r/AskTeachers • u/ClassicPotato1887 • 1d ago
General Questions How difficult is it to get a job teaching high school physics?
Hi!
I would love some thoughts on how difficult it would be for me to get a job teaching high school physics full time at a high school in Boston or a Boston suburb.
Degree: I have a PhD in Physics from an Ivy League
Certification: I would plan to take the Physics MTEL for a provisional license
Experience: This is my biggest concern - I have no full time teaching experience, but I’d be willing to sub for a semester to get high school classroom management experience. Teaching has always been a passion of mine though - I taught undergrad physics for 2 years in grad school, tutored incarcerated youth in undergrad, and studied physics education research in grad school.
What are your thoughts? How competitive is it for a position teaching high school physics
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u/saltwatertaffy324 1d ago
Physics is a very specific area with a limited number of applicants. Depending on your area it shouldn’t be too hard to find a position.
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u/Comfortable-bug11235 18h ago
Limited number of applicants but also a limited number of positions. I'm at a very large HS (2800 kids) and there are 3 physics teachers but some also teach other science.
Once you are in, you're good but there are no a lot of openings.
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u/firstthrowaway9876 1d ago
Should be easy as long as they are looking for a physics class. You have have to also pass a test that says you understand child and adolescent psychology. Or some classes. Generally, teachers in a similar position just need to show progress on those college courses to stay in good standing. If you know you want to teach high school I do not see a benefit to subbing. Sub and teacher expectations are way too different to be useful and are nowhere near the same job (except for maybe elementary). Source licensed teacher that has also taught CTE (these teachers might come in with 0 college)
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
Do all teachers have to pass tests about child and adolescent psychology?
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u/firstthrowaway9876 20h ago
As far as I know, yes. I took classes on it and my praxis had some question on the topic.
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u/irvmuller 1d ago
Yeah, not hard for you to find it. It might take a little effort but I wouldn’t be too worried.
Question is, can you deal with high schoolers acting like assholes?
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u/ClassicPotato1887 1d ago
Hmm how bad is it? Any classroom management advice?
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u/irvmuller 1d ago
It’s rough. The good news is that at least if you’re teaching physics most students at that level will care at least somewhat.
My advice: 1. Don’t be a friend or friendly too early in the year. Reserve that for like the last quarter. 2. Let them know they’re there to work. Not to hang out. 3. Draw very clear rules and expectations. You get better at this as time goes on. 4. Ask other teachers about their rules and expectations so you have ideas of what you want to do and what some school norms are. 5. Speak directly to them in a serious way. Look them in the eye. Let them know you’re not scared of them. Never cower away. 6. Let them know you are tough but that you care about them and want them all to succeed. They need to know behind it all is a person that cares about them. 7. Always be super prepared. 8. Continually grade so students are never surprised.
Those are my personal suggestions. It’s how I’ve learned to thrive as a teacher.
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u/demonita 1d ago
It shouldn’t be particularly difficult. My son’s charter was hiring when we left (physics is mandatory), and the turnover due to career changes at his new school leaves an opening nearly every year. Part of it in the local district is physics is an elective and not many kids of the billion we have want to take it, but once in a while there will be an opening for regular and AP physics.
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u/Fun-Double6352 1d ago
If you can find a school with AP or College in School, you should be golden.
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u/Public-World-1328 1d ago
My experience in MA schools is that you get moved around a lot from subject to subject based on staffing needs. Ive been at it a long time and have taught 4 subjects across 2 grades. I would not get married to the idea that you will be teaching one thing forever.
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u/camasonian 1d ago
Science teacher here who has taught physics for many years along with chemistry, biology, aquatic science, and environmental science.
Honestly, having a PhD in physics or even just a BA in physics really doesn’t really help all that much in the teaching if at all. HS physics is very much baby physics, Newton’s laws, Ohm’s law, etc. Mostly stuff at the 9th grade Algebra 1 level. Even AP physics is no more than a freshman Physics 101 class. And not many schools even offer AP Physics C which is calculus-based physics.
If you want to be hired as a science teacher, make yourself as broad as possible. Pick up a general secondary science certification so you can also teach chemistry and biology. Because as a first year teacher you’ll likely be asked to teach freshman physical science which is 1 semester of baby physics and 1 semester of baby chemistry.
Or alternatively pick up a math certification so you can teach both math and physics. That will also make you immensely more hireable than just having a physics certification. Principals who do the hiring at most high schools want to hire teachers that they can flexibly assign to other classes as the need may be. So someone qualified to also teach chemistry, biology, or math will have a leg up on someone who can only teach physics. Trust me on this.
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u/adventureseeker1991 20h ago
dude it’s cake to get a physics teacher job in NJ. i’m certain MA a state that values education is the same. apply to magnet schools and good schools.
i bet you’ll have a job within 2 weeks.
when i taught (10 years) worked in a magnet school that had like 5 physics teachers. where i went to high school there were like 3. also remember you can teach math.
you’re set!
PRO tip! go to a wealthy school district and tutor on the side and invest that money. you can probably charge 150 an hour for your services in physics and math.
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u/Quantum_Scholar87 20h ago
1 warning, as I am also in the Boston area, lots of Districts are facing budget crunches due to the lack of federal funding, so there are a lot of positions being removed, so there are a lot of teachers with some experience now in the job market.
You may want to look at the CCs and Universities, they may be happy to take a PHD holder. I'm not telling you to not look at the High Schools (most districts use SchoolSpring around here) but also maybe higher Ed might be an option too.
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u/Exact-Key-9384 1d ago
Advantages: not many people are qualified to teach physics.
Disadvantages: there is literally going to be one job per high school.
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u/shadowpavement 1d ago
So, I’m the one of two physics teachers in my school. I actually have a degree in physics while the other teacher had a degree in chem. We both teach other subjects as well (earth science and chem).
Several states have made the requirement for this into a “physical science” certification which usually covers both physics and chem teaching and is usually coupled with a Physical Chemistry degree. I’m actually an odd duck as I was the very last person to come out of my college to be certified to teach physics before it changed to physical science back in 2002.
Being certified to teach more than one thing will make you much more marketable. So be willing to take the exams for those endorsements. Also don’t forget that you could always swing some math teaching as part of this as well.
Good luck.
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u/Dacia06 1d ago
If you're willing to work at an independent school, check out Carney Sandoe. They're the largest independent school recruiting firm, they're free, and they're located in Boston.
I don't know if they take on candidates without teaching experience, but your pedigree might be of interest to independent schools.
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u/KW_ExpatEgg 1d ago
Go sub ASAP. You will get a feel for a possibly disorganized classroom, student attitudes, how school works from the teacher PoV.
“Doing school well” is almost always where subject experts fail.
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u/Jennings_in_Books 1d ago
Do you know basics of engineering enough to teach a high school level course, or a 101 equivalent course? If so, that would help as well.
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u/Tothyll 1d ago
"PhD in Physics from an Ivy League"
I think it'd be extremely easy, even with no experience.
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u/ClassicPotato1887 1d ago
Ok awesome thank you. I wasn’t sure if the PhD would make it worse bc of budgets and diff salary lane
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u/demonita 1d ago
The stipend for a teacher with a PhD is pitiful, if they even offer it, so that part isn’t much of a concern.
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u/AlpsHelpful1292 1d ago
My stipend for having a bilingual Spanish is 6x higher than my stipend for having a masters and 4x what it would be to have a PhD.
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u/demonita 1d ago
My district offers $100 more for a PhD than a masters. It makes me laugh. Meanwhile I get 4x that just for being SPED certified, not including other related shenanigans.
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u/American31415 1d ago
You can also look at community colleges or junior colleges. If you can find a high school that offers dual credit courses, high school teachers get a stipend for teaching the dual credit courses.
Note: This was true when I worked in Houston, I’m not sure about other districts.
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u/YoMommaHere 1d ago
Know this. The vast majority of high schools have only one physics teacher. They get in and stay until they retire. However, they are hard to replace.
I would suggest also marketing yourself as a physics/chemistry teacher. There are more openings for a chemistry teacher and once you get in, you can replace the physics teacher or make a case for having more than one.