The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) welcomes the policy document Out-of-field teaching of secondary school mathematics in Australia, recently released by a consortium of mathematics groups, as well as its accompanying analysis of out-of-field upskilling initiatives.
ATSE believes that addressing out-of-field teaching is imperative to improving mathematics education and addressing our future science workforce needs. ATSE explored this issue and possible solutions in its 2022 report Our STEM Skilled Future.
This analysis demonstrates that current upskilling programs lack national coordination and do not address the magnitude of out-of-field teaching, while highlighting successful international examples that could be adapted for the Australian context.
ATSE endorses these findings and the group’s call for a joint Commonwealth-State upskilling program, together with coordinated, comprehensive data collection on teacher specialisations.
The Out-of-field teaching document was developed jointly by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI), the Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS), the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA), the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) and the Actuaries Institute.
ENDS
Media enquiries: Adam Huttner-Koros, Communications Specialist – 0468 520 373/ adam.huttner-koros@atse.org.au