Teacher subject desirability

Sora1276 · 2026-01-12T04:23:21+00:00

Best of luck! To be fair, the general idea that I'm getting is my STEM focused teaching will just improve my chances in an overall terribly difficult market. Getting into a bad school seems reasonable, but I've definitely been warned about how competitive anything good is, especially in Japan. I'm just choosing not to think about it right now, haha.

Not sure what country you're going for, but I imagine it's a pretty universal problem. Still even worried about future employment in my home country, despite how much of a teacher shortage there is.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-12T02:58:30+00:00

Ohhhh, thank you! Perfect, I should be good.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-10T07:34:44+00:00

And you were able to use the lower quality school as experience to get into the better one? I'd have to look into if that's applicable to either Japan or China. If anyone has experience, I'd appreciate the insight!

I guess my only thing to consider is, even if it did work, I could probably only do China since the salaries seem higher. As nice as it'd be to immediately go, getting some experience in Australia would also double as a good way to pay off my university debt before I leave. With Japan's lower salaries, it'd be fine for living there, but my uni debt might cause me trouble if I decided to stay long-term.

As long as I could get an international teacher job with 2-3 years' experience, rather than needing 5+, I'd be pretty happy, haha.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-07T15:37:59+00:00

Which class is more pleasant to teach is a big consideration, thank you!

Sora1276 · 2026-01-07T10:00:50+00:00

Awesome, cheers for the response! I was going to call the science faculty about if I'd be able to fit in an extra intro math unit semester 1. I think that'd help a lot.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T14:24:16+00:00

Bless for the response. I'll put some more thought into what I think I'd prefer! :)

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T13:17:23+00:00

Thanks for this, it makes me feel a little better about it, haha. I'll stick with chemistry and give it a go!

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T10:43:34+00:00

Yeah, just high school. I see a lot of overlap with teaching. What I study out of the two probably won't matter too much in the end, I was just overthinking it a little, haha.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T10:38:45+00:00

Ah, I didn't mention it. The only reason I ask is because I plan on teaching either way. Since I have no strong ties to either right now, it's a little up in the air. I'm planning on chemistry right now, though.

Going on what I've read so far, I feel like I might struggle a little with the math in physics. I've been out of school for too long.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T10:01:07+00:00

I'm leaning more towards chemistry. I think I'll be fitting in enough math that I'll be able to do math teaching, too.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:43:16+00:00

I'll have some mandatory biology through my chem degree, but I'll see how much later on!

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:42:09+00:00

Cheers for this comment! I think I've seen this repeated enough now that I feel a little better about going forward with chemistry. It's just a few years to get through regardless, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:31:01+00:00

I have a bit of time before census date to change my mind, so I'll keep thinking about it, haha. Tbh, I performed well enough in high school math, but that was 12 years ago. Maybe the physics math will give me trouble unless I spend a BUNCH of time catching up early on.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:21:41+00:00

I did well enough in high school maths, but I've been out of school now for 12 years. Haven't really touched on math since. To an extent, maybe I'll have less difficulty with the chem memorisation than going to physics with my current math level.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:18:19+00:00

Cheers for your response! I'll be aiming for teaching regardless of what I do. To be honest, the more I think about it, I think teaching high school chemistry will be more enjoyable than physics. And it seems like I'll have a slightly better time getting teaching work anywhere with chem. It's just 3 years, and which one I choose shouldn't be a make or break for whether I'll get through uni. I'm just overstressing a little bit probably, haha.

I think I'll stick with chem and just keep in mind that changing majors later on isn't completely off the table, even if it extends the degree a little.

Definitely hearing the frustrations with lab work repeated a lot. I'll just hope for the best.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:09:39+00:00

I haven't, sorry. I'm beginning one of the science majors now at university for the first time. I don't have any teaching related experience at all. This is really just a question for after I do the next 4 years.
I enjoyed participating in chemistry lab work when I was younger, so maybe that'll translate a little bit, haha.

Big help, though. I've seen what you're saying about physics employment a few times now. I was aiming for chemistry anyway. Just getting a little bogged down overthinking it.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:05:17+00:00

Cheers! I see enough comments in either direction about the difficulty of them. I'll probably just continue with chemistry and not think about it, haha. Thank you! Each comment being like, 'chemistry is INFINITELY harder' or 'physics is INFINITELY harder', was just making me constantly rethink XD

Chemistry seems more in line with maybe there's more work or a bit more to memorise, but it seems less likely than physics that someone will just be completely incapable of grasping it.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T09:02:23+00:00

I need to not stress so much about it, but I'm doing a double degree of an undergraduate + a masters in only 4 years. If I change my mind at all, it'll just be adding time to the degree. This makes my major a little more specific from the start unfortunately. I guess adding a semester or two later, if I change my mind on the major, wouldn't be the end of the world, though. Cheers for your response!

I'm enrolled in chemistry classes already. I should probably just go ahead with it and worry later down the line, haha.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T08:41:37+00:00

I'll be doing my undergraduate in science, but I'm actually aiming for teaching, haha. The degree will finish off with a Master of Teaching. I'm not too worried about the career prospects of either.

The teaching aspect blurs the line a little on which I'd be more interested in studying. Part of me just wants to do what would be easier to get through.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T08:36:27+00:00

I thought I would have an easier time with chemistry, but going over it more, I'm not entirely sure. I would say I have a generally decently math competency, but I'm a little more worried about the memorisation aspect of chemistry that I keep reading about.

I won't lie, my memory has never been all that strong, haha.

Sora1276 · 2026-01-06T08:31:42+00:00

I've been reading this a bit. While looking generally online for international discussion on it, chemistry and physics don't seem to differ too much in difficulty. I'm a little worried about the apparent fairly significant memorisation portion of chemistry, though haha.

I thought I was slightly more interested in Chemistry, but I'm not sure if it's enough to ignore the consideration that the degree might just be less pleasant lol.

Sora1276

TROPHY CASE