OUT-OF-FIELD TEACHING: ENGLISH TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES AND PRACTICES

Abstract

The quality of teachers is a contributing factor to success in any educational endeavor. It is therefore important to address specific concerns and provide appropriate professional development support, especially to teachers who are given teaching assignments outside of their field of specialization. This phenomenon is observed especially for those teaching in senior high school during the onset of the K to 12 curriculum implementation adding two years (senior high school) of basic education in the country. This study explores the out-of-field teaching experiences and practices of senior high school English teachers in selected public schools in Cebu province. This qualitative research utilized in-depth interviews in generating themes and describing the meaning of the experiences through the lenses of English teachers. The findings of the study highlighted their experiences in handling subjects outside their area of specialization; their teaching practices to cope with the lack of skills, strategies and content knowledge to handle these subjects; and the professional development learning activities afforded to them. Understanding the meaning of these experiences would help administrators effectively manage out-of-field teaching situations and provide relevant support strategies for these teachers. Moreover, district, division and regional personnel may consider the diverse out-of-field teachers’ learning needs in general while developing professional development programs.