Teaching out of field: teachers having to know what they do not know

Teaching out-of-field is a situation many teachers experience throughout their career; particularly those entering the profession. Not only does teaching out-of-field disrupt the integrity of a subject, it inevitably results in heightened levels of student disengagement, lower than anticipated achievement of student learning outcomes, and an increasing lack of confidence amongst teachers about their ability to teach effectively. It is this cycle that fuels public perception of declining teacher quality. Research reveals that teaching out-offield is not an Australia-specific educational issue and neither is it connected to one particular subject. Whilst the span of teaching out-of-field is initially explored with an evaluation about its cause and effect according to policy, practice and research, focus will turn to the extent of and responses to Geography being taught out-of-field in Australian secondary schools.