Abstract:
This paper reports the experiences of teachers involved in a novel retraining
scheme designed to meet a short-term crisis in numbers of teachers of physics.
Teachers trained in other subject areas underwent an intensive six-month training in
physics and were then placed in schools. During the first year of teaching some
support for ongoing learning in science was provided. A study of these teachers’
experiences found they lacked content knowledge in areas of the curriculum other
than physics and were unprepared for the reality of the science classroom. Their
existing classroom management skills were of only limited value in the new context.
For those graduates who were supported by experienced staff in schools, the
transition to science teaching was hard but ultimately worthwhile. For some, whose
qualifications to teach science were never accepted by their peers, retraining was a
bitter experience.
