Some interesting replies here. I'm not certain about the opinon that academics who lecture at universities don't see how their subjects relate to the real world; from the people I have been taught by, it would seem the opposite is true. My physical chemistry lecturer told me a great story about lions, poo and chocolate
and several other lecturers have given very strong examples of real-world chemistry, in relation to their teachings.
The other day, Maria's younger brother was in a right state about a chemistry KS3 test he has coming up. He dosn't know what he should be learning and what he shouldn't be - I thought this was a disgrace. Why dosn't his teacher give out a list of all the topics the kids will be covering at the beginning of each term? that way, the kids can tick off what they have done, and know what they have been taught, and when it comes to revision, they already have an idea of how to structure it. Additionally, he is not being taught maths very well - he's asked his parents for a private tutor, aswell as asking me to sit down with him and help him (i had a crap teacher for GCSE, and ended up shying away from maths until university, when I brought a text book and taught myself from it).
I would like to teach chemistry and maybe even maths to kids one day; I used to want to only teach A-level or upwards, but knowing how kids are struggling, perhaps I should have a crack at secondary education teaching, and try to not make the same mistakes as the teachers Maria's brother has and my maths teacher made.