Is this madness ? Convert my mickey mouse degree so that I can teach physics at secondary level ?

[badtrip]

I would like to return to work at some point. I have a 1980s crappy 'humanities' degree which has been no use whatsoever in my employment to date (although I didn't do too badly before I became sahm).

I am considering doing a 2 year PGCE conversion course to teach physics at secondary level. a) are there plenty of jobs out there, and b)what's it like to teach at this level ? btw I am 41 would this make a difference ?.

Am on red wine and ibuprofen so am feeling a bit impulsive...

i did it, do you like physics?

Yes, I wish I had taken the science route when at school. It really fascinates me now and would love to be able to impart knowledge to others. How are you finding it madrose and what did you do originally ?

I would recommend spending a few days, ideally a week, in a school (or more than one) observing lessons before commiting. The university I did my pgce at included that as a prerequisite for an offer of a place.

Age shouldn't be a problem, lots of people retrain as teachers, having worked in the 'real world' is seen as an asset by many schools.

I'm a physics teacher (on a career break) and I find it really enjoyable. The kids aren't always quite as enthused about the prospect of a physics lesson as I want them to be - but there are plenty of options for making lessons interesting, practical work etc.

Btw, there aren't many jobs which are specifically physics, most are science. In practice though, because physics teachers are a bit of a rare beast it's often mostly physics at ks4. I taught all 3 sciences at ks3 and mostly physics with some chemistry at ks4.

There is a shortage of science teachers, but if working locally is important to you its probably worth speaking to local secondary schools to see how often jobs come up.