Australian National Summit on Teaching Out-of-field Synthesis and Recommendations for Policy, Practice and Research

Abstract

<p>Despite many years of reports and recommendations, teaching out-of-field, that is, assigning teachers to teach subjects they are not qualified to teach, remains an increasingly critical issue in Australian schools. While teaching out-of-field is used by school administrators as a solution to the teacher shortage crisis, it is not an adequate solution. It "inadvertently masks the extent of teacher shortages" (Hobbs & Törner, 2019a, p. 313), shortages caused by a lack of teachers in particular subject areas, unequal distribution of teachers, or recruitment practices that preference qualities other than teacher specialisations (Hobbs & Törner, 2019a). However, assigning a teacher to teach a subject they are unfamiliar with is like expecting dentists to meet the shortfall in country doctors. While Australian teachers are highly qualified, knowing the subject and how to teach it is a standard held high in our preparation of teachers, yet this standard is challenged when teachers are assigned or employed to teach out-of-field.</p>