Votre Coeur: Do We Need More Physics (Trained) Teachers?

Do We Need More Physics (Trained) Teachers?

Posted by Mastermind at 6:03 pm

This was the big question posed to us in the breakup session for the Physics Education Workshop where Physics educators from Nobel Laureates (yes, 2 of them) to University Lecturers and high school physics teachers come together. This workshop was to address the worrying trend of falling enrollment in Physics across all levels not only in Singapore but in the world. One of the speakers, the former Chief Defence Scientist Prof (BG) Lui shared one gem in the workshop which if I remembered correctly goes something like this.

Our economy was driven by engineers in the past, it will be driven by physicists in the future

The rationale behind this comment is that Singapore needs to innovate to survive in the future, we can't be followers anymore. And to innovate, we need to be good at our fundamentals, and our fundamentals here is Physics.

So the question posed seemed to be very clear cut in this context. We need to inspire more people to take up Physics, not only in 'O' and 'A' levels, but also in Graduate and post graduate level, and the best person to inspire future generation will be someone who took up Physics in the past hence we need more Physics (trained) teachers. That's clear cut.

Of course, engineer trained teachers can bring in a new perspective and dimension to the education of the students and they are valuable to education. In the interest of students, we will need different role models for them and these are the reasons why engineer trained physics teachers are valuable too. According to estimates from an MOE officer, the ratio is 50:50 for JCs and 30:70 for Secondary. 30% physics trained, 70% engineering trained. The key question is that, is this ratio healthy for the interest of Physics and R&D for Singapore's future?

As an anecdotal experience, the percentage of Physics trained teachers in my school is 0% before I was posted there. There wasn't any good role models for aspiring physics students in the school. So when I was posted there, one student came up to me, upon knowing that I read Physics in university, to talk to me about physics in general, my experience in physics etc. We had many discussions there after, and I'm glad that I may have filled in the position of a role model for him in Physics. Now, I have a few more students approaching me about their passion in Physics, and I do share snippets of my (still ongoing) personal journey as a Physics student in class. The best engineer trained physics teacher can never be fill in this role (though they too can be a role model in engineering).

The second point is that the Physics trained teachers are facing a greying population. In one of the JC, most of the Physics trained teachers are from the older generations while majority of the newly recruited teachers have an engineering background. If we ignore this trend for another decade, the ratio of physics trained teachers will fall even further. Even if we can maintain a 50:50 ratio currently doesn't promise that we can maintain it for the future if Physics enrollment drops. Therefore we will need more Physics trained teachers to maintain a steady ratio physics trained teachers.

Of course, these points are valid if we believe in two things.
1.) That Physics trained teachers are in a better position to inspire students to take up Physics in the future compared to those without Physics background. And
2.) Singapore really need a pool of talent with firm foundation in Physics education to drive the economy of the future.

Prof Lui Pao Chuen, the previous Chief Defence Scientist shared about item 2 and I'm really not in the position to dispute him. As for item 1, let's look at it from another perspective. Jing Jun Hong, our ex-national paddler is now the National coach leading our paddlers to another team victory recently. Joscelin Yeo, our Sports woman of the year for 3 times has her own swimming school after retirement, helping young swimmers pick up her sports. Fandi Ahmad, Singapore's most famous footballer led SAFFC to the S-League champions as a football coach too. They are all passionate in their sports, expert in their sports and are now involved in coaching their sports.

Hence I propose that the best teacher to inspire a new generation of students in Physics are teachers who are passionate about Physics and know Physics best. And chances are that a Physics trained teacher will be more passionate and knowledgable in the fundamentals of Physics compared to an engineer trained teacher.

Therefore my answer is a definite yes. There is a need for more Physics trained teachers. As to how to get them.... That's another problem altogether.