't like yourself, invent another one."