Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools

A Handbook for Higher Level Teaching Assistants

Sarah Younie, Susan Capel, Marilyn Leask

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781134243426
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools is an accessible, user-friendly handbook designed to provide practical guidance and ideas to support Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs). It covers the knowledge and skills needed by HLTAs to work effectively with pupils, teachers, parents and other professionals concerned with the well-being of children.

The book relates directly to the standards for HLTAs but also provides a deeper grounding in pedagogy and the role of the teacher and the HLTA in creating productive learning environments. The text is illuminated with examples of existing good practice, and a range of tried-and-tested strategies to help HLTAs develop in all aspects of their work.

It provides essential background knowledge, together with a range of activities designed to support learning, examining:

• the roles of the HLTA and teacher respectively, and interactively
• classroom management and interactions with pupils
• pupil differences
• the place of the HLTA within the school community
• professional development.
  

The book can be used alongside the popular Routledge Learning to Teach in the Secondary School series, which gives detailed examples of theory and practice about teaching and learning for trainee teachers. It is an invaluable resource for current and prospective HLTAs working across a wide range of subjects

1 Your Role as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant

Marilyn Leask

INTRODUCTION

As an HLTA, you are in the position of having a major impact on the young people with whom you work – your attitudes to them, your capacity to help them learn, to help them develop self belief and understanding of what it means to be a citizen in our society, will affect their capacity to find their way in life. In this way your work has an impact not just fon the individual pupil but on society and the people your pupils come into contact with throughout their life.

In this chapter we outline the role of the HLTA, introduce basic principles of effective teaching and ask you to reflect on your values and beliefs and how these might impact on your professional practice and on the pupils, parents or carers and other staff with whom you come into contact. An introduction to your contractual and statutory duties is included.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this chapter, you should:

• understand the variety of roles that HLTAs may undertake;
• understand the teaching process and the skills you need to be able to demonstrate;
• be aware of how your attitudes and values impact on your professional practice;
• have knowledge of your contractual and statutory duties with respect to child protection, special educational needs, equal opportunities (e.g. with respect to gender, race, disability), health and safety.

This chapter refers to the HLTA standards regarding your general role and responsibilities, particularly having high expectations of children and young people, demonstrating positive values; an awareness of statutory frameworks and understanding your responsibilities with respect to keeping learners safe. You can also refer to Appendix 2 to see how this chapter maps onto the standards at the time of publication; if these are revised then updated materials will appear on the website supporting this text.

BACKGROUND TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HLTA ROLE

The HLTA role was introduced in England in 2006 and it recognises the value of schools drawing on the specialist skills of the whole school staff. The role builds on the teaching assistant role with key responsibilities normally including supporting pupil learning through collaborative planning and working with teachers as well as managing and leading the development of teaching assistants in schools.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) is the government agency responsible for setting standards for teaching and for HLTAs and they describe the role of the HLTA as follows:

Higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) status shows you have the ability to undertake complex tasks and can work independently. Under the direction of a teacher the sorts of tasks you’ll be involved in are working with individual pupils and whole classes; planning and supporting learning activities; and guiding the work of other support staff. The exact nature of your HLTA duties will depend on the needs of your school. Your headteacher and school governing body will determine terms and conditions for your post taking into account any relevant agreements.

(TDA, 2006, website: http://www.tda.gov.uk)

Agreement about what duties the HLTA may undertake was reached by government agencies and unions working together through the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG) and Table 1.1 provides examples of various tasks that WAMG identified as appropriate for HLTAs to undertake.

Subsequently, standards for HLTAs have been published on the TDA website together with a handbook providing more details about what the standards mean in practice. (See Task 1.1.)

THE HLTA ROLE

Under the 1988 Education Reform Act, schools in England have responsibility for implementing the National Curriculum and for the spiritual and moral welfare of their pupils, so most teachers have both a specialist academic role and a pastoral role. Both roles encompass administrative as well as teaching responsibilities in which you may be engaged as an HLTA. You may also have a management role – taking responsibility for managing teaching assistants and other staff. The HLTA role builds on the role of the teaching assistant as well as your role working with pupils.

You can expect to work alongside the teacher to support pupils’ learning through the ‘taught curriculum’, i.e. specialist and cross-curricular subjects and out of school activities, as well as through the ‘hidden curriculum’ of the school. The term hidden curriculum is used to describe what pupils learn through the values and expectations of the school community. This learning can include respect for others, how to play a role in the school and wider community, interpersonal relationships, relationships with adults, and so on.

Table 1.1 Examples of tasks undertaken by HLTAs

In your work with the teacher in the classroom, you are likely to be engaged in:

• Curriculum planning and development; assessment: supporting the planning and delivery of lessons and pupil assessment. Your responsibilities here will include preparation and management of resources (see Chapter 11: HLTA Standards 12, 21, 28) as well as teaching individuals (see Chapter 5 on pupil diversity: HLTA Standards 9, 27), small groups under the direction of a teacher or taking a whole class in the teacher’s absence. Chapter 2 (HLTA Standards 6, 9, 14, 21, 23, 25, 32) provides further details about lesson planning; Chapter 6 on pupil behaviour and teaching strategies (HLTA Standards 2, 4, 9, 26).
• Administration and pupil performance monitoring, including updating records for assessment, tests, attendance and producing reports so that pupil progress can be monitored. Chapter 9 covers monitoring and assessment of pupils (HLTA Standards 10, 22, 23, 24, 25).

As well as your work alongside teachers in specialist curriculum areas, you can expect to be involved in cross-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as:

• planning educational trips and social events;
• work experience;
• liaison with other professionals with responsibilities for children;
• links with industry;
• liaison with other schools – perhaps arranging inter-school activities such as debates, sporting events, social events;
• careers advice;
• planning and implementing school policies;
• exam invigilation;
• lunchtime and after-school activities;
• cover for absent teachers.

You are likely to have or be developing a specialism where you make a unique contribution to school life, for example through your specialist knowledge in music, art, sport or other areas. Chapter 10 (HLTA Standards 10, 12, 13, 17, 18) provides advice about developing your specialist knowledge. HLTAs as well as teachers can expect to undertake ongoing professional development to keep their practice up to date. Chapter 13 (HLTA Standards 7, 10, 11) outlines opportunities for your further professional development.

Teachers, HLTAs and all staff have a role to play in supporting the school ethos by reinforcing school rules and routines, e.g. on behaviour, dress and in encouraging pupils to develop self-discipline so that the school can function effectively and pupils can make the most of opportunities available to them.

To plan your route to achieving HLTA status, you need to be familiar with the standards you are required to reach by the end of your course. Task 1.1 introduces you to these.

Task 1.1
The standards for HLTAs in England

The standards for HLTAs in England are available on the website for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (http://www.tda.gov.uk) and are included as Appendix 1. They are grouped under three headings:

1. Professional Attributes
2. Professional Knowledge and Understanding
3. Professional Skills (planning and expectations; monitoring and assessment; teaching and learning activities)

A handbook for HLTA candidates is available from the TDA website: http://www.tda.gov.uk/upload/resources/pdf/t/tda0420_candidate_handbook.pdf

Read through the standards and the handbook and work with your mentor to plan your route to achieving the standards.

The next section gives an overview of the principles underpinning the teaching process, as to be effective in working with the class teacher and in undertaking a teaching role from time to time, you need to understand the principles underpinning teaching.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEACHING PROCESS

To a large extent, what (i.e. the lesson content) pupils should learn in maintained (state) schools in England, Wales and Scotland is determined through legislation, and the requirements are set out in various National Curriculum documents. However, how the pupils are taught so that they learn effectively (i.e. the methods and materials used) is more often left to the professional judgement of the individual teacher/HLTA, department and school.

Teaching is a very personal activity and while certain teaching styles and strategies might suit one teacher or HLTA, they might not be appropriate for another. As an HLTA, you will need to be familiar and able to adapt to different ways of working in different classrooms.

There is no one way to teach. However, there exists a core of effective practice to which most teachers would subscribe. It is highly unlikely that you will see two teachers who teach identically. Provided effective teaching and learning takes place, a whole range of approaches from didactic (formal, heavy on content) to experiential (learning by doing) is appropriate – often in the same lesson. Chapter 6 provides more details about teaching strategies.

Supporting pupils in their learning in the classroom. Much of what many experienced teachers do to manage their classes has become part of their unconscious classroom behaviour. Their organisation of the lesson so that pupils learn is implicit in what they do rather than explicit, but careful observation will enable you to analyse what ways of working help teachers to be successful – things to observe are tone of voice, where the teacher stands in the room, how they move about, how they address the pupils, how pupils enter and leave the room, how the lesson is linked to previous lessons and the homework, how the teacher deals with latecomers or lack of equipment, how the activities with the pupils are structured. Chapter 12 (HLTA Standard 7) provides advice about undertaking effective lesson observation.

Undoubtedly some teachers and HLTAs have certain advantages such as a ‘good’ voice or organisational skills. Nevertheless, there are common skills and techniques to be learned that, when combined with an awareness of and sensitivity to the teaching and learning contexts, enable teachers and HLTAs to manage classrooms effectively.

As an HLTA, you may sometimes have small groups but sometimes have to manage the whole class. The transition from one way of working to the other requires you to adopt a different stance with the pupils. In working in groups, you are supporting learning; in managing the whole class you are leading the learning experience for the pupils.

Teaching is a continuously creative and problem-solving activity. Each learner or each group of learners has their own characteristics which experienced teachers and HLTAs take into account in planning the relevant learning programme. For example, if there has been recent controversy over environmental issues in the local area, or the school has taken refugees fleeing from civil war, an effective teacher/HLTA will adapt their approach to the discussion of such matters to make lessons more relevant and to allow the pupils to draw on their experience. Although lessons with different groups may have similar content, a lesson is rarely delivered in the same way twice. Variations in interactions between the pupils, the teacher and the HLTA affect the teaching strategy chosen. Chapters 5, 7 and 8 (HLTA Standards 5, 7, 8, 9, 15, 19, 20, 27) are intended to help you consider the need to personalise your approach to pupils in taking account of their backgrounds. For detailed information on special education needs we recommend Nick Peacey’s chapter on Special Educational Needs in Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: a companion to school experience and the resources on the Teacher Training Resource Bank (http://www.ttrb.ac.uk) where you will find advice about working with pupils with the full range of special educational needs, for example dyslexia (related to letter recognition) and dyscalculia (related to number recognition) and including gifted and talented pupils who need demanding work.

Also see the SEN code of practice and disabilities legislation: http://www.tda.gov.uk/about/publicationslisting/TDA0202.aspx

The work in the classroom – the tip of the iceberg

On the surface, teaching may appear to be a relatively simple process – the view that the teacher stands in front of the class and talks and the pupils learn appears all too prevalent. (Ask friends and family what they think a teacher does.) The reality is somewhat different.

Classroom teaching is only the most visible part of the job of the teacher. The invisible foundation of the teacher’s and your work in supporting teaching and learning is your professional knowledge about teaching and learning and professional judgement about the routines, skills and strategies which support effective classroom management. Subject knowledge comes from your previous education and experience and from your continuing professional development. (A quick way to get an understanding of the key work to be covered in any secondary subject area is through the GCSE and A-level revision guides which are available at most bookshops.)

An effective teacher or HLTA draws on these three factors in planning each a...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Your Role as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant
• 2 Collaborative Working with the Teacher
• 3 Developing your Communication Skills: Non-verbal
• 4 Developing your Communication Skills: Verbal
• 5 Understanding Pupil Diversity
• 6 Pupil Behaviour and Teaching Strategies
• 7 Understanding how Pupils Learn
• 8 Understanding Learning Theories and Strategies
• 9 Monitoring and Assessing Pupils
• 10 Developing your Subject Specific Knowledge
• 11 Developing Resources and Supporting Pupil Learning using ICT
• 12 Observing in the Classroom
• 13 Your Professional Development
• Appendix 1 HLTA professional standards
• Appendix 2 Map of chapters to standards
• Appendix 3 Glossary of terms, acronyms and abbreviations
• Appendix 4 Websites
• References