Out_of_Field_Novice_Teachers

Out of Field Novice Teachers What are Out of Field Teachers?

The term “Out of Field” teachers refer to teachers that are teaching subjects that are beyond their training or their education. An example of an out of field teaching would be a teacher teaching the subject of science in middle school where his training and higher education degree may be based in English (English Literature, English: Creative Writing, etc.) The need for out of field teachers is based on the low number of teachers that are currently being employed by both public and private education systems.

The term “novice teachers” refers to teachers whose experience is limited to one year or less. Despite their lack of teaching experience, novice teachers are accountable for student success and for student learning. To offset the lack of experience that a novice teacher may have, education systems are fostering a culture of learning by promoting programs that will give novice teachers insight on tools that they have not been exposed to.

For example the Washoe Country School District promotes a program of education and mentoring to assist the learning curve for novice teachers. Their program also has a contract that between the district and the novice teachers to ensure that the attendance will occur at the following events (http://www.washoe.k12.nv.us/staff/mentor-teacher-program/novice-teachers): Weekly mentor meetings o Purpose: to meet with a veteran teacher and to receive feedback on their (“novice teacher”) professional growth.

Schedule teaching episodes o Purpose: Novice teacher will record/videotape themselves teaching a lesson so that a veteran may make comments on their delivery, teaching style, etc. Their insight will allow novice teachers to become better in a shorter amount of time.

Attend novice on site seminar o Attend seminars (twice a semester) to further their professional development with other novice teachers.

Attend New Teacher classes o Attend classes to further their professional development within their district with other new teachers.

Evaluate school program o Learn analytical skills to evaluate their performance in addition to school program performance.

Statistics The following statistics are from a report from the National Center for Education Statistics. This report was commissioned by the US Department of Education and specifically within the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/96040.pdf) One-fifth of all public school students enrolled in English classes in grades 7-12, or about 4,310,000 of 20,700,000 students, were taught by teachers who did not have at least a minor in English, literature, communications, speech, journalism, English education or reading education.

About one-quarter of all public school students enrolled in mathematics classes in grades 7-12, or about 4,124,000 of 15,510,000 students, were taught by teachers without at least a minor in mathematics or mathematics education.

Thirty-nine percent of all public school students enrolled in life science or biology classes in grades 7-12, or about 2,120,000 of 5,520,000 students, were taught by teachers without at least a minor in biology or life science.

Fifty-six percent of all public school students enrolled in physical science classes in grades 7-12, or about 3,430,000 of 6,110,000 students, were taught by teachers without at least a minor in physics, chemistry, geology, or earth science.

Over half of all public school students enrolled in history or world civilization classes in grades 7-12, or about 4,330,000 of 8,030,000 students, were taught by teachers who did not have at least a minor in history.

Benefits of Out of Field/ Novice Teachers Cost Benefit With the reduction of budgets within a school district, many districts see out of field teachers as a means of diversifying their faculty. By hiring a faculty member that has a solid background in one discipline and is willing to learn another, a school will potentially gain additional tools to educate children.

Fulfilling a role A schools first responsibility is to educate students. Although out of field/novice teachers may not have the foundation that others may want in their faculty, they do provide a willingness to teach. This in turn will enable a school district to fulfill any responsibility a school may have to their community and to the district that it may reside in.

Disadvantages of Out of Field/Novice Teachers Lack of Expertise Teachers, who are well versed in a certain field, may have the skills necessary to connect with students enough to make a real impact on them, regardless of their field. However, being able to teach a student does not solely rely on their ability to connect with a student. Their depth of knowledge in a given field is also vital to the students learning success. A teacher who is not teaching the field they were trained for compromises their depth of knowledge, which can ultimately short change students and their learning.