"Gordon Couger" wrote in message news:3e9f2a38_1@newsfeed...
"Michael Saunby" wrote in message
...


It would not surprise me greatly to hear that for those employed outside
education the figures are the inverse -

e.g. Physics: 25% without degree, Biology 60% without degree. You
actually find something like this in universities, e.g. in physics
departments few if any of the technicians will have a physics degree
whereas in biology nearly all will have. Schools are just another
employment sector that soaks up surplus graduates, and there are more
surplus biology graduates than physics graduates.

The without A level figure for Physics could be misleading as I would
expect most will have an A level in maths, similarly the biology teachers
will probably have an A level in chemistry.

There are very few jobs for some one with B.A. in physics. It is a real
shame. IMO all engineers should have the equivalent of a B.A. in physic in
order to understand what they do.

An oft-repeated myth when I was at Uni (end of the 80's) was that 70%
of all physics graduates end up as accountants.

Perhaps a more important consideration for schools (universities are
different) is how well qualified the teachers are to teach. It goes
without saying that one needs to be all over the coursework and to
have enough background to answer commonly raised questions (and enough
honesty to say: "I don't know, but I'll find out by next lesson.").
However, teaching is an art: higher knowledge of a subject is no
guarantee that a person will have the requisite skills to impart basic
knowledge (perhaps even enthusiasm!) to schoolchildren and make it
stick. Sacrificing higher knowledge for better teaching skills is a
good trade at school level.

Mike.