DEVELOPING THE ROLE OF TAS: WORK IN PROGRESSOr, Does your teaching need assistance(ts)?

Research Findings (e.g. DISS Project) TAs had a positive effect on teachers’

workload, level of job satisfaction and levels of stress.

Teachers felt that TAs had a positive effect on the quality of teaching.

TAs had a positive effect on the overall amount of individual attention and on classroom control.

Quick overview of recent research…

Asked to attend course – real eye opener.

Made me think about additional adults in the classroom

Lots of positive… TAs provided informal and personalised

interactions TAs aided engagement TAs provided immediate support and

differentiation. TAs, when they are prepared and trained

for specific curricular interventions, with support and guidance from a teacher, show positive effects on pupil progress.

But negatively… TA support can mean that pupils have too

few opportunities to work independently.

TAs generally support the lowest attaining pupils

When TA support was available, teachers were less likely to plan tasks so that pupils with SEN could undertake them successfully.

But remember! Pupil progress is the responsibility of the class

teacher not the TAs!My conclusion: developing the role of TAs is as much if not more about training teachers how to use TAs effectively as it is about TA practice

Discussion with TAsTeacher consultation group

Consultation

What do TAs do in class? (my observations)

Explain vocab, explain teacher instructions again

Taking notes Support teacher – handing

out resources, behaviour management (whole class, 1 2 1) - making sure disruptive students don’t disrupt others

Encouraging students to get ‘on task’ – particularly reluctant ones

Reinforcing expectations Reminding pupils of time

limits

Work with SEN students, and generally with others

Use knowledge of IEP to support individual needs

Help students turn to the right page

Escort student to toilet Reinforce, explain,

support…

And… Make suggestions

to the teacher ‘on the spot’

differentiation Preparing

resources in advance

Feedback/report concerns about students

Supporting non-statemented students

Communicating with the teacher

Concerns raised (by Teachers and TAs)

Teachers: Consistency - need to have

same TA in every lesson, not lots of different ones in order to build up relationship/plan for TA role.

Not knowing if a TA in the class (no timetable available to teachers) and therefore difficulty in planning.

Lack of available time to discuss out of class.

TA refusing to work with other students/groups of students

TAs: Sharing TA expertise –

difficulties in allocating to departments.

BfL – how to communicate with teacher about it? Should TAs be able to give consequences? Issue about TA authority/how they are perceived by students.

Lack of available time to discuss out of class.

Agreeing TA role - ideas TA view Teacher planning – TA

reinforces objectives ‘TA not simply there to

make teacher’s life easier, but we should have higher expectations for students, and teachers should support that.’

Teacher plans and has subject/curriculum knowledge

Teacher View Class teacher should direct

TA either to work with specific students or to circulate

Teachers should ensure TA knows the outline of the lesson in advance – TAs should check email (in an ideal world, TAs should be prepared for the lesson)

Timetables need TA details on so teachers can plan for TA involvement

Draft statement about roles (for teachers, not in LINC/TA handbook) Teacher/TA roles We are working to develop the role of the TA to support the learning needs of those with

a statement/SA+. These students do not currently make sufficient progress and we need to look at how we can develop the way that teachers and TAs work together to support ‘Quality First’ teaching and learning that enables all students to make progress.

The relationship of the class teacher and the teaching assistant is one of partnership. The role of the teacher is to plan and deliver the lesson, and the role of the teaching assistant is to support the teacher in doing this, through supporting behaviour management as well as academic work.

Both the teacher and the teaching assistant have high expectations for the students and are working together to ensure progress is made by all.

To achieve this, the following is necessary: The teacher shares plans for the lesson (briefly, in outline) with the TA, either by email

or face to face (time allowance for this?) The teacher allocates tasks/roles to the TA and the TA supports the teacher by working

with identified students/to support specific tasks. The teacher differentiates materials to enable students to access learning, and allowing

for sufficient challenge, and the TA supports this process by explaining further vocabulary/ clarifying the task.

Realistic or aspirational? In the best of all possible worlds?

Planning…what happens next? Inset by teachers and TAs on specific

SEND and how teachers/TAs can work together to support students.

Discussion/agreement on TA role Identify best practice (teacher

management of additional adults/ and TA role in class) – agree on and work towards

Identify best practice from other schools – would it work here? Can we use this?

Alongside strategies for ‘Quality First’ teaching we need agreement on how the teacher/TA relationship can be enhanced

To include in training…

Planning for additional adult

Checklist for planning

Questioning skills for TAs: encouraging independence Using questions to support and challenge:   - What have you been asked to do? - What is the first thing you need to do?  -How can you find that out?  -What do you already know? - What are the most important words so far? - What is your target for this lesson? - How did you get that answer? - Can you tell me why you did it this way? - What are we learning today? - What have you learned so far? - What level do you think you are at now? - What do you need to do to improve this? - What do you need to do better next time? - Tell me two things you are proud of in this lesson and one thing you would like to do

better. - How can you develop this idea further?

A ‘best practice’ model from another school? Discuss! Is it fit for our purpose?

Explicitly planning support, who will get it, at what point in the lesson, and sharing these plans with the TA, either before the lesson or at the beginning, or by showing them your LPM. (Some staff do this electronically, highlighting relevant parts before the lesson.)

Including the TA in instructions/exposition/demonstrations. (Some staff use TAs to demonstrate to one half the class while the teacher shows the other half.)

Making sure that you check the progress of the weakest students, ask them questions, rather than expecting the TA to do this.

Ask TAs to work with the less challenged students while you check that the most needy are getting to grips with the learning.

We know that some students don’t listen to the teacher because they rely on the TA to re-explain what it is you want the students to do…to address this, we plan to stand back so that the student knows they have to listen to you, then we will question the students to check their understanding of the task. (You could ask TAs to take the register while you explain, this would make your different roles explicit.)

If you ask a TA to withdraw a student (or a group) our expectation is that you would set and mark the work completed outside your classroom.

When you are giving whole class explanations, and using the board to write notes, the TA needs a role. (Sometimes TAs jot down tricky words/ideas on their mini white boards and hand them to the teacher so that you can check understanding. Alternatively, the TA could copy the notes onto the mini white board so that students who struggle to copy off the board have the notes close to them.)

We want to be ambitious for all students, encouraging independence is key to this, so if it looks like a TA is not supporting a student, it will be because s/he is encouraging independence. Attached is an aide memoire of questions that TAs will are using to support and challenge students.

Outcomes – the future? Clear expectations lead to more

consistent pupil progress More focus on the students and their

needs Enhanced classroom relationships

between teachers and TAs – clearer parameters in terms of expectations.