Thread: Education: UK
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Old 18-04-2003, 08:44 AM
GeorgeDawson
 
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Default Education: UK

"Mike Hanson" wrote in message
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"Gordon Couger" wrote in message

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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.


At school, i had two maths teachers - one who had scraped his A-levels,
the other with a Maths PhD. The former was the better teacher (except
right at the top for further maths) as he could understand and explain
why us pupils were struggling with a particular bit. The PhD couldn't
grasp that not everyone understood on the first telling.
--
George Dawson
Goat farmer
..