Mssrs. Edmiston and Denker bring up an interesting point (as do others,
less directly): the August 2003 AIP Report ("Broadening the Base: High
School Physics Education at the Turn of a New Century") has, among other
things, the results of a poll question asking high-school physics
teachers whether "[o]nly people who majored in physics in college should
be allowed to teach it in high school". Of approximately 2150 teachers
who responded, 46% supported this view.
I came to the "dark side" after majoring in and teaching chemistry, and
won the physics teaching position here because when asked at the
interview how I would successfully teach Advanced Placement physics
despite no previous experience, I said that I would "find a way".
The success of students (not merely on the AP exam, but in college
courses including physics and engineering majors) from my classes
suggests to me that a degree in physics is (of course) a helpful but by
no means a necessary item. Students learn correct concepts and
methodologies because of the effort I have applied in learning how to
explain physics. My performance in college physics courses was dismal;
over the intervening half of a lifetime, I have managed to learn physics
(and chemistry) more than well enough to be a reasonably accomplished
educator. My predecessor *had* a degree in physics, but was the first
to admit that he had little ability to communicate the ideas effectively
and is no longer in education.
There is no call for elitism in any field. Self-satisfaction leads to
stagnation, and exclusion of the "outsider" based on an arbitrary
credential harms everyone.