The Essential Guide for New Teaching Assistants

Assisting Learning and Supporting Teaching in the Classroom

Anne Watkinson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781135176624
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The Essential Guide for New Teaching Assistants provides an introduction for teaching assistants who have recently been inducted, or are going through the process of induction, and are working in schools with children or young people.

Giving teaching assistants an insight into the theories of teaching and learning and providing a background for understanding school processes and procedures, this new edition is fully updated to incorporate recent initiatives and changes in the National Curriculum. With an emphasis on personal responsibility and professionalism, the role of a teaching assistant and their relationship with qualified teachers is fully outlined.

Providing a comprehensive overview, chapters include practical guidance on:

• getting started in a teaching assistant role
• developing a reflective approach to personal and professional development
• the Every Child Matters initiative
• working in partnership with qualified teachers
• being part of a whole school team
• working with individual children to progress their learning and development
• further training and professional development.

Fully updated in line with National Occupational Standards, changes in the primary and secondary National Curricula and revised induction materials from the TDA, this book forms essential reading for teaching assistants seeking to understand the basic principles of education, teaching and learning.

CHAPTER 1
Before you start

IN THE PAST, teaching assistants (TAs) were often appointed in an informal way, such as when the need arose to support a special pupil, or when a bit of extra funding came the way of the school. It is now recognised widely that a TA’s post should be properly advertised, with job descriptions and conditions of service available, interviews should be held and the successful candidates should be inducted into becoming a full member of the school staff team. This means that it should be much easier for you to find out beforehand what being a TA will entail. You should also be inducted into and as supported in that post as any other member of staff.

The skills of TAs are not just those of a carer, although that is important. No qualifications are required for the job unless the school stipulates this, but you will need to gain a basic understanding of teaching and learning processes, be part of the whole school team and follow policies and guidelines as set out in school policies as well as being caring and alert. An understanding of the school’s context, ethos and philosophy will also help you work better. All this not only helps you to support any children or young people you work with but will also help to raise their expectations, achievements and self-esteem.

The first chapter helps you to think about getting a job as a TA and Chapter 2 gives suggestions for starting off. Chapter 3 emphasises the importance of relationships in affecting all that you do in school. Chapters 4 and 5 examine the principles of learning and teaching in a basic way to get you started on the journey. Given these principles, Chapter 6 looks at the implications of the principles to practise in the classroom. All that happens in a school is its curriculum, largely formal and explicit, some of it legally determined but some of it informal and hidden. Chapter 7 explores this and Chapter 8 looks at the external influences on school life. If you read all this and still want to progress further, Chapter 9 gives you pointers as to the type of career development and professional opportunities there are in being a TA.

You may have various reasons for applying for a job as a TA. The research shows you are likely to be a woman and not a recent school leaver. Only about 3 to 5 per cent of TAs are men, but any men reading this should not be put off by it. Children and young people not only need a male role model but gain immeasurably from the different interests that men can bring to this job. You are probably a parent and have or have had children at school. You may have found the time to go in and help at your children’s playgroup, nursery or school. You have found you enjoyed being with your own children, you know a lot about them from having them. As a volunteer, the school staff will have found your help useful. Anyhow, the school has advertised a part-time job, or maybe a member of staff approached you, and you found you could get paid for something you enjoy and that fits in with having the family.

Some of you have recently left school, and think that you may enjoy working with children. In the past, the only possibility of getting qualified to do this was to become a teacher or opt to work with very young children and become a nursery nurse. Many more possibilities, varieties of jobs and directly relevant training are now available and, hopefully, some of you are considering a career as a TA. Some even progress through levels to become qualified teachers, while some qualified teachers opt to be TAs, for they like the ways in which they work. Whatever your background before starting the job, you are bringing a wealth of experience, knowledge and understanding with you. Even if you have a school background, a new job and particularly a different school bring new challenges.

Finding out about the job

There is a little book called Untold Stories (O’Brien and Garner 2001) that is a series of accounts of the work of learning support assistants (those who specialise in working with children with special educational need (SEN)). This gives a good flavour of the kind of situations you can find in schools. Circumstances have moved on a lot since it was written but it may help you decide whether this kind of work is for you. Before you apply for any job, make sure you get a job description and find out what the pay and conditions of service are. Ask to walk round the school if you are not already familiar with it. You will get a sense of atmosphere very quickly and could decide that it is or is not a place in which you could spend a lot of time.

You will have to fill in an application form and should have an interview, so you will meet some of the staff before you start, and have visited at least part of the school. Before you start as a new TA, someone in the school should be nominated to take responsibility for your induction (though unfortunately this doesn’t always happen). All schools are different, and even if you have done the job before, there are things you need to find out. Chapter 2 will guide you through this

Most TA jobs are for term time only and are part time. Some of you may be among the lucky ones to have found a full-time job although these are still few and far between. The contracts may also only be for distinct pupil contact hours that do not give time for planning, preparation, clearing up and feedback time, all essential to the job. This can be a problem, as many TAs are exploited and expected to do these aspects of the job in their own time. Right from the start you must find out what the expectations of the school are in these areas and clarify for what you are to be paid for. You need to know about how you are going to work in this school. Even if you know the school well, being employed will bring changes. If you are new to the school there should be a six-month probationary period. The expectations of your achievements during this time, the line management structures and times for a review of your progress should be clearly spelt out to you before you agree to accept the post. Termination of a probationary period should not be a surprise to you if you do not perform well – the school must have supported you during that time.

Also, before you start, various checks will be made about you. The school will take up references and will not confirm your appointment until this is satisfactory for them. They will also ask you to complete a form to enable them to make child protection checks about you. If you have already been working in schools or with children this may be easy, as a national database is being prepared into which the school may be able to link. Until very recently all people working in any capacity with children had to undergo checks with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in any new establishment they joined. The new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been set up to streamline this necessary, but cumbersome, procedure. Health checks are rare these days.

Becoming a professional

Think carefully before applying. Undertaking paid employment means you are responsible for things such as attendance, punctuality and carrying out your job to the best of your ability. Also, working with children and young people, in a team of professionals, means that you are going to take a responsible role in the lives of other people, particularly young people, and thus with the more vulnerable members of our society. You will be aiming to become a professional, in the wider sense of that term, yourself. It is not something to undertake lightly. You may have to rearrange things at home. Child care of your own children, before and/or after school, may be needed if you are to talk to teachers out of pupil contact time, and attend meetings and courses. You should be prepared to undertake some form of continuing professional development CPD, however slight. Child care may be needed if your children are ill, although usually senio...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Photographs
• Figures
• Tables
• Abbreviations
• CHAPTER 1 Before you start
• CHAPTER 2 Getting started in the job
• CHAPTER 3 Being part of the school team
• CHAPTER 4 What is learning?
• CHAPTER 5 What is teaching?
• CHAPTER 6 Assisting learning and teaching in the classroom
• CHAPTER 7 Understanding the curriculum
• CHAPTER 8 Outside support and influences
• CHAPTER 9 Taking this further Developing yourself
• References
• Index