PHYSICS teacher Ned Kittoe, who inspires young people to take an interest in science, has been encouraging Cambridge University students to consider a career in the profession.
The Institute of Physics asked Ned to give a talk on the life of a physics teacher to around 80 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Cavendish Laboratory at the Cambridge University Physics department as part of a nationwide campaign to recruit more physics teachers.
Not your average physics teacher, Ned began his teaching career as a rowing coach after a successful career rowing for Great Britain. Until that point he was never really sure what he wanted to do, and empathises with students and graduates who suffer from the same predicament. But the engineering graduate enjoyed teaching so much that he decided to put his knowledge and passion for science to good use and eagerly enrolled on a PGCE teacher training course. Since that fateful day, he has never looked back and he is now Head of Physics at King’s Ely.
Like all teachers at the prestigious school, Ned is an advocate of adventurous learning and firmly believes that there’s no excuse for a boring physics lesson.
“A physics teacher is an interface between a fascinating subject and a keen learner; it is one of the most challenging and fulfilling careers that a graduate could consider,” Ned told the Cambridge University students.
“Teaching is an immensely rewarding career and, as physics is a combination of logic and real world application, every single lesson can be exciting, relevant and inspiring.”