Out-of-Field Teaching of English Major Education Graduates: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Teaching is a complex job. Not only should teachers be adept in handling
challenging students but they should also be skilled in adapting to the ever-changing
curriculum in their field of specialization. In a country where ESL learning is
prevalent, it is important to know the reason constituting this phenomenon on Outof-Field
Teaching. This phenomenological study explored the reasons why English Education Graduates (EEGs) teach outside their field of specialization and the challenges they encountered in teaching other fields. Six English Education graduates with at least three years experiences in teaching another subject in either a private or public school were selected through purposive-sampling technique. Data were gathered using a semi-structured interview guide and were analyzed using Gestalt-Phenomenological perspective. The interview results
revealed that the reasons identified by EEGs teaching outside their field of specialization are: responding to a need in a particular school, EEGs willingness to teach subjects aside from English and other personal reasons such as urgent hiring and being skillful in the assigned subject area. The challenges encountered by EEGs teaching other fields pertain to the content and pedagogy of teaching the assigned out-of-field subject. In order to address these challenges, EEGs ought to stick to their major only. On the other hand, administrators should be objective in assigning teaching loads to teachers based on their teaching qualifications. Further study may be conducted on the effectiveness of Out-of-Field Teachers. Moreover, another study using mixed method may be done involving a bigger number of participants.