In staffrooms across the country, the story is a familiar one: a maths teacher handed a Year 9 science class because there's nobody else, senior science electives quietly shrinking year on year, and students who can recite a conspiracy theory from TikTok more confidently than the scientific method.
It's a picture that has some of the region's leading science education experts deeply worried – and now, they've mapped out a plan to turn it around.
In a landmark white paper, the Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA) is calling for a sweeping revamp of science curriculum – including embedding AI in classrooms, placing dedicated science specialists in primary and early childhood settings, and beefing up professional learning for generalist teachers.
The Science Education: Fit for the Future White Paper provides direction for the development of a new 'National Science Education Strategy' in Australia and New Zealand across all levels of schooling.
The timing is no accident. With Australia's National STEM Schools Education Strategy expiring in 2026, the experts say the window to shape what comes next is open – but it won't stay open for long.
Australia’s Chief Scientist Professor Tony Haymet said the case for change is impossible to ignore.
“In the face of rapid global changes, including those brought about by artificial intelligence, climate change, and the rapid growth of mis- and dis-information, there is a critical need to continuously update science education and to support evolving science teaching.”
When passion decides where teachers go
Deakin University's Professor Linda Hobbs, President and Managing Director of ASERA, said the reality of teachers teaching out-of-field is compounded by the current teacher shortage, though this has been an ongoing practice in schools for many years.
“This problem is unlikely to be solved quickly, even with further recruitment, because of the way schools are funded – a school will never have the exact teacher profile needed to ensure teachers are all teaching in-field,” Professor Hobbs told The Educator.
“The question therefore shifts to how teachers are supported when they find themselves in this situation.”
Professor Hobbs said that while research shows that school-based support from colleagues is critical, this does place additional burden on colleagues and the middle leaders.
“School support structures and recognition that teaching a new subject is difficult, is critical, while normalising it as just part of what teachers do is not helpful if teachers are expected to struggle in silence,” she said. “Additionally, we need a range of external supports for those teachers who are keen to improve their science teaching.”
Professor Hobbs said the problem is that access to such supports is not taken for granted as schools prioritise school-related PD.
“Also, schools at the moment can struggle to find relief teachers, particularly in those rural and remote schools, limiting teachers’ time away from schools,” she said.
“School leaders then can create a culture of support in their schools, recognise that it is not easy to teach a subject out-of-field, and consider a teacher’s experience when assigning teachers.”
Professor Hobbs saidthe stakes of getting this wrong go beyond disengagement.
“Teachers have indicated that staying connected to their in-field area is also important – teachers have been reported to change schools if they don’t get to teach what they are passionate about.”
A fix hiding in plain sight
The report’s recommendations call for dedicated science specialists in early childhood and primary settings at a time when many Principals are struggling just to put a teacher in front of every class.
For Principals wondering "with whose workforce?", Professor Hobbs has a ready answer.
“Many primary schools have specialist teachers, this is not unusual. Specialist teachers in primary schools can help solve the problem of covering parts of the curriculum other than literacy and numeracy,” she said.
“Schools prioritise particular specialties, and sometimes they are science specialist teachers, while more recently the STEM or STEAM specialist is more popular because they can offer an integrated approach including parts of the science, mathematics [though usually this is covered in numeracy blocks) and the technologies (design and digital technologies].”
Professor Hobbs said the problem with STEM/STEAM specialists is that the limited number of topics that they cover in the small amount of time is often determined by the teacher’s preferred areas of study.
“The science can sometimes be sidelined where a teacher has a particular interest in digital technologies, for example,” she said. “It’s worth noting that we have just come out of a period where specialisations during initial teacher education was a requirement, coming from the TEMAG report.”
Professor Hobbs said this has since been removed as a requirement for ITE, which may mean fewer teachers have a particular interest to step into the specialist science/STEM teacher roles.
“In schools, it remains the school leader’s decision as to which specialist studies they will be budgeted for and then who might step into those roles,” she said.
“Unlike primary schools, it is not common in early childhood centres to have discipline specialists. Early childhood education has traditionally focused on play-based learning and science can be taught exceptionally well through play and inquiry.”
How much science is 'enough'?
Professor Hobbs said the challenge for childhood educators is understanding opportunities where science can be emphasised through play and different learning contexts.
“The white paper does emphasise the need to engage students with scientific ideas and practices in an informed progression from early childhood through to the end of formal education,” she said.
“Having ‘enough’ science taught explicitly, especially in primary school, is the challenge but one that we must maintain as essential for a quality science education. Starting early in early childhood lays a strong foundation.”