What Matters with Out-of-Field Teaching: A Preliminary Analysis of Middle Years Teachers of Mathematics in South Australia

There has been a lot of media attention about 'out-of-field' teaching, but much of it does not capture the complexities of the term or account for the range of knowledge, experience, and attitudes relevant for teaching mathematics in the middle years. In this paper we report on a survey conducted to better understand the diversity of the profession teaching middle school mathematics (Years 7-10) in South Australia. A preliminary analysis indicates that self-identification as a teacher of mathematics is a key contributing factor to confidence in teaching mathematics. We suggest that looking through an identity lens will better inform planning and support for out-of-field teaching in mathematics.