Behind the Scenes of a Worldwide Issue...A Transnational Research Design: Complexities of the Multilayered Out-of-field Phenomenon

Author(s):

Anna Du Plessis(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

WERA Focal Meeting

Format:

Paper

Session Information

WERA SES 11 D, Global views on Teacher Training and Competence

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-10

17:15-18:45

Room:

307. [Main]

Chair:

Jeannie Oakes

Contribution

The global concern about teacher quality develops a need to investigate the teaching and learning space beyond what seems obvious. Disturbingly, Dinham and Scott (2000) noted that “Schools and teachers...are caught up in this uncertainty in an age of paradox” (p. 189). They explained that teaching is complex and demanding and uncertainties in this space influence success. The purpose of this paper is to offer a transnational view of a phenomenon that influences the efforts and strategies to improve the quality of education. Out-of-field teaching practices entail teachers teaching outside their field of qualification, expertise or specialisation. In this paper ‘field’ is defined as a specific subject or year level. Ingvarson and Rowe (2008) described teaching as a moral act with the intention to enhance student competencies “with respect to the content studied” (p. 7). I argue that the success of efforts to improve the learning and teaching environment for all stakeholders comes under threat when teachers are assigned to positions outside their field of qualifications.

The investigation includes Australia, ranked second, and South Africa ranked 118^th on the human development index (United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, 2014). My justification for a transnational investigation is rooted in the urgent need to confront assumptions and misconceptions about out-of-field teaching practices while the paper unveils the complexities and specific factors which intensify them. Goodnow (2006) noted that transnational investigations reveal gaps in understanding that often exist because of an absence of in-depth information. This transnational research offers new understanding that could benefit policy makers in transnational settings, for example, professional development policies, teacher recruitment policies, policies concerned with teacher supply issues and attention to student teachers’ training and recruitment in specific fields.

Global research in relation to out-of-field teaching practices includes countries such as Australia (Du Plessis, 2013; Hobbs, 2012), US (Ingersoll, 2002), Ireland (Cosgrove, Shiel, Oldham, & Sofroniou, 2004), Turkey and South Africa (Du Plessis, 2013), European countries which includes the UK, Norway and Germany. In agreement with Freebody (2003), the paper provides evidence-informed information to close the gap between policy and practice in classrooms. Goldhaber and Walch (2014) as well as Coughlan (2014) accentuated that student academic accomplishments are closely connected to high-quality teachers. It is, however, a concern that the out-of-field phenomenon still gets overlooked in certain extreme measures designed to increase teacher quality.

Research questions such as, “What is the meaning of out-of-field teaching for quality teaching and learning environments?” and “What does the out-of-field phenomenon mean for classroom and school climates?” to support the paper’s search for answers. The search for what needs to be understood relies on Gadamer’s (1975; 1976) hermeneutics philosophy which provides a theoretical framework to look deeper into the perceptions and life-worlds of participants. Clarification to why it is vital to understand the lived meaning of out-of-field teaching practices is rooted in the social constructivist theory of Vygotsky (1978), embedded in the guidance of a more knowledgeable other in classrooms to carefully guide effective learning.

I underline that a knowledgeable other in the classroom carefully guides and directs students to develop effective learning according to the constructivist learning theory of Vygotsky (1978). Uncertainty of content means uncertain teaching. Hargreaves (1998) and Smith (2002) asserted that emotions, passion and feelings form the heart of teaching and teachers’ effectiveness is influenced by their own beliefs, culture, knowledge and environment. Effective learning entails productive classroom pedagogies, which include intellectual quality, connectedness, and engagement with difference (Lingard, Hayes, Mills, & Christie, 2003). The life-world of out-of-field teachers demonstrates that the lack of pedagogical content knowledge makes them anxious and less confident (Du Plessis, 2013).

Method

The long tradition, culture and common practice across cultures to assign teachers to out-of-field positions while taking their real-life experiences for granted is the origin of major misconceptions. These customs made it necessary to develop an innovative research design to unveil the life-worlds of participants involved in the out-of-field phenomenon. I acknowledge that Vygotsky and Gadamer have different theoretical assumptions but I suggest an innovative theoretical framework for this investigation. Gadamer’s perspectives are based on ontological statements with a focus on what happens beyond our intentions and actions (Gadamer, 1976), and interpretations that are based on how knowledge and truth are understood beyond the obvious. I remained aware of Heidegger’s (1962) theories of “being in the world” (p. 174), understanding reality through multiple interpretations and closely tied with the subjective experiences of participants in their world. Seven schools (primary and high) were chosen and the criteria included independent (3 Australian) and public schools (2 Australian and 2 South African). This investigation invited 33 Australian and 15 South African participants from different levels of the education sector, for example, educational directors, principals, specialist and out-of-field teachers as well as parents to provide different angles and increase the scope (Smith, 2005, p. 9) of different life-worlds. Semi-structured interviews and close conversations were based on Gadamer’s (1975, 1976) hermeneutic philosophy of interpretation and understanding through listening, observing, testing, reflecting and looking from different angles to formulate meaning. Classroom and staffroom observations were based on Van Manen’s (1990) view that it is about entering the life-world of the participants while “maintaining a hermeneutic alertness” (p.69). In agreement with Moran and Mooney’s (2002) view that a person’s body is the vehicle of perceptions, experiences, internalised knowing and actions, I kept an extended field diary and re-visited some participants to support the interpretive analysis.

Expected Outcomes

The paper supports the development and maintenance of effective classrooms in agreement with Gillies and Boyle’s (2008) notion of a classroom as a comprehensive “space” in which effective “meaning making” freely happens while students construct new knowledge through social activities in classrooms. Concerns about the lived meaning of out-of-field teaching for teacher and student behaviour revealed an urgent need for further research about the significant influence out-of-field teachers have on students’ responses and behaviour, especially the at-risk students’ development. The findings, furthermore, revealed that only two out of the seven schools researched were coping effectively with the out-of-field phenomenon. The transnational investigation provides an opportunity to learn from the positive experiences in these two schools. Additionally, the schools that experience intense challenges with out-of-field situations provide new insight into the implications the phenomenon has for school environments. The paper prompted critical reflection on why there is a lack of policies connected to out-of-field teaching practices, as well as questions about the fairness of assessing teachers’ competencies while they are assigned to out-of-field positions. The transnational research provided a clearer understanding of specific factors that intensify the complexities surrounding out-of-field teaching practices. For example, out-of-field teachers in developing countries such as South Africa often find themselves in a situation where they have to teach an unfamiliar subject to student cohorts of 40 students or even more in one class. Data further revealed the complexities that develop when out-of-field teachers have to teach in a language in which they are not fully fluent, or manage multiculturalism in classes without proper support from school teachers. In Australia, interview data revealed that immigrant teachers often found themselves assigned to out-of-field positions in hard-to-staff, remote areas without specialist support available.

References

Du Plessis, A. (2013). Understanding the out-of-field teaching experience. . Retrieved online http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:330372 Cosgrove, J., Shiel, G., Oldham, E., & Sofroniou, N. (2004). A survey of mathematics teachers in Ireland. Irish Journal of Education 35: 20-44. Dinham, S., & Scott, C. (2000). The present and future context of education. In S. Dinham & C. Scott, (Eds.) Teaching in Context, pp. 188 –191. Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd. Freebody, P. (2003). Qualitative research in education: Interaction and practice. London: Sage Publications. Gadamer, H. (1975). Truth and method (2nd ed.) (J.C.B. Mohr, Trans.). New York: The Seabury Press. Gadamer, H. (1976). Philosophical hermeneutics. (D. Linge, Trans. Ed. 2008). Berkeley: University of California Press. Gillies, R., & Boyle, M. (2008). Teachers’ discourse during cooperative learning and their perceptions of this pedagogical practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(2008), 1333–1348. Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press. Goldhaber, D., & Walch, J. (2014). Gains in Teacher Quality. Education Next, 14(1). Goodnow, J, (2006). The benefits of cross-cultural collaboration, workshop on international collaborations in behavioral and social sciences research, October 5–6, 2006, 47–62. Hargreaves, A. (1998). The emotional practice of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 14(8), 835–854. Heidegger. M. (1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie, & E. Robinson, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Incorporated. Hobbs, L. (2012). Teaching out-of-field: Factors shaping identities of secondary science and mathematics. Teaching Science, 58(1), 21–29. Ingersoll, R. (2002). Out of field teaching, educational inequality, and the organisation of schools: An exploratory analysis. Retrieved from http://www.ctpweb.org Ingvarson, L., & Rowe, K. (2008). Conceptualising and evaluating teacher quality: Substantive and methodological issues. Australian Journal of Education, 52(1), 5 -35. Lingard, B., Hayes, D., Mills, M., & Christie, P. (2003). Leading learning: Making hope practical in schools. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Moran, D., & Mooney, T. (2002). The phenomenology reader. London: Routledge. Smith, B. (2002). Keeping emotions in mind. In P. Goldie (Ed.), Understanding Emotions: Mind and morals (pp. 111–121). Burlington: Ashgate. United Nations Development Programme, UNDP. (2014). Human Development Report. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/data Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. New York: The State University of New York Press. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. United States of America: Harvard University Press.

Author Information

Anna Du Plessis (presenting / submitting)

The University of Queensland, Australia

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