Standards:
S1, S2, S4, S9, S10, S14
Since starting the PCET course one of the most challenging things I have found is how to manage my Teaching Assistants efficiently and make sure that they are doing what’s best for the lesson but also for the SEN student that they have been assigned to. My problem first started when I realised that I would sometimes be outnumbered by TA’s and they were all looking to me for guidance. An example of this would be the occasion where I taught a class of ten students with five TA’s, this means there was one TA per two students which didn’t leave me much room to help students myself. According to recent figures from the Department Of Education, in primary schools, TA’s actually outnumber teachers by 257,300 compared to 242,300 (Morrison, 2014). This is a scary figure and it meant that obviously TA’s were very important and that I needed to change my lesson strategy quickly to utilise them in the most beneficial way to the students.
My first realisation of the negative effect a TA can have in the class if not kept busy was my first lesson teaching a specific GCSE English class with two SEN students that had their own assistants. I noticed that their teaching style was very different from each other; one was quiet and kept to her student we, we will call her TA (1) while the other kept getting involved in discussions and asked questions irrelevant to the topic meeting her own need to get involved, we will call her TA(2). This particular teaching assistant I felt was actually hindering the students learning by diverting their attention away from the topic onto things that interested her rather than concentrating on the SEN student who clearly needed her help. I found that the TA was becoming yet another student that I would have to look after rather than helping me by taking care of the SEN student. I remember feeling this way because of the comment made by the TA when the class was over that she had learned a lot and thanked me for the interesting lesson, yet I felt the SEN student hadn’t received the full attention they were due.
TA(1) who kept to her student was a great help in the classroom and always put the needs of her SEN student first, always making sure that they understood and were caught up with anything that was going on. This presented a whole different set of problems for me. I found myself paying less attention to that particular SEN student because I was certain they were in capable hands and that the TA would help them understand anything they were having trouble with. According to (Webster, 2014) research they made:
“Put together with results from our previous research, which found that students with high-level SEN receiving the most TA support made significantly less academic progress than similar pupils who received little or no TA support, we see a worrying trend: students with statements are negatively affected by the very intervention intended to help them.”
I could see why this was an issue and according to the article, Webster believes that this is mainly due to SEN students not having enough contact with the teachers themselves. Therefore, the SEN students are not receiving the same amount of quality time with a fully trained teacher but are instead spending most of their time with TA’s a lot of whom do not have any form of official qualifications. When reading the article it hit home that this was exactly what I was doing and that I needed to change the way I looked at SEN students and their assistants immediately.
Firstly I needed to tackle the issue of TA(2) who was not spending enough time with her student and was getting over involved in class discussions which was eating away at my lesson time. I decided that I would need to find a way to harness her energy and divert it so that she was focused on the SEN student who needed her help. I was struggling to find a way to do this until we took a PCET class trip to Star College where were looking at the way that teachers planned lessons when they had many assistants. I found that they had a very effective way of utilising the assistants by putting them in the lesson plan itself and giving each of them a goal that they would have to achieve by the end of that lesson. I realised that this would be a perfect way of harnessing TA(2)’s energy and by giving her goals to achieve with her student by the end of her lesson, it would keep her focused and give her the sense of achievement she required.
The issue I was having with TA(1) was much simpler, it was not the teaching assistants issue but mine as a teacher. I needed to be aware that Teaching Assistants are not substitutes for the teacher but were there simply to enhance my teaching and fill in gaps where needed. I realised that I was giving the students that needed the most help the least of my attention when it should be the other way around. So in future, I am making sure to be as involved as possible with these students and make sure they are getting the same amount of quality time with myself as any other student.
My experience with TA’s has been an eye opener to say the least and I have realised just how important they can be when managed correctly but also how distracted they can be if not directed correctly. I have also found that managing TA’s effectively comes with experience as there are no courses that can teach you how to manage different personalities and the challenges that come along with that. In the end, you have to do what is best for your students and you need to work hand in hand with your TA’s to be able to do that.
References:
TES. 2017. Teaching assistants: New revolutionary model for effective use of support staff | News. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/teaching-assistants-new-revolutionary-model-effective-use-support. [Accessed 04 January 2017]
The Guardian. 2017. Relying on teaching assistant support for SEN students is a false economy | Teacher Network | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/apr/17/special-educational-needs-teaching-assistant-support-sen-students. [Accessed 04 Januray 2017].
My journey 