Journal article
Australia’s professional education ecosystem for out-of-field teachers: seeking diverse pathways for teacher learning
Professional Development in Education, Vol.Advanced access
24-May-2026
Abstract
Teaching out-of-field refers to teachers’ teaching subjects or schooling phases that do not align with their qualifications. Despite calls for professional development for out-of-field teachers, formal programmes are often lacking, poorly attended, or ill-suited to their specific needs. This paper applies an ecological lens to examine how an education system could better support out-of-field teachers by distributing responsibility. Drawing on a literature and policy review, an analytical framework was developed and mapped onto Australia’s current professional education (PE) ecosystem, spanning pre- and in-service teacher learning. Six categories and influencing factors were identified, showing that different pathways support teacher learning in distinct ways and reflect varied perceptions of out-of-field teachers and their subsequent support needs. Teachers learn through initial teacher education (ITE), workplace experience, and external PE. These pathways correspond to different system responses: a ‘deficit position’ shaped by certification policies; a ‘tolerance position’ driven by staffing pragmatics; and an ‘opportunity position’ where PE fosters identity growth and new practices. We propose a model for critiquing how these pathways are valued, challenged, and privileged, and for imagining more integrated, responsive systems. The paper concludes with implications for shifting cultural norms and fostering sustainable, system-wide support for out-of-field teachers through targeted PE.
Details
- Title
- Australia’s professional education ecosystem for out-of-field teachers: seeking diverse pathways for teacher learning
- Authors
- Linda Hobbs (Corresponding Author) - Deakin UniversityEmily RossChristopher Speldewinde - Southern Cross UniversityTrevor McCandless - Deakin UniversityMerrilyn Goos - University of the Sunshine CoastSusan Caldis - Macquarie UniversityConnie Cirkony - Monash UniversitySeamus Delaney - Deakin UniversityJanet Dutton - Macquarie UniversityGreg Oates - University of TasmaniaKaren Shelley - Macquarie University
- Publication details
- Professional Development in Education, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.1080/19415257.2026.2675289
- ISSN
- 1941-5265
- Copyright note
- © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991232902002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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