Reconceptualising out-of-field teaching: experiences of rural teachers in Western Australia

Abstract

Background: Out-of-field teaching (generally defined as a situation where teachers are appointed to areas or phases of learning for which they have no formal qualifications) is an international phenomenon that can impact on the educational experiences of students. Teachers in rural and difficult to staff schools are frequently appointed out-of-field due to teacher shortages. Their lack of qualifications and experience relevant to their appointment can present significant challenges to their induction within the profession. Purpose: From a broader study of the experiences of teachers appointed to rural and remote government schools in their first years of appointment, out-of-field teaching emerged as a significant issue. This paper examines the experiences of out-of-field teachers in rural Western Australia. Sample: The participants were 29 teachers commencing employment at 17 rural/ remote Department of Education schools in Western Australia: six multiple case locations and 11 single case sites were included. Four categories of teachers (young novice, mature aged novice, interstate educated and overseas-educated teachers) were identified as groups frequently recruited to fill vacancies in rural/remote schools. Design and methods: The collective case study was conducted in the qualitative, interpretivist paradigm, seeking to understand the lived experiences of participants. Data were collected through: an initial questionnaire; a series of telephone interviews; site visits; and email contact for up to 15 months. Data were initially analysed using inductive processes generating codes and categories; later, more emergent, grounded theory approaches were used. Findings: Six categories were formulated to describe the fit between participants' qualifications and experiences and their appointment: role-congruence; role-displacement; phase-displacement; role-stretched and phase-stretched. In this small study, nearly half the participants were assigned to roles and/or phases of learning that were categorised as 'incongruent'. Mis-assigned teachers were more likely to leave their appointments than role-and phase-congruent participants and more likely to express dissatisfaction with quality of worklife. Conclusions: Out-of-field teaching emerged as an important issue that can impact on teachers' sense of efficacy and teacher attrition. When teachers are mis-assigned, it is suggested that systems and schools should provide support structures to assist teachers to develop their competence and to reduce the potential negative impact on teachers and learners. The proposed framework for categorising out-of-field teaching is presented as a tool for further exploration within future research in this area.

Teacher Attrition and Retention Research in Australia: Towards a New Theoretical Framework

“…Further to this, some teachers are employed in discipline areas outside of their field of expertise. This is particularly of concern considering that Sharplin (2014), who specifically investigated the variable of rolecongruence, found that mis-assigned teachers were more likely not only to express dissatisfaction, but also to ultimately leave. This was confirmed in another study that found teaching outside of their subject area was a concern for teachers of maths and science (Handal, Watson, Petocz, & Maher, 2013).…”

“…For example, Fetherston and Lummis (2012) state in the abstract that their study is framed by Social Critical Theory, without giving a definition or interpretation of the theory, or details of how it was used to inform the research design, data collection and analysis. Sharplin and colleagues (Sharplin, 2014;Sharplin, O'Neill, & Chapman, 2010) on the other hand, provide a background and review of the literature relating to Quality of Worklife, and data gathered through this conceptual lens found that the adoption of certain coping strategies (Sharplin, O'Neill, & Chapman, 2010) and the congruence of teachers' appointments with their area of expertise (Sharplin, 2014) were important factors in retaining teachers. The scarcity of conceptually driven research is to be expected in a relatively new field of endeavour.…”

“…Studies of teachers in non-metropolitan areas (Boylan & McSwan, 1998;Frid, Smith, Sparrow, & Trinidad, 2008;Handal, Watson, Petocz, & Maher, 2013;Plunkett & Dyson, 2011;Sharplin, 2014;Sharplin, O'Neill, & Chapman, 2010), and teachers in indigenous communities (Harrington, 2013;Harrington & Brasche, 2011) are also represented in the literature, as well as a further study that fits into both of these classifications (Hall, 2012). While 'regional', 'rural' and 'remote' are all terms used in the literature, the term 'nonmetropolitan' was used in one study to cover all of these definitions.…”

“…There were also calls for further research of specific groups of teachers, including those in non-metropolitan areas (Frid, Smith, Sparrow, & Trinidad, 2008), as well as language teachers (Mason, 2010). Sharplin attempts to forward the research agenda in two ways, firstly by calling for the replication of the study "in diverse contexts to test the veracity of the propositions" (Sharplin, O'Neill, & Chapman, 2011, p. 144), and secondly through the development of a framework to categorise and explore out-offield teaching (Sharplin, 2014). However, on the whole, the research agenda is not being fully propelled by explicit recommendations for what needs to be done, and the methods for doing so.…”

Rumination, realignment and reflection: Who is really teaching health education in secondary schools?

“…This is despite the incidence of 'out-of-field' teaching within the subject being greater than other subjects in secondary schools (du Plessis et al, 2014;Goos, 2013;McConney & Price, 2009;Sharplin, 2014). Professional learning is available to these teachers but it primarily focuses on content knowledge rather than policy and curriculum understandings.…”