A New Meaningful Professional Career Track for Physics Graduates


  Eli Shalev  
Schwartz/Reisman Science Education Centers, Rehovot, Rishon Lezion

There is a vast agreement on the importance of Science Education at the Mid- and High-School levels. However, challenges are piling up: Schools infrastructures and time-tables are not suited for proper modeling of scientific investigation; The equipment needed for a meaningful instruction of the experimental Physical sciences is expensive and frequently ill-maintained; Salaries at the entrance level are poor; And - looking a decade forward - the old Guardia of Physics teachers is retiring by the hundreds – where will new teachers come from?

The Schwartz/Reisman Science Education Centers (SRC's) are a novel model built to tackle all of the above. Aiming at high-school "5 points" physics (and chemistry), they are a wonderful and extremely meaningful working environments for excellent and passionate graduates, wishing to leave a mark on young adults. In the presentation we will review the SRC model, and have a glance at the unique architecture, facilities, programs and working conditions. We will demonstrate some of the practices (not common to other places), and show evidence to the success of such an approach.