“was kakashi trying his best? / was he a "good" sensei?”
So I could write an absolute essay about this very specific take but I will do my best to be concise.
Was he trying his best? Yes. Was he a ‘good’ sensei? Eventually.
Long and short of it, we all can agree Kakashi was NOT READY to be a sensei when he left ANBU and was moved to be a Jounin teacher. You can see in the eps how he essentially had anxiety attacks during every test he gave, his fear of failure and of the fate of the squads he’d pass should they not work together were re-traumatising him at every turn. You can also see it in the juxtaposition of Gai’s exam with his students and Kakashi’s - Gai blocks their blows and delivers gentle defensive hits, allows his students to come at him instead of pushing them. He’s smiling and encouraging them and egging them on, and even when they don’t “defeat” him he informs them of the positive attributes he saw in their teamwork and tells them with development they’ll be successful.
But Kakashi is in his head and acting like he’s on a battlefield. He’s focused on the worst outcomes. He’s kicking kids across the training grounds like they’re real assailants - because that’s what he knows. He’s angrily telling them they won’t survive essentially - not because he’s an asshole, but because he KNOWS, and he’s SCARED for them, and more than that, he’s scared HE will be the one who sent them off to die unprepared. Just like he was.
Rumors spread that he’s a hard ass and this and that but you can tell so clearly, he’s not trying to be “bad” at this job. He’s a professional after all. But he’s fresh out of ANBU where he was known as ‘friend killer,’ on the heels of death after death, still not having dealt with any of it, still avoiding joining his friends at dango, etc etc. He’s not well. And Hiruzen says - ‘go teach the next generation not to die.’ Are you kidding? OF COURSE he’s gonna freak out, even if he’s doing the best he can. He even talks with Hiruzen about how he feels like he might not be ready for this, and they have that little chat about how Hiruzen thinks the next squad will be better suited for his skills.
But even with team 7, Kakashi isn’t always in “teacher” mode. He does TEACH them things, of course, but even when he is lecturing them or explaining, it’s as if he’s doing so via tactics and survival understanding, not like Gai for example, who provides encouragement and mentorship. Kakashi is all business - again, this does not make him a bad teacher.
It makes him a good squad leader though. And that’s what Kakashi is. That’s where he thrives. He’s drafted into ANBU by Minato under half-baked protective pretences, sure, but he doesn’t get promoted for them. He gets promoted because he’s good at being a leader to his squad. He’s a strategist. He’s intelligent. He’s highly skilled and he can provide his squad with detailed plans, intel, and objectives with ease. It’s where he thrives, and it’s all he knows. And he’s made it his literal life’s mission not to fail at this because he knows the consequences are death.
So that’s how he functions as a sensei. Is he fantastic at it? Of course not. But he plays to his squad’s strengths where he can, because that’s what a good squad leader does. He goads his students like subordinates on a mission rather than mentee’s - he teases out their motivation with quips and ribbing, he points out flaws plainly and delivers fact without being over-emotional. If they’re on a mission and they might die, he’s going to say “we might die, pay attention” instead of “this is an opportunity to hone your focus” because on a mission, in battle, in WAR, there’s no time for all that.
SO anyway, that’s my take on all this, in an essay I promised I wouldn’t write. Is Kakashi a good sensei? He gets there. Is he the best? No way. But he DID do his best, and he gets better as he grows alongside his squad. He grows as he learns to be less afraid. So I think he does a good job in his own way.
