ABSTRACT
Teaching ‘out-of-field’ occurs when teachers teach a subject for which they are not qualified. The issues around this increasingly common practice are not widely researched and are under-theorised. A qualitative pilot study using teacher interviews in 3 rural schools examined meanings, support mechanisms and teacher identities associated with out-of-field teaching. A thematic analysis isolated factors influencing whether teachers self-assessed their practice and identities as out-of-field. The ‘boundary between fields’ model was developed to emphasise support mechanisms, contextual factors and personal resources that influenced the nature of teachers’ negotiation of subject boundaries and its impact on professional identity. These findings provide insight for policy makers, school leaders and teacher educators into the conditions required for such teaching to be considered learning opportunities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainley, J., Kos, J. & Nicholas, M. (2008). Participation in science, mathematics and technology in Australian education. ACER Research Monograph No. 63. Camberwell, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Akkerman, S. F. & Bakker, A. (2011). Boundary crossing and boundary objects. Review of Educational Research, 8(2), 132–169.
Darby, L. (2008). Negotiating mathematics and science school subject boundaries: The role of aesthetic understanding. In N. V. Thomase (Ed.), Science in focus (pp. 225–251). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Darby, L. (2009). Translating a “relevance imperative” into junior secondary mathematics and science. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology and Education, 5, 277–288.
Darby, L. (2010) Teacher Identity In and Across Subjects (TIIAS) Project: Summary of analysis. Final Report. Prepared for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria.
Tytler, R., Symington, D., Darby, L., Malcolm, C. & Kirkwood, V. (2011). Discourse communities: A model for considering professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 871–879.
Australian Education Union (2009). State of Our Schools Survey 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010 from www.aeufederal.org.au/Publications/2009/SOSreport.pdf.
Beauchamp, C. & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175–189.
Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C. & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 107–128.
Connelly, F. M. & Clandinin, D. J. (1999). Shaping a professional identity: Stories of experience. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 8(1), 1–50.
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2009). Teacher Supply and Demand Report. Carlton: State of Victoria.
Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (2008). Staff in Australian School 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2010 from http://www.dest.gov.au.
Department of Education Science and Training (2003). Australia's teachers: Australia's future. Advancing innovation, science, technology and mathematics. Agenda for action. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.
Education & Training Committee (2006). Inquiry into the promotion of mathematics and science education. Melbourne, Australia: Parliament of Victoria.
Fonatana, A. & Frey, J. H. (2005). The interview. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 695–727). London: Sage.
Gee, J. P. (2010). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London: Routledge.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Harris, K.-L. & Jensz, F. (2006). The preparation of mathematics teachers in Australia. Meeting the demand for suitably qualified mathematics teachers in secondary schools. Melbourne, Australia: Centre of the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne.
Harris, K.-L., Jensz, F. & Baldwin, G. (2005). Who's teaching science? Meeting the demand for qualified science teachers in Australian secondary schools. Melbourne, Australia: Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge.
Helms, J. (1998). Science-and me: Subject matter and identity in secondary school science teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(7), 811–834.
Hitchcock, G. & Hughes, D. (1989). Research and the teacher. London: Routledge.
Holyoak, K. J. (1991). Symbolic connectionism: Toward third-generation theories of expertise. In K. A. Ericsson & J. Smith (Eds.), Toward a general theory of expertise: Prospects and limits (pp. 301–335). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ibarra, H. (1999). Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 764–791.
Ingersoll, R. M. (1998). The problem of out-of-field teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 79(10), 773–776.
Ingersoll, R. M. (2002). Out-of-field teaching, educational inequity, and the organization of schools: An exploratory analysis. Washington, DC: Centre of the Study of Teaching and Policy.
Ingvarson, L., Beavis, A., Bishop, A. J., Peck, R. & Elsworth, G. (2004). Investigation of effective mathematics teaching and learning in Australian secondary schools. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Johnson, B., Down, B., Le Cornu, R., Peters, J., Sullivan, A. M., Pearce, J. & et al. (2010). Conditions that support early career teacher resilience. Paper presented at the Australian Teacher Education Association Conference Townsville, Queensland.
Kelchtermans, G. (2009). Who I am in how I teach is the message: Self-understanding, vulnerability and reflection. Teachers and Teaching, 15, 257–272.
Luehmann, A. L. (2007). Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation. Science Education, 91(5), 822–839.
Lyons, T., Cooksey, R., Panizzon, D., Parnell, A. & Pegg, J. (2006). Science, ICT and mathematics education in rural and regional Australia. The SiMERR National Survey. Canberra, Australia: Department of Education, Science and Training.
Masters, G. (2007). Restoring our edge in education. Paper prepared for the Business Council of Australia, ACER, Melbourne.
McKenzie, P., Santiago, P., Sliwka, P. & Hiroyuki, H. (2005). Teachers matter: Attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers. Paris: OECD.
McConney, A. & Price, A. (2009a). An assessment of the phenomenon of “teaching out-of-field” in WA schools. Perth, Australia: Western Australian College of Teaching.
McConney, A. & Price, A. (2009b). Teaching out-of-field in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 34(6), 86–100.
Neumann, W. L. (2003). Social research methods. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon.
Opdenakker, R. (2006). Advantages and disadvantages of four interview techniques in qualitative research. Forum Qualitative Social Research, 7(4).
Panizzon, D., Westall, M. & Elliott, K. (2010). Exploring the profile of teachers of secondary science: What are the emerging issues for future workforce planning? Teaching Science, 56(4), 18–40.
Pillay, H., Goddard, R. & Wilss, L. (2005). Well-being, burnout and competence: Implications for teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 30(2), 22–33.
Ponte, J. & Chapman, O. (2008). Preservice mathematics teachers’ knowledge and development. In L. D. English (Ed.), Handbook of International Research in Mathematics Education (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 223–261). New York: Routledge.
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.
Simmons, P. E., Emory, A., Carter, T., Coker, T., Finnegan, B., Crockett, D., Richardson, L., Yager, R., Craven, J., Tillotson, J., et al. (1999). Beginning teachers: beliefs and classroom actions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(8), 930–954.
Siskin, L. S. (1994). Realms of knowledge: Academic departments in secondary schools. London: The Falmer Press.
Star, S. L. (1989). The structure of ill-structured solutions: Boundary objects and heterogeneous distributed problem-solving. In L. Gasser & M. N. Huhns (Eds.), Distributed artificial intelligence (Vol. II, pp. 37–54). London: Pitman.
Steyn, G. M. & du Plessis, E. (2007). The implications of the out-of-field phenomenon for effective teaching, quality education and school management. Africa Education Review, 4(2), 144–158.
Tasmanian Audit Office (2010). Auditor-General Special Report No. 90. Science Education in public high schools. Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania, Hobart.
Taylor, T. (2000). The future of the past: Final report of the National Inquiry into School History. Retrieved 6 January 2010 from http://www.dest.gov.au.
Thomas, J. (2000, October). Mathematical science in Australia: Looking for a future. FASTS Occasional Paper Series. Retrieved January 2007 from http://www.FASTS.org.
van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. London: Althouse.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Linda Hobbs has published previously as Linda Darby.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hobbs, L. TEACHING ‘OUT-OF-FIELD’ AS A BOUNDARY-CROSSING EVENT: FACTORS SHAPING TEACHER IDENTITY. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 11, 271–297 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-012-9333-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-012-9333-4