Managing Teaching Assistants

This is a practical guide to the role, management, and deployment of teaching assistants. It offers comprehensive and informed support, underpinned by illustrative case studies throughout. Information and practical guidance is given on: the role and competencies of teaching assistants how to audit the existing teaching assistant provision in the school the teaching assistant's role in planning, delivery and feedback how to appoint, induct, mentor and appraise teaching assistants the effective management of teaching assistants by teachers and managers, and the need for a whole school approach opportunities for continual professional development for teaching assistants. This book is based on extensive observation of teaching assistants working in schools, and will have practical significance and implications for headteachers, senior management staff, teachers, LEA advisors, trainers and consultants.

A practical and authoritative guide to common behaviour problems in the classroom, this book explaines typical causes of misbehaviour and shows what teaching assistants can do to calm disruptive children. Using a range of case studies discussed from a teaching assistant's perspective, Susan Bentham explores: the role of the teaching assistant in relation to school behaviour policies when and how to reward good behaviour why we need to understand the reason for bad behaviour in order to deal with it how to implement behaviour strategies that really work. Mirroring the course content of most teaching assistant GNVQ and Foundation degree qualifications, Bentham highlights how practitioners can learn from their experiences and develop new skills and coping strategies, which will free them up to concentrate on the most important part of the job: supporting learning. In an expanding market, this guide is a must-buy for any teaching assistant finding that disrupted classrooms are becoming their biggest challenge.

Drawing on the lessons from one of the world’s leading research and development efforts involving teaching assistants (TAs), this book is the authors’ most authoritative text yet on how to design a whole school plan to improve TAs’ deployment, practice and preparedness, and put it into action. The authors use robust theories and original research to explore an innovative and integrated approach to making the most of TAs, and recognising the valuable contributions they make to the classroom and the school. Structured around a unique and empirically sound conceptual framework, this book provides essential principles, practical tools and workable strategies, developed through collaboration with hundreds of UK schools. It focuses on ensuring TAs can thrive in their role, and presents the tools and techniques needed to do so accessibly, and is illustrated with case studies on school and classroom practices. Essential reading for all primary school leaders and SENCOs responsible for training and managing TAs, this book is also a useful resource for teachers and teaching assistants looking to optimise the TAs’ contributions. Used in combination with The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Effective Interaction, Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools is a comprehensive and unrivalled guide to supporting school workforce improvement.

Using a range of case studies and discussed from a teaching assistant perspective, this guide looks at common behaviour problems in the classroom, explaining typical causes of misbehaviour and what can be done to tackle and tame disruptive pupils.

Written for senior management teams, teachers and teaching assistants, this volume raises general awareness of how a well-trained and motivated teaching assistant can make a major contribution to any school. The author presents a range of resources and strategies designed to support these essential staff.

Teaching assistants have become an integral part of classroom life, yet pioneering research by the authors has shown that school leaders and teachers are not making the most of this valued resource. Results from the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project showed that the more support pupils received from teaching assistants, the less academic progress they made. Yet it is not decisions made by the teaching assistants themselves, but decisions made by school leaders and teachers about how their support staff are used and prepared, which explains these provocative results. Prompted by the wake-up call the DISS project findings provided, this timely book of guidance will help school leaders and teachers in primary and secondary schools improve the way they use teaching assistants, and will add real value to what can be achieved in the classroom. Based on the authors' collaborative work with schools in the Effective Deployment of Teaching Assistants (EDTA) project, this book provides essential, practical tools and classroom-tested strategies that will allow schools to conduct a fundamental review of current practice and provides a framework for reforming teaching assistant deployment and preparation, and the way they interact with pupils. Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistantsprovides much-needed and well-informed guidance on how to unleash the huge potential of teaching assistants working in schools and is essential reading for all school leaders.

Making the Most of Your Teaching Assistant is an essential handbook for every SENCo and teacher responsible for managing Teaching Assistants. Based firmly in the classroom and focused on supporting pupil progress it provides clear guidance and practical support in deploying, training and monitoring the effectiveness of Teaching Assistants. This easy-to-use book: sets the current context of the development of the role of Teaching Assistants within that of wider workforce reforms advises on how best to advertise, recruit and interview Teaching Assistants proposes a process for the successful induction of new Teaching Assistants explores a variety of ways in which you can deploy your Teaching Assistants, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and defining roles and responsibilities suggests how schools can monitor and evaluate the impact of the work of their Teaching Assistants on the academic and social progress of all their pupils provides forms and other resources that can be photocopied and used immediately to support the work of Teaching Assistants gives many examples of current best practice with scenarios and case studies based on real events in real schools. This book is an invaluable source of information and advice for class teachers and leadership teams who seek to make the most effective use of the teaching assistants in their schools to support the teacher, the learning, the curriculum, and the school as a whole. Trainee and new teachers will find the book an invaluable resource in preparing to work alongside and manage teaching assistants in their classrooms.

This comprehensive, practical book deals with how to utilise Teaching Assistants effectively. Written by a recognised authority on teaching assistants this supportive and stimulating book is complemented with effective strategies for managing TAs.