The teacher brings knowledge of the curriculum, the TA has knowledge of what will work in that moment with that child.
Children respond to the TA in a way they do with the teacher, so they know they are as valued.
TAs get to know each child individually.
TA interactions should be supportive, positive and help children to be as independent as they can be.
Positive relationship between TAs and teacher, high expectations
Children respond to positive interactions between adults
"The area of research showing the strongest evidence for teacher aides having a positive impact on pupil attainment focuses on their role in delivering structured interventions in one-to-one or small group settings. Crucially, these positive effects are observed only when teacher aides work in structured settings with high-quality support and training. When teacher aides are used in more informal, unsupported, instructional roles, we see little or no impact on pupil outcomes."
Jonathan Sharples, Rob Webster, and Peter Blatchford
Questions to ask our TAs:
What do you see as your role in the school?
What do you see as your role in the classroom?
Do you have other school responsibilities?
How are you supported in your role?
Who provides support?
Do you get planning time with the teachers?
How are you involved in planning your programme?
Are you given a programme to use?
What have you done with students that you are proud of?
What is most satisfying in your work?
What is most difficult in your role?
Have you any frustrations or issues?
What else would you like to mention?
Skills for helping students learn - open ended questions, wait times, prompt and encourage students to work with other students, leave space for children to do things for themselves before jumping in, use a quiet voice when supporting a student, communicate expectation positively and clearly, use non-verbal cues to demonstrate expectations, use 'when'-'then' and 'first' - 'then' commands, avoid negative commands, corrections, demands and yelling, redirect a disengaged student by using proximity, pre-arranged non-verbal signals, simple prompts, reminders, and pre-corrections and state requests or give directions to students, using brief descriptions of required positive behaviours.
Teacher sitting alongside to model the teaching style - more consistency for the child is a a good thing
Ensure the teacher aide is positioned alongside students, not (unwittingly) creating barriers between students and their peers.
Helping students make friends - Teaching Friend Making Skills
