Asklemmy

Well, it turns out that I'm particularly good at explaining maths, up to algebra. I've helped family go from bad grades to good ones via tutoring, eventually to the point that they no longer needed me to be able to get good grades on their own.

Same with english, usually. The caveat to that one being literature not always working out right because a teacher wanting specific answers rather than the students showing their comprehension and analysis. But, if I was teaching, that wouldn't be an issue.

Sure as hell couldn't take anyone past high school levels in either, though I could likely teach creative writing at intro levels (which really isn't that hard at all)

The real issue is the stuff you have to do to be a teacher. It isn't as easy as understanding the subject, or being good at conveying that subject. There's a lot of planning involved, you've got tight time limits, there's paperwork and administrative tasks. That's not even covering the stuff for special needs students, or being able to match expectations of language and discipline.

So, while it turns out I'm a damn good tutor, I'd make a lousy teacher in a structured environment. Most of us would, even (and sometimes especially) the full on experts in a subject.

I will say though, teaching can be incredibly fun. I'm not talking the rewarding part, where you see someone getting better, or the pride in taking part in that. It's the process itself, of taking an idea, breaking it down, and then translating it to someone else in a way that works for them. That's not just a school subject thing, I've taught martial arts stuff here and there over the years, along with other things that were more piecemeal (like shading when drawing, but not necessarily other techniques). The process itself is just fun.

Groups are harder, obviously, and I've never liked time limits on things. If it takes an entire week to transfer the knowledge, or a month, or whatever, the important part is the learning to me. The bigger the group, the less realistic time you have per lesson, so it can end up being much harder to convey something to the point of retention the way you can do it with 1 on 1 instruction. It's one of those things where the longer your have between lessons, the less likely you are to transfer the skill because the student forgets.

I'm still butthurt that I wasn't able to teach in my field of work. If I had been able to, it would have added years, maybe a decade to my working life. But they don't allow it anywhere that I'm aware of, so meh.