51 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 D. Geelan et al. (eds.), Complexity and Simplicity in Science Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79084-4_4 Chapter 4 Chicken Wings and a Defated Football: Metaphors of the Complexity of Learning to Teach Science and Mathematics Out-of-Field Linda Hobbs and Frances Quinn 4.1 Introduction The phenomenon of teaching out-of-feld, that is, teaching a subject or year level without the necessary qualifcations or specialisation (McConney & Price, 2009; Ingersoll, 1998), continues to be of concern in Australia and internationally. In Australian secondary schools many students are being taught science and mathe- matics by out-of-feld teachers (e.g., AMSI, 2013); in fact, Marginson et al. (2013) have signaled that Australia has one of the highest incidences of out-of-feld teach- ing in comparison to other OECD countries. Unmet demand for science and math- ematics teachers is a key reason for the relatively high incidence of out-of-feld teaching (Weldon, 2016). Recent public commentary and discourse in the Australian educational sphere has focused on mathematics and science teaching, partly because of the perceived importance of STEM-related skills for national prosperity and associated moves towards interdisciplinary teaching (Timms et al., 2018), together with continuing declines in the number of students studying mathematics and sci- ence at upper secondary school level (Kennedy et al., 2014). Fewer university grad- uates in these STEM felds in recent years and poor recruitment into teaching degrees means that schools are increasingly reliant on out-of-feld teachers (Marginson et al., 2013), a practice which may be contributing to continued declines in STEM participation through a self-perpetuating cycle. The limited supply of teachers specialised in science and mathematics means that the practice of assigning teachers out-of-feld will continue. Therefore, understanding and supporting the L. Hobbs (*) Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia e-mail: l.hobbs@deakin.edu.au F. Quinn University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia