Secondary school teachers’ deployment according to their subject expertise in the sciences
Summary of contents
All students should have an unbroken chain of experts teaching them the sciences throughout their school education.
Current low rates of recruitment and retention of chemistry and physics teachers in most parts of the UK make it unlikely that this aim will be met through increased recruitment alone. Consequently, supporting the existing teaching workforce is key.
Initial Teacher Education is just the start of a teacher’s journey to become an expert practitioner. To ensure there are enough experts teaching the sciences, teachers must be supported to develop and where appropriate, expand their subject and pedagogical content knowledge throughout their careers.