Chicken Wings and a Deflated Football: Metaphors of the Complexity of Learning to Teach Science and Mathematics Out-of-Field

<p>The phenomenon of teaching out-of-field, that is, teaching a subject or year level without the necessary qualifications or specialisation (McConney & Price, 2009; Ingersoll, 1998), continues to be of concern in Australia and internationally. In Australian secondary schools many students are being taught science and mathematics by out-of-field teachers (e.g., AMSI, 2013); in fact, Marginson et al. (2013) have signaled that Australia has one of the highest incidences of out-of-field teaching in comparison to other OECD countries. Unmet demand for science and mathematics teachers is a key reason for the relatively high incidence of out-of-field teaching (Weldon, 2016). Recent public commentary and discourse in the Australian educational sphere has focused on mathematics and science teaching, partly because of the perceived importance of STEM-related skills for national prosperity and associated moves towards interdisciplinary teaching (Timms et al., 2018), together with continuing declines in the number of students studying mathematics and science at upper secondary school level (Kennedy et al., 2014). Fewer university graduates in these STEM fields in recent years and poor recruitment into teaching degrees means that schools are increasingly reliant on out-of-field teachers (Marginson et al., 2013), a practice which may be contributing to continued declines in STEM participation through a self-perpetuating cycle. The limited supply of teachers specialised in science and mathematics means that the practice of assigning teachers out-of-field will continue. Therefore, understanding and supporting the learning of out-of-field teachers is essential for sustaining high quality learning environments.</p>