Philippine E-Journals

A Phenomenological Study on Out-of-Field Teaching Experiences of Non-History Majors in the Higher Education Department

Cesar San Jose

 

Abstract:

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of non-history major teachers teaching in the Higher Education Department. The study was participated in by five (5) non-history major college teachers who have been given history subjects to teach for one to three years and were selected purposively. Moreover, the data was gathered through in-depth interviews with the participants, which drew out four (4) themes as follows: (a) experiences of out-of-field college teachers in teaching History subjects; (b) challenges encountered by out-of-field college teachers in teaching history subjects; (c) coping mechanisms posed by teaching history subjects; (d) insights of the out-of-field college teachers in teaching history subjects. The study revealed that out-of-field teachers had diverse experiences, such as guilt because of a lack of content knowledge and teaching strategies and techniques to teach students, feelings of inadequacy to cope with unprecedented misaligned teaching assignments, stress, and anxiety about handling the unmastered subject. To cope with the challenges posed by out-offield teaching, the participants of the study employed different coping mechanisms: allotting time to research and study the content, seeking help from colleagues who have the expertise in the subject, using teaching strategies to easily capture students' attention, becoming resourceful and creative, and accepting their profession's real challenges, including being assigned to teach subjects outside their field. Narratives further revealed that teachers should not be made to teach subjects not their major, but rather they should teach their subject of expertise since student learning can be compromised with out-of-field teaching. However, handling a subject in which the teacher does not have expertise will not make a teacher incompetent but instead allows the teacher to become more creative and concerned in making the lesson effective