Teacher Support Teams in Primary and Secondary Schools

Angela Creese

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134096978
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica generale

Teacher support teams are school-based, problem-solving groups which function to support pupils indirectly through teacher collaboration. This handbook offers training information and activities useful in the setting up, running and evaluation of this provision.

PART ONE – REVIEW

Part One reviews the aims and purposes of this book by outlining what TSTs are and how they function. Section 1 contains an introduction to the areas covered in the book. Section 2 offers a preliminary summary of what TSTs are and how they function. Section 3 describes how TSTs are useful in the process of education. Section 4 reviews how TSTs can assist in the changes required of schools under new educational provisions.

1 Introduction

The purpose of this book is to provide resource material for the setting up and development of Teacher Support Teams (TSTs) in schools. It has been designed with the purpose of providing background literature and practical suggestions on what a TST looks like and how it might function. An attempt has been made to make the material relevant to teachers and administrators in both primary and secondary education. Although there are obviously fundamental differences in the organisation of schooling between the primary and secondary sectors, all the material included here was found to be relevant and useful in both contexts. Moreover, readers are encouraged to adapt the material to fit their own needs.

The book is divided into two main parts. Part One aims to describe the rationale behind Teacher Support Teams and reviews previous projects and research. Part Two aims to provide practical tasks and handouts that will be useful in setting up a TST. The tasks and handouts in Part Two were originally part of a three-day training programme at the London University Institute of Education. The original order of presenting the material is retained here so that the reader might have an idea as to how each of the training sessions was organised. Materials are listed under Training Sessions 1, 2 and 3. Each training session is organised chronologically and a time frame is given for each activity. This is in order to stress that, although activities can be used independently, they were originally conceptualised as being interrelated and part of an ongoing training package.

At this point we would wish to draw attention to our understanding of TST training and the role of TST trainers. We see TST training as a process through which schools may develop their own response to a small set of key concepts and thereby start to build their own version of the TST idea in their own schools. The facilitators of TST training sessions need not necessarily be experts on TSTs. However, we feel that it is important that they should be well prepared for the activity and familiar with the background information. Most activities involve discussion among TST members from the same school and across schools. Usually, after small group discussions, the whole group is brought together at the end of the session to share and compare ideas. The facilitation of this process is the session leader’s main role. The management of discussion by the facilitator will involve the need to question, explain, draw out arguments and points of view, clarify and summarise.

Evaluation as part of the process of establishing a TST is also considered in Part Two. Activities covered in the training sessions are open to evaluation and an evaluation document is included as an example. Suggestions as to how TST members can evaluate their own work are also included.

2 TSTs at a Glance

What are TSTs?

• They may be seen to constitute a practical embodiment of a school’s commitment to SEN by offering an indirect mechanism for supporting pupils, through supporting teachers in a setting in which knowledge and understanding may be shared and developed with professional peers.

• While other professional groups have been using systems for peer professional support and consultation, teachers who have considerable knowledge and skill rarely share this with colleagues. TSTs set up a forum for professional educators to share, manage and solve problems which arise from teachers’ individual and immediate classroom concerns.

• In seeking assistance, teachers make requests to the team who help them to define the problem(s), consider possible alternatives and try out practical strategies.

• In that TSTs develop structured approaches to collaborative problem-solving with an emphasis on follow-up and review, they differ from much of the informal peer support which is to be found in many schools. Teachers may often ask each other for advice. However, these exchanges typically take place in the context of busy staff rooms in a very short space of time and rarely with any possibility of reviewing the effects of the advice. TSTs allocate a dedicated amount of time to a referring teacher, in a calm and peaceful setting in which issues may be discussed without interruption and in confidence.

• Crucially they embody the problem-solving cycle in that teachers are offered the opportunity to monitor and review the situation through follow-up meetings.

How do TSTs Work?

• Typically three classroom teachers serve as the core team, who call on outside support and advisory staff and parents when needed.

• Teams meet weekly or fortnightly with the teacher making a request for support – meetings last about 45 minutes (usually during lunchtime or after school). A team member usually collects relevant information about the teacher’s concern before the meeting.

• Typically one case is dealt with per meeting – either a new request or a follow-up. Unless a case is closed a follow-up date is always agreed at which the situation will be reviewed.

• Teams keep confidential notes about cases to enable follow-up work and a log of meetings.

• Teachers involved in meetings need to have some time release from other responsibilities.

• The principles and practical aspects of TSTs need staff and headteacher support.

3 Teacher Support Teams – A Description

We originally conceived of TSTs as a system of support from a team of peers for class teachers experiencing teaching difficulties in relation to special educational needs (SEN). Our model was that individual teachers request support on a voluntary basis from a team which usually includes the SEN coordinator, a senior teacher and another class teacher. The team, along with the referring teacher, collaborate in order to understand the problem(s) and design appropriate forms of intervention related to learning and behaviour difficulties. Our own research suggests that TSTs actually function in a much broader way than we originally thought would be the case. In some schools they may well function as supports for teachers’ problem-solving far beyond the original SEN remit.

Something for Teachers

TSTs are novel in that they are an example of a school-based development designed to give support and assistance to individual teachers. In this way, TSTs address a significant but neglected area of school development which has the potential to enhance the working conditions of teachers. They involve a sharing of expertise between colleagues, rather than...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Part One – Review
• Part Two – Putting it into Practice
• Appendix – Past Studies
• Reading List