I'm struggling with my identity as a teacher (and no longer a physicist)

[sairoof]

Hi,
I am a physics graduate but now I am teaching middle school science, I have been struggling because it seems that everyone is looking at me as a teacher rather than a physicist and the fact that I lost a lot of my ability to do physics only makes things worse.
was anyone in a similar situation before? what did you do?

 

[billtodd]

Trying to regain the physics' problem solving skills.
Whatever suits you, as always in academia it's publish or perish...

 

[sairoof]

I do not have anything published or was able to get a grad degree, so i guess i need to do something about that

 

[Orodruin]

but now I am teaching middle school science, I have been struggling because it seems that everyone is looking at me as a teacher rather than a physicist

They see you as a teacher because you are a teacher. It is the role they associate to when thinking about you. If I stopped doing research and went into teaching, I would be a teacher too regardless of how many papers I published earlier. People will generally identify you with what you do, not with your educational background.

But: What is wrong with that? Why do you feel you need to be considered a physicist? Why does this matter? Or is the issue mainly what you say later regarding the feeling that you lost the ability to do physics problems, ie, you feel you lost a skill? Several skills like this need to be maintained. If you don’t do it for a while, you’ll drop in ability. That is perfectly natural. If you want to counter that you’ll need to solve more problems, but do so because you find it fun, not because you think you need to for people to consider you a physicist.

 

[Orodruin]

I should also add: There is no contradiction between being a teacher and a physicist. My students certainly consider me their teacher. That is the capacity in which they are familiar with me. They will typically know little to nothing about my research.

Also consider the etymology of the title professor. It quite literally means someone who teaches a particular subject. Teaching is one of the pillars of academic endeavour.

 

[berkeman]

I am a physics graduate but now I am teaching middle school science, I have been struggling because it seems that everyone is looking at me as a teacher rather than a physicist and the fact that I lost a lot of my ability to do physics only makes things worse.

Does your school have a Physics Club? Is there an annual Science Fair? If so, get more involved in leading those activities; if not, start them up.

 

[CrysPhys]

OP: Don't make the mistake of letting your job define your identity. I spent 4 yrs on my bachelor's in physics and 7 yrs on my PhD in physics. Here's one of my previous responses to a different thread:

That's because these people make the mistake of letting their jobs define their lives.

Personally I transitioned from "physicist" to "quality improvement engineer" to "systems engineer" to "systems architect" to "network architect" to "network engineer" to "patent agent". "Physicist" was in an industrial R&D lab, "engineer" and "architect" were in telcom companies, "patent agent" was in law firms.

But at the same time, I transitioned from "single" to "husband" to "father". And these personal roles strongly influenced my choices of professional roles. As the job market changed, I could either stay a physicist and move to follow the jobs; or I could stay put (in terms of location) and change jobs. Some of my colleagues insisted in maintaining their professional roles as their number one priorities. Some moved to different states every 2 to 3 yrs, dragging their spouses and kids with them. Others split their families: spouses and kids stayed put, while they moved to another state, rented apartments, and came home during weekends.

I always considered my wife's career on equal footing as my own. And when my daughter was born (actually before she was born), I promised her she'd always be my number one priority. So keeping my family intact was far more important to me than working in a job with "physics" in the job title.

 

[Dale]

Embrace being a teacher. Teaching is awesome!

 

[DeBangis21]

You can say that again, engr.

 

[Frabjous]

Being a physicist is about how you question the world.

 

[Mordred]

I enjoy teaching always have. It doesn't interfere with my credentials.
Consider this thought. Is it more important to worry about what others think of you or what you feel about yourself ?
If you feel your ability in physics is declining then the solution is already mentioned above. Spend time problem solving and studying. Physics is a skill that one must regularly apply to keep in practice.
I made it a habit to regularly study various physics topics and practice while doing so. I also regularly volunteer to help students at the local colleges and Universities.

I don't do so because of what others think of my abilities but rather to maintain and improve my abilities. ( though last couple of years I've focused on various cosmology based applications involving Higgs field ) simply because I find the research interesting.

 

[symbolipoint]

Also consider the etymology of the title professor. It quite literally means someone who teaches a particular subject. Teaching is one of the pillars of academic endeavour.

There is no contradiction between being a teacher and a physicist. My students certainly consider me their teacher. That is the capacity in which they are familiar with me. They will typically know little to nothing about my research.

Person who earned Physics degree and now is teaching any science in middle school is almost certainly not teaching Physics. If he finds teaching in junior college, college, or university, then is more likely teaching Physics.

Maybe did lose the problem solving skills of Physics. Maybe did falter in some concepts once learned for understanding Physics. You as teacher to middle school students can have at least this or other helpful impacts: Teach students the Metric System; teach students a few physical concepts like Density; teach them about and how to use unit conversions. Anyone else, anything more?

 

[symbolipoint]

Physics is a skill that one must regularly apply to keep in practice.

This sounds nice in this abbreviated form, but if practicing academic written problems on paper is all, then will not be enough to really keep in practice in Physics. O.P. very likely misses the act and development of ... Physics Research, and functioning scientifically at a much higher level than he can currently do as teacher for middle school.

 

[Mordred]

Some facilities do offer postdoc internships. TRIUMF for example has a Postdoc program though its usually within 5 years of getting a PH.D at that facility. They also have an excellent undergrad internship program.
There is also research assistant programs.
If your need is the practical aspects those are some options though it would be tricky on the short term criteria in order to maintain the teaching job but I do know some ppl that have managed on the side.
For myself the majority of what I do is theoretical to begin with then comparing to datasets etc.

 

[Orodruin]

O.P. very likely misses the act and development of ... Physics Research, and functioning scientifically at a much higher level than he can currently do as teacher for middle school.

OP has stated they have not done physics research:

I do not have anything published or was able to get a grad degree, so i guess i need to do something about that

At least not to the level of publishing papers.

 

[QuantamMaster]

You help people learn as a teacher, and you strike interest in them, especially in middle school. Be proud of your work and what you are doing!

If you feel like you have forgotten some concepts, get a book and read through it, and do the problems. The only way to remember something you have learned is to review it.

 

[PhDeezNutz]

Man @CrysPhys really hit the nail on the head with this thread. I’ve been going through the same thing as OP and I needed to hear something to the effect of “you shouldn’t let physics define your life and identity to the point you don’t feel like a full human being without those accolades”

OP can you move up to teach high school?

How busy are your summers? If you have ample free time during the summer crack open Young and Freedman (or a similar book).

Edit: I’m in the process of getting certified to teach high school physics and math.

 

[sairoof]

Man @CrysPhys really hit the nail on the head with this thread. I’ve been going through the same thing as OP and I needed to hear something to the effect of “you shouldn’t let physics define your life and identity to the point you don’t feel like a full human being without those accolades”

OP can you move up to teach high school?

How busy are your summers? If you have ample free time during the summer crack open Young and Freedman (or a similar book).

Edit: I’m in the process of getting certified to teach high school physics and math.

Hi, I used to be in high school, but they moved me to a middle school.

 

[PhDeezNutz]

Hi, I used to be in high school, but they moved me to a middle school.

I’m not going to lie thats rough.

 

[berkeman]

Does your school have a Physics Club? Is there an annual Science Fair? If so, get more involved in leading those activities; if not, start them up.

Can you please address my reply? Thank you.

 

[sairoof]

Can you please address my reply? Thank you.

Yeah, sorry I'm just reading all the replies
We don't have any clubs in the school. There are some events every few months mainly by cern, but I got bored of how repetitive the talks are. And recently the two imarati astronauts came to my country and presented their achievements.
Aside from that the number of physicists is very small, I'd go as far as saying that I know most of them.
So yeah, I might go outside and get a masters degree if I was able to have enough money to afford that. But for now I'm just practicing in the hopes that I may get some of my skills back

 

[berkeman]

There are some events every few months mainly by cern, but I got bored of how repetitive the talks are.

Your got bored by talks by CERN physicists?

 

[sairoof]

Your got bored by talks by CERN physicists?

Yeah, they do the exact same talk every year and the audience ask the exact same questions.
Sometimes even the presenter doesn't change

 

[berkeman]

Yeah, they do the exact same talk every year and the audience ask the exact same questions.
Sometimes even the presenter doesn't change

So what questions did you ask? Did you ask about their latest results which definitely change year-to-year?

 

[sairoof]

So what questions did you ask? Did you ask about their latest results which definitely change year-to-year?

No, hopefully next time.

 

[mathwonk]

struggling for advice here, remembering one of my favorite inspirational books by Glenn Clark. basically, wherever you find yourself, in whatever job, do it with all your might. in the book i recall Mr. Clark had aspired to be an author but was relegated to teaching English. he embraced it, did all he could to inspire and enable his students, and eventually found himself a published author. good luck to you. good teachers are a treasure.

 

[CrysPhys]

Or, as Stephen Stills put it more succinctly:

"And if you can't be with the one you love, honey
Love the one you're with"