Stay up-to-date with our latest news
13 December 2024:
Media Centre for Education Research Australia (MCERA) interviews Professor Linda Hobbs
Teachers are being employed outside their areas of expertise. Should we be concerned?
Linda was recently interviewed by MCERA to help explain Out-of-field teaching. Her interview covers What is out-of-field teaching?, the what the data says about out-of-field teaching, and potential solutions and concerns. Use the button above to access Linda’s interview.
An article about Linda’s interview was also published in EducationDaily, click the picture to check it out.
3 December 2024:
Australian Association for Research in Education annual conference 2024
AARE provided a wonderful opportunity for us to share the analytical framework that we are using to begin mapping the professional education ecosystem. Linda shared our initial thinking following the review of policy and literature led by the Victorian team. An exciting milestone for our research!
Image: Linda presenting at AARE at Macquarie University (Dec 2024)
Image: Connie, Janet, Susan and Linda attending AARE 2024
18-19 November 2024:
Image: The Research Team at Deakin University Waurn Ponds (Nov 2024). From left: Chris, Merrilyn, Susan, Janet, Greg, Linda, Seamus, Emily, Connie.
Victorian Writing Retreat
The value of time and space to build relationships cannot be understated in education, nor can it be in developing research teams. Across two days, we have had an opportunity to meet (some of us face-to-face for the first time), share ideas, develop practices, engage in discussion, consult with our international reference group, and commence pathways for publishing the conceptualisation of our project. Data collection has now commenced, and we are hearing from PE providers about the work they do to support teachers out-of-field.
A big thank you to Chris for coordinating all of us; it was not a small task!
16 October 2024:
Joint Forum between UNESCO TEC and OOFTAS Collective
Prof. Dr. Bo Ning (Shanghai Normal University) and Prof. Dr. Linda Hobbs recently co-convened the UNESCO TEC and OOFTAS Collective Forum focused on: STEM Teachers’ Readiness and Professional Development and Learning of Teaching Out-of-Field. As part of the forum, Linda and Chris visited Shanghai to work with educators. What a wonderful opportunity to strengthen partnerships and get to know the OOF story across our region! Included in the program were two presentations from the SCOPE-T Team, which you can watch via YouTube:
- Looking for diverse pathways for out-of-field teachers to become in-field
- Out-of-Field Teaching of Mathematics in an Australian Context
Find out more at: https://ooftas-collective.org/unescoooftas-conference-2024
1 October 2024:
Learning to teach science out-of-field
Linda and Seamus presented a guest lecture to students from Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia, on research related to teaching science as an out-of-field (OOF) school teacher. During the presentation, they gave a sneak peek at some of the initial findings emerging from our SCOPE-T project on professional learning for OOF teachers. More to come soon!
23-24 August 2024:
11th International OOFTAS Collective Symposium
The 11th symposium for the OOF-TAS Collective was held online prior to ECER. The symposium provided opportunity to consider the Disjunctures and opportunities in teaching out-of-field.
Linda presented the closing address, providing an outline of the analytical framework for our project as we map the professional education ecosystem for out-of-field teachers in Australia.
You can view Linda’s presentation on Youtube: https://youtu.be/lJOgVpC7DWgm
5 July 2024:
Image: Linda at ASERA55, Massey University (July 2024).
Image: Connie and Linda at ASERA55, Massey University (July 2024).
Team Science at ASERA
During the ASERA annual conference, Linda has led a presentation to outline the theoretical rationale for our ARC project and provide an overview of the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory being used to map and represent the current and “imagineered” professional education ecosystems. During the presentation, Linda presented an analytical framework derived from relevant policy documents, subject association websites, professional education and learning initiatives, and the literature that highlighted the professional education ecosystem for out-of-field teachers and the factors at play. These factors relate teaching quality and specialisation, teacher learning, government imperatives and teacher workforce imperatives, contestations at the levels of subject and broader education, and societal attitudes towards the teaching profession.
3 July 2024:
Team Maths (Emily, Greg and Merrilyn) at MERGA46, Surfing the waves of mathematics education, Gold Coast (July 2024).
Team Maths at MERGA
Team Maths attended MERGA46 conducting a round table to lead discussions with the research community about the TOOF phenomenon. The round table aimed at sharing insights gained as we work to map the educational ecosystem that creates and supports the OOF phenomena. During the round table, the audience was invited to contribute to mapping this complex ecosystem, by sharing their insights about the out-of-field teaching phenomenon, knowledge of local responses and their opinions as to what might influence teachers to seek professional learning. The full abstract for the session can be found in the conference proceedings.
Ross, E., Goos, M., Caldis, S., Cirkony, C., Delaney, S., Dutton, J., Hobbs, L., Oates, G., & Speldewinde, C. (2024). Exploring the Culture of Out-of-Field Professional Education for Mathematics Teachers. In J. Višňovská, E. Ross, & S. Getenet (Eds.), Surfing the waves of mathematics education. Proceedings of the 46th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 566). Gold Coast: MERGA.
Image: The first SCOPE-T team photo (Nov 2023)
Top row: Emily, Linda, Merrilyn; Middle row: Seamus, Connie, Susan; Bottom row: Janet, Greg
15 November 2023:
First Team Meeting
We won’t update on every meeting we have, but it was rather exciting to get together for the first time since the news of our funding success. A big thanks to A/P Linda Hobbs for her leadership! We are so appreciative of your guidance.
This morning we have started our journey and, no doubt, there will be many more project meetings and updates to come.
30 October 2023:
Today, the Australian Research Council (ARC) Chief Executive Officer, Ms Judi Zielke PSM, is pleased to announce more than $220.2 million of funding for 421 research projects to be undertaken as part of the ARC Discovery Projects scheme.
We are very excited to announce that our project Shifting the Culture of Out-of-field Professional Education for Teachers (DP240101175) was among those funded.
This project aims to model an education system that would diversify the expertise of teachers as part of attending to long-term teacher shortage. It responds to a pressing national need for a system of valued and accessible professional education (PE) for out-of-field teachers. The project draws on perspectives from schools, governments and PE providers to expose current practices, cultural norms, and policies; propose an 'ideal' PE ecosystem that values re-specialisation in the core subjects; and develop principles to inform policy and practice needed to attain this ideal. The evidence-based framing of PE will inform efforts by schools, PE providers and policy makers to sustain a highly capable, adaptive and specialised teaching workforce.
17 October 2023:
International Conference on Teaching Out-of-field: A world-wide phenomenon
Jointly hosted by the UNESCO Teacher Education Centre and OOFTAS CollectiveLinda co-convened an exiting line up of interational thinkers to consider the prevalent worldwide issue of out-of-field teaching.
As part of the conference, Emily, Susan and Janet, co-delivered the final presentation, a provocation to all involved in the conference to Imagine professional learning for OOFTs.
Check out their provocation at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kxVvt6zaY
For more about the conference, visit: https://ooftas-collective.org/unesco-ooftas-conference-2023
20-21 August 2023:
10th International OOFTAS Collective Symposium in Glasgow
Linda has presented our first team presentation at this year’s International OOFTAS Collective Symposium in Glasgow, Scotland. The presentation entitled Using systems theory and reflexivity theory to develop a framework for professional education for ‘out-of-field’ teachers highlights the thinking that has developed as we seek to engage in research to support OOF teachers to engage in professional learning.
If you’d like to see Linda’s presentation: https://youtu.be/JvVKYWyiQ44
If you’d like to find out more: https://ooftas-collective.org/2023-symposium
