The Role of Professional Context in Enabling and Constraining Out-of-field Teacher Engagement with System-initiated Professional Learning
Keywords:
mathematics education, out-of-field teaching, policy enactment, professional contexts, teacher professional learningAbstract
In hard-to-staff subjects like secondary school mathematics, out-of-field teaching―where teachers are required to teach subjects outside their expertise―is a necessary reality. While strategic investments in continuous professional learning by education authorities seem an obvious way to ensure that teachers are better prepared for such assignments, teachers’ local realities and professional contexts can impact their ability to engage with and derive benefit from system-initiated programs. This article draws on empirical data generated as part of a partnership between an Australian education authority and a university to examine factors that shape teachers’ professional learning engagements and outcomes. The conceptual lens of professional context was applied to illustrate similarities and differences in the reported experiences of ten teachers who completed the first iteration of a Graduate Certificate of Secondary Mathematics. Analysis of these teachers’ accounts revealed the power of relational dynamics, including support from school principals, mentoring by in-field mathematics teachers, and opportunities to connect with out-of-field teachers of mathematics working in different school settings.
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