Teachers regularly teach out-of-field. It “refers to when teachers teach specializations (or year levels) for which they have no qualification or background” (Hobbs & Törner, 2019, p. 4). It is generally assumed that teachers must have in-depth knowledge of the subject they teach (Kunter et al., 2013) and possess a subject identity to deliver high-quality instruction (Hobbs, 2013). Student teachers who already hired as teachers before their graduation – in Germany called substitute teachers – are a way to diminish teacher shortage in Austria and Germany. For student teachers majoring in two (or sometimes more) subjects early teaching experiences in their study subjects might foster their professional learning. 

Knowing that teachers, especially in the early career stage, are asked to teach out-of-field regularly, it can be assumed that student teachers, who are in the process of entering the profession, will also face this situation (Caldis & Kleeman, 2019). In fact, studies from Germany (Winter et al., 2024) show that student teachers working as teachers prior to their graduation also have to teach out-of-field that means teaching other subjects than their study subjects. Consequently, as substitute teachers they might be or feel less competent in subjects that are not part of their studies. Prior research demonstrating, for instance, that out-of-field teachers exhibit less subject-specific enthusiasm compared to their in-field counterparts, and the self-evaluated quality of their lessons tends to be lower (Porsch & Wilden, 2022). This is particularly worrying since it is well known that beginning teachers often regard their job entry as challenging and struggle when assigned to positions for which they are not sufficiently qualified (Du Plessis, 2016; Nakar & Du Plessis, 2023). Nevertheless, there is hardly any research on teaching out-of-field by teacher students that work as teachers prior to their graduation. Acknowledging the unique challenges faced during the early stages of a teaching career (Caldis, 2022; Hobbs, 2013; Ingersoll, 1998), the mixed-methods study examines how teaching-out-of-field is experienced, how the situation is evaluated in comparison to teach in-field, and how students experience the possible tension between school and university requirements. 

We conducted a mixed-method and cross-sectional study in 2025 both in Germany (one state) and in Austria (two states) presenting an online questionnaire to student teachers. Additionally, we conducted guided interviews in both countries for further information on substitute teachers practical experiences. All scales in the questionnaire had to be answered by the participants for two of their subjects if applicable: one subject they are teaching and are also part of their university studies and one subject they teach without any academic training. The participants could specify which subject they teach in-field and which out-of-field, the subjects that provide the reference for answering the items. The analysis is based on student teachers who teach in- and out-of-field (n = 140). Scales were used from already existing inventories; they all demonstrated good reliability. Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions are used to describe the data. Group differences are tested using the t-test for dependent samples. For the qualitative analysis we used 16 interviews form Austrian and German student teachers working as teachers during their studies and examined the data using qualitative content analysis. (Kleinheksel et al., 2020) A deductive-inductive category system was developed, integrating theoretically derived and emergent categories from the material. The analysis was conducted with software support and considers contextual conditions to understand the perception on the phenomenon and coping patterns. The evaluation is iterative, with regular code revisions to ensure transparency and reliability.

Quantitative: The analyses show significant differences with moderate effects for teaching enthusiasm and subject-specific enthusiasm in favor of teaching in the study subjects of the students. The same applies to differences in professional planning and instructional behavior as well as the self-reported usage of differentiated instruction. In contrast, the quality of the student-teacher-relationship does not depend from whether student teachers teach in their study subjects or subjects outside their subject-specific expertise. Qualitative: The results show that substitute teachers find themselves caught in a tense negotiation process between school and university requirements. They are confronted with high expectations of their teaching and limited resources, yet still teach with high individual standards in their teaching experiences. Teaching out-of-field is often experienced as a particular area of tension, whereby competencies and limitations are made explicit, but strong demands for conformity at school also become apparent. These negotiation processes will be discussed in more detail in our contribution. The findings from the mixed-method study will then be discussed in the context of the current debate on teacher shortage and its impact on professional standards in Europe. Furthermore, the findings should enhance a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of out-of-field teaching.

Caldis, S. (2022). Transitioning into the Profession with an Out-of-Field Teaching Load. In L. Hobbs & R. Porsch (Eds.), Out-of-Field Teaching Across Teaching Disciplines and Contexts (pp. 261–283). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9328-1_13 Caldis, S., & Kleeman, G. (2019). Out-of-field teaching in geography. Geographical Education, 32, 11–14. Du Plessis, A. E. (2015). Effective education: Conceptualising the meaning of out-of-field teaching practices for teachers, teacher quality and school leaders. International Journal of Educational Research, 72, 89–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2015.05.005 Du Plessis, A. E. (2016). Leading teachers through the storm: Looking beyond the numbers and turning the implications of out-of-field teaching practices into positive challenges. International Journal of Educational Research, 79, 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2016.06.010 Hobbs, L. (2013). Teaching ‘out-of-field’ as a boundary-crossing event: Factors shaping teacher identity. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 11(2), 271–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-012-9333-4 Hobbs, L., & Porsch, R. (2021). Teaching out-of-field: Challenges for teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 44(5), 601–610. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2021.1985280 Hobbs, L., & Törner, G. (2019). Teaching Out-of-Field as a Phenomenon and Research Problem. In Examining the Phenomenon of “Teaching Out-of-field”: International Perspectives on Teaching as a Non-specialist (pp. 3–86). Springer Nature. Ingersoll, R. (1998). The Problem of Out-of-Field Teaching. GSE Faculty Research, 773–776. Kleinheksel, A. J., Rockich-Winston, N., Tawfik, H., & Wyatt, T. R. (2020). Demystifying Content Analysis. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84(1), 7113. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7113 Kunter, M., Kleickmann, T., Klusmann, U., & Richter, D. (2013). The Development of Teachers’ Professional Competence. In M. Kunter, J. Baumert, W. Blum, U. Klusmann, S. Krauss, & M. Neubrand (Eds.), Cognitive Activation in the Mathematics Classroom and Professional Competence of Teachers (pp. 63–77). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5149-5_4 Nakar, S., & Du Plessis, A. E. (2023). Facing the Dilemma of the Out-of-Field Teaching Phenomenon in Vocational Education and Training (VET). Vocations and Learning, 16(3), 551–575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-023-09329-8 Porsch, R., & Wilden, E. (2022). Teaching English Out-of-Field in Primary School: Differences in Professional Characteristics and Effects on Self-Assessed Instructional Quality. In L. Hobbs & R. Porsch (Eds.), Out-of-Field Teaching Across Teaching Disciplines and Contexts (pp. 117–134). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9328-1_6 Winter, I., Kaiser, T., Nonte, S., Bellenberg, G., & Reintjes, C. (2024). Fachfremder Vertretungsunterricht von Lehramtsstudierenden – Eine Bestandsaufnahme in Niedersachsen. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 27(6), 1545–1568. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-024-01266-z