If you would ever teach high school physics then...?

[HDINTP]

As title says. But I want to ask if you think that it is possible to cover full high school physics curricula if you have it 1 year(school year to be precise) with 1 lesson per week. I am not a teacher and probably won't even be physics teacher but I was just thinking about that now and after I sort of went through topics in a book I came to the conclusion that it is possible to cover it all with time allocation mentioned above...?

Personally I always had a feeling back in high school that we could go so much faster (think I am not alone at all on this one am I?)and cover more (or rather go deeper) which I believe we do/will do at university (or at least we should). This is probably partially due to my preference for theory explanation rather than solving problems because I think that if you understand theory behind the material then you do not have to solve as many problems or at least can do it mostly on your own without teacher's guidance?

I know that "many" students do not want to learn today and if I wanted to applythis then it would be needed to assume some degree of interest on student's part but it is certainly doable what do you think? Actually I have met few teacher who even though with less time available managed to cover a lot and I know some students might not like it but on the other hand I am of the opinion that most people have the capacity (whatever it really means) to handle high school level physics and/or maths and I would even go further and say quite comfortably...?

Next thing that I have hard time understanding is why we don't have groups for maths/sciencies in our country (do not know how others). And I am not talking about types of high school or "programs for talented". I talk simply about grouping in one class (same grade level in same school at least since maths/sciencies are supposed to be "general education subjects"). The truth is in my case for example we had this grouping system for foreign languagues so I just do not get why don't we do that for other general subjects...?

I would also like to ask you (maybe some of you even are high school teacher's that would be great or even maths/science high school teachers even better) how imortant do you think live carried in class experiments are in high school physics? Because I have to confess myself that if I were a high school physics teacher then I would prefer highly theoretical teaching method/lecturing. Your take on this one?

And the last thing. If I ever become a high school teacher in this lifetime my personal goal will be to show that students from "classical/average high school can learn as much if not more than those from so called "elite" schools. I DO NOT LIKE ELITISM... Do you think that this goal of mine is viable?

Thank you for your time and answers...

PS: I know I gave an example of physics mostly but it is of course possible to use this approach for other subjects as well it is true however that I wanted to talk bit more about this one.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I've tutored and taught high school students (in addition to other work in education) in the United States for about 20 years...

In the various states in the United States, there are specific rules about what content must be taught in a course. This removes most of the autonomy from the instructor. Similarly, there are specific rules in the contracts between the teachers and the schools that define class sizes and so prevent schools from creating groups of the sort you mention. I don't know how these issues are resolved in other countries, but, in the United States, in most states (perhaps all states), these issues are settled by a combination of consequences for violating or not violating federal regulations, the limitations imposed by the states (sometimes through legislative bodies, sometimes through executive positions), and the impositions by the local school jurisdictions. At each of these stages, the process for determining what happens in the classroom, what teachers are permitted to do, etc., are decided by political processes that rarely have the well-being of the student as the primary concern.

 

[HDINTP]

I've tutored and taught high school students (in addition to other work in education) in the United States for about 20 years...

In the various states in the United States, there are specific rules about what content must be taught in a course. This removes most of the autonomy from the instructor. Similarly, there are specific rules in the contracts between the teachers and the schools that define class sizes and so prevent schools from creating groups of the sort you mention. I don't know how these issues are resolved in other countries, but, in the United States, in most states (perhaps all states), these issues are settled by a combination of consequences for violating or not violating federal regulations, the limitations imposed by the states (sometimes through legislative bodies, sometimes through executive positions), and the impositions by the local school jurisdictions. At each of these stages, the process for determining what happens in the classroom, what teachers are permitted to do, etc., are decided by political processes that rarely have the well-being of the student as the primary concern.

Of course you have some material that you have to cover but if you have time left then I see no reason not to go forward (and I really do not see a point in repeating same stuff all over again in class)

I hope they won't monitor my work that much...?

I also thought that for slower ones yet interested I could organize sort of post-school lectures where I would adapt to these few...?

Could you tell me about your experiences as a high school teacher? I assume you taught maths/sciences? What were your main disappointments? Have you ever tried to "change/break through" the system?

 

[Vrecknidj]

My own high-school work consisted primarily as serving as a tutor. I spent about 15 years at a nearby private school (associated with both the military and a church) and offered my services to the students, paid for by their parents. I tutored mostly math, but sometimes other subjects. Over the years, the school occasionally hired me to teach as well. For a few years, the school employed me full time to teach. During the years that I taught, I usually taught algebra, geometry and pre-calculus courses.

The state had control over the requirements, but I was afforded some flexibility within those guidelines. And, because the school was a private school, it was allowed to deviate from some of the regulations that affected public schools.

My own courses tended to have far fewer students than is the case in most schools (I usually had between 10 and 15 students) and so I could provide better individual instruction than is often the case elsewhere in the United States.

In my case, the organization of the school's day was such that I had no control over the schedule. After school, for instance, there was mandatory athletics, and so even if I had wanted to offer a program for some students, it wasn't an option. In most public schools in the United States, there are various reasons why the same sorts of restrictions are in place.

On occasion I did things that were non-traditional. Most teachers do try to add some individuality to their courses and techniques. I can't think of anything that was particularly noteworthy.

Most of my academic work has been at the university level, where I teach philosophy and not mathematics.