The Meaning of out-of-Field Teaching for Social Studies and Professional Experiences

Abstract

Researches about out-of-field teaching and out-of-field teaching in social studies are relatively limited in Turkey. This study aims to investigate what the social studies teachers from other fields think about out-of-field teaching and what their life experiences are as out-of-field social studies teachers. In the research, the case study method from qualitative research designs was used. The study group consists of 24 teachers who are working as social studies teachers in official secondary schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the districts of Ankara province. During the data collection stage, a structured interview form was prepared by researchers based on literature and expert opinions. As we understand from the essential findings of the study, the opinions of social studies teachers who are teaching as out-of-field teachers may be supportive or adverse. The important thing is that there have been emerging opinions about increasing the quality of teachers.As one of the challenges of being an out-of-field teacher, participants bring forward the issue of lowering their tone to students' level, but it was found that usually there isn't much problem since the teachers transfer from similar fields. One of the prominent views is the idea of increasing the quality of out-of-field teachers by conducting professional development practices in their employment processes. Participants in the research stated that out-of-field education has a negative effect on the formation of a qualified education and that it is a difficult process for a teacher from outside the field to adapt to the current branch. The reason for this situation can be revealed with a new research (qualitative).