Working with teaching assistants: three models evaluated

Cremin, Hilary; Thomas, Gary; Vincett, Karen

doi:10.1080/02671520500335881

Cited by 31 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, both in the UK and internationally, there is ambiguity about the TA role in relation to teachers and teaching, and the inclusion of pupils with SEN (in the UK, see: Bach, Kessler, and Heron 2004;Beeson, Kerry, and Kerry 2003;Cremin, Thomas, and Vincett 2005;Farrell, Balshaw, and Polat 1999;Mistry, Burton, and Brundrett 2004;Moran and Abbott 2002;and Schlapp, Davidson, and Wilson 2003. For debates in Cyprus, Finland and the US respectively, see: Angelides, Constantinou, and Leigh 2009;Takala 2007;Finn et al 2000;Giangreco 2009). …”

Section: Previous Research On Tasmentioning

confidence: 97%

The wider pedagogical role of teaching assistants

Webster¹,

Blatchford²,

Bassett³

et al. 2011

School Leadership & Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Teaching assistants (TAs) comprise a quarter of the school workforce in England and Wales. There has been controversy over TAs' deployment and appropriate role regarding supporting learning and these debates have been transformed by findings from the largest study of school support staff (the DISS project), which show that TA support has a negative impact on pupils' academic progress. This article conceptualises the most likely explanations for the negative effects of TA support in the form of the wider pedagogical role model, the components of which enable us to understand the effects of TA support in terms of the decisions made about TAs, rather than by them. IntroductionTeaching assistants 1 (TAs) are part of a growing international trend toward paraprofessionals working in different professional areas (e.g., health and law). There is ambiguity about the role of TAs in supporting learning, and recent findings from the largest study of TAs (the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff [DISS] project), presented in this article, question the current and widespread models of TA deployment. The rationale behind increasing the number of TAs in classrooms over the last decade seems fairly sound: TAs improve adult-to-pupil ratios. Yet findings from the DISS study presented here, show that TA deployment, together with other situational factors connected with their employment and preparation, can have a negative impact on the academic progress of pupils in mainstream schools.In this article, we use these situational factors to provide the basis for an organisational framework that structures and describes key facets of TAs' work. We put forward a 'wider pedagogical role' (WPR) model to enable us to interpret the results on TAs' impact on pupils' academic progress within the wider context of the factors within which TAs work, and which, we argue, maximise or inhibit their effectiveness. In the discussion at the end we will consider how the WPR model can be used to reconceptualise the work and role of TAs, and inform models of educational effectiveness.

show abstract

Section: Previous Research On Tasmentioning

confidence: 97%

The wider pedagogical role of teaching assistants

Webster¹,

Blatchford²,

Bassett³

et al. 2011

School Leadership & Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fundamental attitudinal change involves examining personal belief systems about teaching and learning, but more importantly beliefs about difference and disability and how these beliefs inform teaching and learning (Carrington, 2000). This type of reflective process can only take place through a collaborative process of team building through which all members of the students' support network meet regularly to reflect on underlying assumptions and inclusive practices which ensue from these assumptions (Ainscow et al, 2004;Cremin, Thomas, & Vincett, 2005;Fox, Farrell, & Davis, 2004;Hauge & Babkie, 2006;Hunt et al, 2003;Kugelmass, 2004;van Kraayenoord, 2003).…”

Section: Reform Number 3: Professional Development and Training For Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Inclusive education reform in Queensland: implications for policy and practice

Bourke

2010

International Journal of Inclusive Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Key words: Inclusive education; Education policy; Support personnel; Professional developmentIn Queensland, Australia, the school system is being reformed to be more 'inclusive'.However the enthusiasm for 'inclusive education' in Queensland seems to be waning amongst practitioners, and the 'confusion, frustration, guilt and exhaustion' that has emerged with teachers and support practitioners in the UK, is emerging amongst support practitioners and teachers in Queensland. This article argues that this is happening because inclusive education reforms that intend to provide an equitable education for all students regardless of cultural, physical, social/emotional and behavioural differences, are being introduced, but these policies, procedures and stuructures continue to label, isolate and segregate students within schools in the way in which segregated special education facilities did in the past. As well, new policies and structures are being introduced without practitioners having the time and support to critically examine the underlying assumptions about disability, difference and inclusion that underpin their practices.These reforms need to be reviewed in terms of their effectiveness in achieving their 'inclusive' goals, i.e. in terms of the impacts that these reforms are having on the students themselves, and on the educational practitioners who support the students. IntroductionRecently Slee (2006) explored the history of inclusive education reform using the imagery of 'crossroads.' Reflecting on the paradigmatic crossroads identified over 10 years ago by Clark, Dyson & Milward (1995, p. v), Slee noted that inclusive education reform has taken a particular path that has led to a re-badging of 'special education' as 'inclusive education' in policy and educational discourses, rather than a completely different path that interrogates how educational classification systems govern a "descending order of human value" (Slee, 2006, p. 112). Baker (2002, p. 663) agrees that, rather than addressing underlying issues about difference, disability and exclusion, a "transmogrification" has occurred through which " a new eugenics" has emerged, and this continues to contribute to labeling and segregation of students.Students with disabilities and learning difficulties continue to be identified in terms of medical or psychological deficits, as either not within the 'normal' range or standards of academic achievement or social-emotional control, or slow to achieve such standards. Once identified, such students are in need of intervention programs within schools in order to achieve the prescribed standards. But as Baker (2002) argues, these standards are an arbitrary construct of those who decide what constitutes 'normal.' For students so identified and categorised by some who adopt an inclusion discourse, an equitable education seems to equate to identification and categorisation of deficits, and educational adjustments and resourcing to address these deficits, so that students can meet standards of academic achi...

show abstract

“…Positive outcomes of collaborative work between TAs and teachers are noted by Cremin, Thomas, and Vincett (2005), who used an intervention strategy to develop three classroom models for teamworking. Each model was introduced to two schools for use in literacy lessons, and the researchers reported increased pupil engagement in all cases in addition to positive feedback from the adults concerning enhanced teamwork and role clarity.…”

Section: In Relation To Tas and Mathematics Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Nevertheless, ideas resonant with aspects of this management research have been advanced by educational researchers (Mistry, Burton, and Brundrett 2004;Cremin, Thomas, and Vincett 2005;Williams 2008). Peer coaching, for example, is predicated on an equal relationship between the partners and was originally introduced by Joyce and Showers (1980) as a vehicle for enabling teachers to work together to implement change.…”

Section: Tas Intervention Programmes and Their Managementmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It has since been recognised as a way of encouraging collegial working within schools beyond specific initiatives. Cremin, Thomas, and Vincett (2005) stress the advantages of collaborative working between teachers and TAs where role clarity exists. These more collaborative methods are also advocated by Williams (2008) …”

Section: Tas Intervention Programmes and Their Managementmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Intervention programmes in mathematics and literacy: teaching assistants' perceptions of their training and support

Houssart¹,

Croucher

2013

School Leadership & Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We approach the recent argument put in this journal that teaching assistants (TAs) should be more strongly trained, monitored and supervised when teaching on intervention programmes. We suggest that the argument sits uneasily with wider management and educational literature. We examine TAs' experience of delivering important intervention programmes in mathematics and literacy. TAs report considerable variation in both their training and the quality of management involvement in their teaching. Consequently, we argue for an approach that includes TAs in a form of distributed leadership which recognises their specific capabilities rather than the model advocated both by government documents and by some researchers.

show abstract

Working with teaching assistants: three models evaluated

Cited by 31 publications

References 17 publications

The wider pedagogical role of teaching assistants

The wider pedagogical role of teaching assistants

Inclusive education reform in Queensland: implications for policy and practice

Intervention programmes in mathematics and literacy: teaching assistants' perceptions of their training and support

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About