Teaching Assistants Role
Don't forget to
REGISTER
onto the
MESSAGE BOARD
The primary role of the Teaching Assistant is to enable access to the curriculum and to facilitate independent learning, and to promote inclusion
This may be with pupils who have learning difficulties, pupils with a physical disability, and pupils with a visual or hearing impairment, pupils with communication problems or pupils experiencing behavioral difficulties.
The role of the Teaching Assistant can be crucial if pupils are to achieve greater autonomy, higher academic standards, and greater social awareness and feel part of the whole school community.
It is of equal importance that Teaching Assistants should feel valued
and part of a team approach, to meeting the needs of the pupil/s in their
care. They should, therefore, be included in planning meetings and their
training needs should be identified.
Teaching Assistants should not be used to rid the classroom of a problem child. This can result in them being put in a position where they can be accused by the pupil of an indiscretion. It must be remembered that the responsibility of all pupils lies with the teacher in charge.
Ofsted's Review of Primary Education (1994-1995), stated that
"Well trained Teaching Assistants are a key resource". However,
Teaching Assistant's cannot, automatically produce good practice. They
need guidance and sound training. The successful use of Teaching Assistants
lies in understanding the nature of the support they can provide and is
in four main areas:
Teacher/Teaching Assistant Partnership
Would you like support in class?
Why not browse the
Quick Step Guide for Teaching Assistants
Available to buy £5
ask in school or contact
Carole Tonner
Advisory Teaching Assistant
Is for all pupils with whom the Teaching Assistant comes into contact. Many Teaching Assistants are employed with specific responsibilities to work with individual pupils with special educational needs. Others are given more general classroom responsibilities. However even those who work mainly with one child will come into regular and close contact with other pupils; indeed, it is central to the whole principle of inclusion that a pupil who has physical or learning difficulties should be helped to work in the company of other pupils, and often in tandem with them.
Involves
Teaching Assistants performing a number of routine tasks, such as escorting
groups of young pupils to work areas outside the classroom. However, as
experience of the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy
Strategies has shown, it is now common and desirable for teachers also
to allocate Teaching Assistants tasks that were once done by the teacher.
Teaching Assistants are, for example, sometimes engaged in important aspects
of assessing pupils Literacy and Numeracy performance, and in supporting
group work assigned by the class teacher. In this a number of Teaching
Assistants are following the lead of Nursery Nurses who have for some
time brought their understanding of child development to bear on work
in observation and assessment.
The development of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies has seen a significant
growth in involvement in these areas of the curriculum by Teaching Assistants
in primary schools. Teaching Assistants are often required to work across
other parts of the curriculum, and supporting teaching in subjects such
as physical education and information and communications technology (ICT).
Teaching Assistants are not just part of the staff but are part of a team, and as such their remit includes translating school polices into practice and furthering the ethos of the school.
These four
forms of support provided by the Teaching Assistant are not separate but
interdependent, and at any time a Teaching Assistant may well be involved
in an activity in which two or more forms of support are being given.
But these four strands of support are only one part of the story. They
can be regarded as the support provided by the Teaching Assistant. At
the same time the school has a responsibility to support the Teaching
Assistant in fulfilling the expectations of the role. This is the support
provided for the Teaching Assistant. This obligation calls for consideration
both of the way Teaching Assistants are managed and of their professional
development needs: management support should enable them to perform the
job to the best of their abilities, and they should be encouraged to develop
their skills and potential.
Clearly, this view of two-way support requires the close cooperation of
class teachers with whom Teaching Assistants work, as well as of heads
and other managers.
The school and the Teaching Assistant agree this.
More information for Teaching Assistants
A Good Practice Guide for Teaching Assistants
http://www.lgnto.gov.uk/home.asp
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/Professional_Development/managingmycpd/teachingassistants/
http://www.lgnto.gov.uk/teach/other.htm
http://www.thegrid.org.uk/info/teaching_assistants/
There are many courses available in colleges and universities for Teaching Assistants, If you are unclear on what is a recognised qualification, or need to know what level a particular course is working towards you can view this through a new document complied by Employers Organization.
other information
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/parents/curriculum/home.cfm?fuseaction=doc1
