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1.
This article focuses on exploring initial teacher trainees' experiences and perspectives on the role of the teaching assistant (TA) in mainstream primary contexts. A backdrop of shrinking school budgets coupled with a ‘mainstream for all’ political agenda is contributing to growing uncertainty about the role of TAs in education. This article presents the results of a small-scale empirical study, involving 75 initial teacher trainees at the University of Cambridge. Trainees' perspectives regarding the roles/responsibilities that TAs have been seen to undertake and perceptions regarding the impact of the TAs they worked with were ascertained, with the aim of exploring how well current ITT content prepares students for an effective teacher/TA working relationship. Concept modelling was used as an analysis tool, to present visual representations of these perceptions. Trainees emphasised the administrative, pedagogical and pastoral roles that TAs were perceived to undertake and specifically highlighted the perceived ability of TAs to support students displaying needs relating to social, emotional and mental health. The findings highlight that the vague nature of current ITT content in relation to the role of TAs continues to serve as a barrier to students building coherent and consistent understandings of the successful deployment of TAs in English primary contexts.  相似文献   

2.
The role and deployment of teaching assistants (TAs) (paraprofessionals) have changed significantly over the past decade; TAs in England hold greater responsibilities in terms of their wider role in classrooms and, specifically, in relation to their support for children with literacy difficulties in a primary school context. The impact of their role has been both questioned and challenged; nevertheless, in relation to literacy support, their role is widely valued by schools, and evidence exists that there is a positive impact on attainment. This paper reports on a case study of an early literacy intervention implemented by TAs which, it is argued, provides a positive model of TA deployment and literacy intervention implementation. It is also argued that this model of intervention offers a scaffold to the TAs themselves, who are then far better placed to scaffold the literacy learning of children with individual needs.  相似文献   

3.
Research has shown that teaching assistants (TAs) working in mainstream classrooms with special needs students in Australia are being required to perform quite complex tasks such as curriculum modification and differentiation yet they are not required to have any formal qualifications nor training in these tasks. In the United Kingdom, TAs are not required to have any formal qualifications, while TAs employed in the USA are required to hold a two-year post-secondary degree or have obtained an associate’s or higher degree. Initial research was undertaken in Stage 1 to identify the roles and responsibilities, skills and training needs of TAs working with special needs students in one school in Canberra, Australia. Information was obtained through separate focus group interviews conducted with class teachers and TAs. Stage 2 involved the design and implementation of five skills-based training modules developed to respond to needs identified in Stage 1. In Stage 3, interviews were conducted with the TAs to determine the effect the training had on their skills and their ability to assist both the class teachers and the students whom they support. Results from the study indicate that there exists role confusion as well as a different emphasis and perception by class teachers and TAs of the skills required to perform in the role of a TA. Results also indicated that specifically targeted skills-based training benefited the TAs and the TAs perceived that this benefit flowed through to the class teachers and the students they support.  相似文献   

4.
The responsibilities and opportunities of TAs working in rural schools.  相似文献   

5.
Remodelling the roles, responsibilities and working practices of all school staff has been central to the government's modernisation agenda for English state schools. This is typified by a determination to review and change the distribution of tasks undertaken by teachers and teaching assistants (TAs). Whilst there has been a substantial increase in the numbers of TAs employed in schools there is still a lack of clarity about their roles and about the impact of remodelling on the working lives of both teachers and assistants. Evidence from the Transforming the School Workforce: Pathfinder Project, conducted immediately prior to the launch of the National Agreement in 2003, indicates that initial concerns about the ways in which TAs were being deployed are still very apparent. Here the authors focus on management and professional development issues arising from TAs adopting more pedagogical roles in schools.  相似文献   

6.
A training course of two after-school sessions was run for teaching assistants (TAs) in a UK inner city primary school. The subject of the training was classroom use of a version of differential reinforcement of alternative behaviours (DRAs) known as Fair Pairs. The training introduced the concept of “Three Part Praise” within Fair Pairs. The method of introduction involved training sessions, with the TAs explaining the process to their class teacher colleagues following each session. The TAs and class teachers were then asked to try the methodology in their classrooms. A follow-up session was held after six months for the TAs to feedback on their experiences. Results showed that most of the TA/class teacher “teams” were still using the approach after six months. Of those who responded most reported improvement in behaviour in the class. The implications of the methodology for training and the effectiveness of the approach being taught are discussed with suggestions for future research.  相似文献   

7.
Peer‐assisted learning has gained momentum in a variety of disciplines, including medical education. In Gothenburg, Sweden, medical students who have finished their compulsory anatomy courses have the option of working as teaching assistants (TAs). Teaching assistants provide small group teaching sessions as a complement to lectures given by faculty. Previously, TAs were left to handle the role as junior teachers by themselves, but since 2011, a continuation course in anatomy has been developed with the aim of providing the TAs better anatomy knowledge and guidance for teaching. The course was designed to comprise 7.5 ECTS credits (equivalent to 5 weeks of full‐time studies), and today all TAs are required to take this course before undertaking their own teaching responsibilities. This study aims to compare course evaluations of TA teaching before and after the introduction of the anatomy continuation course, in order to understand how students perceived teaching performed by self‐learned versus trained TAs. The results of this study demonstrate that there was a trend towards better teaching performed by trained TAs. The variability in rankings decreased significantly after the introduction of the continuation course. This was mainly due to an improvement among the TAs with the lowest levels of performance. In addition to comparing student rankings, TAs were interviewed regarding their experiences and perceptions within the continuation course. The course was generally positively regarded. The TAs described a sense of cohesion and appreciation since the institute invested in a course dedicated specifically for them. Anat Sci Educ 11: 403–409. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.  相似文献   

8.
The main aim of this research was to secure a better understanding of how local authorities (LAs), senior leadership teams (SLTs) and teachers in state schools perceive their responsibilities for the deployment, leadership and management of teaching assistants (TAs). Current research in the field – some of which has been highly influential on policy – has largely focused on aspects of TA performance and pupil attainment. Importantly, we have chosen to investigate how TAs and SLTs themselves describe their experiences of management. TAs, teachers, senior leaders in primary schools and LA advisors, across two LAs, were surveyed. Based on 55 questionnaire responses, 23 interviews and 2 focus groups we found evidence of a dislocation of management priorities for effective TA deployment. What emerged was a strong sense of ‘otherness’ felt by many TAs, who believed themselves to be dissociated from their own management. We conclude that TAs make up a workforce that appears to be closely managed but which is in fact often poorly led, resulting in feelings of detachment.  相似文献   

9.
This article reflects on the specific challenges facing teaching assistants (TAs) when managing behaviour. It considers the variety of existing research into this area, and why the paucity of specific research is problematic. It discusses how difficulties in access to training, its availability, the levels of preparation for lessons, the lack of guidance on teacher and TA working relationships, all impact on the way TAs manage behaviour. The article also highlights some of the conflicts inherent within broader issues which impact, either positively or negatively, on TAs ability to manage behaviour, including TA role definition, deployment and the wider pedagogical aspects of their evolving role.  相似文献   

10.
Background: In the past decade, educational settings worldwide have experienced a significant increase in the number of school-based teaching assistants (TAs). The deployment of these TAs has been accompanied by reports of confusion and uncertainty about their roles and responsibilities within schools. While the need to reframe the role and purpose of TAs is recognised, it remains unclear how this can be best achieved.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore the ways in which one group of TAs deployed in Hong Kong schools construct their professional identities, to understand the constraints and enablements to these processes, and to consider how different stakeholders might be able to best support this identity work.

Sample: The primary participants in this study are nine English language teacher assistants employed at different schools across Hong Kong. Other participants include full-time English language teachers who have experience of working with one of these TAs, as well as students who attend English language classes in which these TAs participate.

Design and methods: A qualitative multiple case study approach is adopted. In-depth interviews with TAs, teachers and students are used to gain a contextualised interpretation of the primary participants’ experiences of constructing professional identities within schools. A multilevel, multidimensional theoretical framework, which considers identity construction as both a discursive and experiential accomplishment, is then used to understand the constraints and enablements TAs experience in constructing these identities.

Findings: Results indicate that TAs face challenges in constructing their professional identities at institutional, interpersonal and intrapersonal levels within Hong Kong schools. In addition, the TAs believe that exercising agency to contest their positionings within schools is often insufficient to place them on a trajectory towards become a teacher. The results also suggest that the identity conflicts TAs experience can lead some to question their decision to pursue a teaching career.

Conclusions: These results imply that in order to attract and retain TAs, educational authorities need to, first, problematise identity positions such as ‘TA’ and ‘teacher’ and then reconceptualise these identities in ways that allow for a multiplication of the identity positions potentially available to all stakeholders involved in teaching within Hong Kong schools.  相似文献   

11.
As more Teacher Assistants (TAs) take on the responsibility of supporting students with disability and learning difficulties questions arise as to the appropriate qualifications for such work, the adequacy of training, and the policy and practice of schools employing TAs. A qualitative study, informed by multiple perspectives, was conducted in four mainstream primary schools in an Australian capital city to examine the actual qualifications of the TAs as opposed to those required by their employer. Despite role changes since the 1990s, TA qualifications remained unchanged and TAs could be employed with no post-school qualifications. Little training was provided, no training policy existed and access to training across schools differed. Participants' perspectives on the qualifications and training required by TAs also varied. While this paper examines qualifications and training of TAs in Australia, findings are relevant to educators internationally where TAs support students with disability and learning difficulties. Tying TA qualifications to salary incentives and a career structure in which TAs are responsible for supplemental instruction only, is recommended. A Certificate IV in Education Support or School Age Education and Care, complemented by literacy and numeracy tests, are recommended minimum requirements. Finally, teachers should be included in TA recruitment and supervision.  相似文献   

12.
It is widely assumed that increasing the number of teaching assistants (TAs) in the classroom will be beneficial to children, and this is one important aim of the recently implemented Workforce Agreement. But there are still significant gaps in knowledge about many aspects of their deployment and impact. The Class Size and Pupil—Adult Ratios (CSPAR) KS2 study built on earlier findings when the pupils were in reception and Key Stage (KS) 1, and investigated: (1) the deployment of TAs in classrooms and how key parties involved perceived this; and (2) the effect of TAs on interactions involving pupils and teachers in the same classrooms, and on pupil attainments. The study had a longitudinal, mixed method and multi‐informant design. Methods of data collection included: (for the whole sample) questionnaires completed by TAs, teachers and head teachers, assessments of pupil attainments in mathematics, English and science, data on pupil background, and (for a sub‐sample) case studies and a systematic observation study. This study found that the TA's role in KS2 is predominantly a direct one, in the sense of face‐to‐face interactions supporting certain pupils. There was no evidence that the presence of TAs, or any characteristic of TAs, had a measurable effect on pupil attainment. However, results were clear in showing that TAs had an indirect effect on teaching, e.g. pupils had a more active form of interaction with the teacher and there was more individualised teacher attention. This supported teachers' views that TAs are effective in supporting them in this way. The authors conclude that more attention needs to be paid to what they call the pedagogical role of TAs so that they can be used effectively to help teachers and pupils, particularly in the context of the enhanced roles for TAs being introduced as part of the Government's remodelling agenda.  相似文献   

13.
The number of teaching assistants (TAs) in schools in the UK has risen in recent years, but there remains a lack of clarity about the roles being undertaken by these support staff. This article reports findings from a study investigating how the TA role is understood both by the pupils being supported and by TAs themselves. Eleven students with SEN were interviewed regarding the support received from TAs within school. Following this, the TAs were also interviewed and asked to explain how they viewed their main support role. The data suggest a difference in the understanding of the role between the two groups, with pupils primarily focused on academic support and TAs focusing instead on behavioural support. Implications for practice include the need to clarify the TA role to support consistency across settings, and the importance of ensuring that pupils with SEN are supported to understand the role of TAs within schools.  相似文献   

14.
This study addressed the need for empirical tests of the global instructional design (ID) model as a toolkit for classroom teachers in authentic settings; and the performance improvement challenge of finding effective, efficient methods of professional development for preparing graduate assistants to teach. Participants were eighteen teaching assistants (TAs) with primary instructional responsibilities at a large Midwestern university. Twelve were given a training intervention in instructional design, while the other six served as a control group. The intervention was based on the iterative, five‐phase ADDIE model, and principles from educational psychology. Dependent measures were TAs' ID knowledge, teaching self‐efficacy, satisfaction with knowledge and strategies, perceived teaching competence, teaching performance and teaching effectiveness, and their students' engagement and perceived learning. All of the study's seven hypothesized relationships were found statistically significant. The intervention, though brief, measurably increased the ID knowledge of participating TAs, along with their teaching‐related self‐perceptions, and student outcomes. Instructional design emerges as a potentially powerful training tool for organizing teachers' and trainers' knowledge related to the complex practice of classroom instruction.  相似文献   

15.
ABSTRACT

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rates in classrooms have increased considerably in recent years. Previous literature has acknowledged the significance of teachers’ knowledge and attitudes towards ADHD when making referral and intervention decisions. Using Mulholland, Cumming and Jung’s (2015) knowledge (SASK) and attitude (SASA) scales, ADHD training and perceived support were compared across public school teachers (n = 165) and teaching assistants (TAs) (n = 157) in the UK. Results indicated that teachers and TAs displayed adequate levels of knowledge, and TAs held better knowledge and more positive feelings towards ADHD than teachers. Training increased knowledge for TAs, but not for teachers, and training and support appeared important for both the teachers and TAs’ attitudes. Both teachers and TAs reported inadequate training and expressed a desire for further ADHD training, and a significant association was found between knowledge and attitudes for teachers only. The implications for these findings are discussed.  相似文献   

16.
There has been a noted growth in the number of teaching assistants (TAs) in mainstream schools. Research is inconclusive about their efficacy at changing outcomes for children and has proposed more training for TAs. Generic training models have suggested that enhancing self-efficacy in turn improves performance. This exploratory study investigated factors that may influence TAs’ sense of self-efficacy and its susceptibility to influence in training. Following two modes of school-based training by educational psychologists (EPs) data were collected from 14 mainstream secondary school TAs using focus groups. A thematic analysis noted themes regarding self-efficacy, aligned with Bandura’s sources of information, outcome expectations and whole school support and norms. Review of the data from this study is likely to be able to guide potential trainers to coach-consult strategies which are self-efficacy supportive and which address contextual factors including the perceived status of TAs in schools.  相似文献   

17.
This research explored how seven primary school teaching assistants (TAs) experienced their role in supporting children's mental health. Interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The participants believed that they supported children's mental health and particularly referenced the close relationships that they formed with children. Throughout their accounts of supporting children, the TAs referenced helpful factors (e.g. support from other staff) and challenges (e.g. hierarchy) within the school system. Supporting children’s mental health was an emotional experience for the TAs; they discussed the rewarding element, however, the topic also elicited fear. The findings provide several implications for school staff and external professionals about how TAs can be supported in their role. These include involving TAs in training opportunities, providing TAs with supervision, considering communication systems in schools, and introducing a mental health policy.  相似文献   

18.
As current graduate instructors of labs and class discussions, teaching assistants (TAs) play a critical role in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate education, especially as some graduate students may choose a faculty career in the future. Because of the importance of TAs and their development as scholars and instructors, we sought to determine the most effective methods of preparing engineering TAs at two research universities. We compare the impact of a teaching orientation with one of four teaching development programmes (Pedagogy Course, Advanced Practice Teaching, Workshop Attendance with Written Reflection, or Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection) on engineering TAs’ teaching efficacy and definitions of active learning. Results indicated that the Pedagogy Course consistently increased TAs’ teaching efficacy and attitudes toward teaching compared with the other programmes. We also found that stand-alone Mid-Semester Student Feedback with Written Reflection enhanced TAs’ efficacy for reflection and beliefs about teaching. We discuss implications for providing teaching development for graduate students and directions for future research.  相似文献   

19.
In recent years, much concern has been expressed about the quality of instruction provided by foreign teaching assistants (TAs) in higher education. Critiques of the use of foreign TAs generally argue that they often impede the learning process because of language barriers. The present study examines the effect that nonnative English-speaking TAs had on student performance over five semesters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Multiple ordinary least squares regression is used to analyze the relationship between student grades and nonnative English-speaking TAs. Subsamples based on a TA's geographic region of origin and instructional area are also analyzed. In addition, course drop rates and the impact of TA training programs are examined to determine possible influence on the results. The results of the analysis consistently indicate slightlybetter performance in sections conducted by nonnative English-speaking TAs.  相似文献   

20.
As more faculty members utilize student-centered methods, we should also expect to see an increase in graduate teaching assistants (TAs) who are asked to co-teach these classes. However, little is written about the challenges TAs face and the adjustments they make when teaching student-centered courses. This study examined a student-centered course taught by the hevruta method, a dyadic approach that emphasizes text-based student discussions. Although students reported significant learning gains, both they and TAs had to negotiate new instructional roles. Based on student and TA feedback, strategies are presented to facilitate effective student learning in a student-centered course co-taught by TAs.  相似文献   

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