Designing professional development for teachers teaching out-of-field
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 03:31authored byJohn KennyJohn Kenny, Hobbs, L, Whannell, R
Learning to teach out-of-field is a challenge that many teachers worldwide face at some time in their career. Whether they aremotivated to seek formal professional development as additional qualifications in this area, however, depends on many factors. Alignment between the specific professional development needs of out-of-field teachers and the planned learning experiences is essential to maximise sustained learning and applicability to teachers’ classrooms. This paper reports on a government-funded program designed to support teachers teaching ‘out-of-field’ in science and mathematics. The initial design of the program drew on existing literature on effective teacher professional learning. Using the theoretical lens of ‘boundary crossing’ this paper reports on the perceived discontinuities that teachers ‘brought with them’ in order to understand where the potential for learning lay, and compared this to teachers’ perceptions of their changed practice. Growth in teachers’ confidence and relational understandings of content, pedagogy and curriculum was evident. Implications for future programs to support out-of-field teachers are provided.
History
Publication title
Professional Development in Education
Pagination
1-16
ISSN
1941-5257
Department/School
Faculty of Education
Publisher
Routledge
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Rights statement
Copyright 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Workforce transition and employment; Teacher and instructor development