Becoming a Teaching Assistant: A Guide for Teaching Assistants and Those Working With Them

ngela Jacklin rol Robinson· Jo Thorp

Becoming a Teaching Assistant

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

Becoming a Teaching Assistant A guide for Teaching Assistants and those working with them

Pat Drake, Angela Jacklin, Carol Robinson and Jo Thorp

� p·C·p

Paul Chapman Publishing This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

© Pat Drake, Angela Jacklin, Carol Robinson and Jo Thorp First published 2004 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 198 8, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

�

Paul Chapman Publishing

p·C·p 6Bonhill Street. London EC 2A 4PU A SAGE Publications Company

SAGE Publications Inc 2455Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91 320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd 13-42 I'anchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 100017

Library of Congress Control Number available 2003106697 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7619436 5 ISBN 0 761943579 (pbk) Typeset by TW Typesetting, Plymouth, Devon Printed in Great Britain by

TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

Co n t e n t s Acknowledgements I ntroduction

IX XI

Section I Experiences of entering higher education

1

Chapter 1: I never thought I'd be here, but here I am

3

Thinking about experiences you bring to training Personal worries

4

6

Motivation overcomes apprehension

8

Extending your learning

9

Chapter 2: Preparing for your course

Experiences leading up to higher education

11 12

Negotiating time and funding

13

Life at home, life at work and your studies

15

Through the door

16

Chapter 3: Developing as a learner How Joan reached higher education

Learning in higher education as a process

18

19

20

Settling into your own way o f working

22

Resources and your studies

24

Chapter 4: Succeeding and growing in confidence Developing confidence

Where does confidence seem to come from?

27

28 33

Section I I Learning i n higher education

35

Chapter 5: Developing study skills

37

Developing your reading skills

38

Taking notes

41

What kind o f note-taker are you?

44

Knowing yourself as a learner

45

Linking your course t o your work

46

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

v

BECOMING A TEACHING ASSISTANT

Chapter 6: Personal organisation and expectations Organising and keeping files

Time management

49

50 52

Tutorials, seminars and lectures

54

Your expectations of your institution

57

Expectations held of you

58

Resources

59

Chapter 7: Meeting assessment criteria Written assignments such as essays

61

62

Referencing

68

Giving presentations

70

Developing portfolios for assessment

72

Section III Developing professional skills and knowledge

77

Chapter 8: Implementing national strategies

79

Why do we have a National Curriculum, and what does it include?

79

Curriculum development in schools

Chapter 9: Inclusion: do we know what we mean? Thinking about inclusion

83

93

94

Inclusion and special educational needs

95

The challenge of inclusion

98

Expanding the concept of inclusion

Chapter 10: Thinking about behaviour management Understanding why things happen

102

106

107

Catch' em being good

III

Say what you mean ... and mean what you say

112

Working with others in school

116

Section IV Issues of professionalism Chapter 1 1: Finding a place in the professional landscape Being part of a professional community

119 12 1

122

How teaching assistants have come to be members of the professional community

125

Challenges and possibilities in describing the work of teaching assistants Standards, qualifications and performance management

vi

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

127 129

CONTENTS

Chapter 12: Moving on Introduction

133

133

Where are you now and where are you coming from?

136

Higher-level teaching assistants

140

Routes into teaching

141

School experience

143

Getting where you want to go

145

References

147

Index

151

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

vii

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

Ac k n o w l e d g e m e n t s There are a number of individuals and organisations who contributed i n many ways to t h e development o f t h i s book. First a n d foremost we would l i ke to thank the teaching assistants, without whom this book would not have been possible. In particular, our thanks go to Chris Cooper, Ann Dann, Jane Johnstone and Beverley Linnett, as wel l as the students from the 2001 -2 and 2002-3 cohorts of the Diploma i n Professional Education Studies at the University of Sussex who partici pated i n interviews, trialled materials and read draft chapters. We are extremely gratefu l to them all for their enthusiasm, support and tolerance. We would also like to extend our thanks to colleagues at the University of Sussex Institute of Education, especially M ichael Erau!, H arry Torrance, Simon Thompson and Lori Altendorff for their critical comments and helpful suggestions. The research and development phases on which this book was based depended on support from East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove local education authorities, a grant from the University of Sussex Teaching and Learning Development Fund ( 2002-3 ) and a DfES-funded project ( Barriers to QTS for Teaching Ass istants, 2002 ) . We are grateful to them all for their support. Lastly, we would like to extend special thanks to Maddy Robbi ns, who coped magnificently with both us and the manuscript. Thank you Maddy.

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

ix

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

I n t ro d u ct i o n I f you have picked up this book you are probably either a teachi ng assistant about to embark on further development or training, or a teacher or a l ecturer helping to support teaching assistants through further education or training. The fact that you are taking this step is as a resul t of a huge sea change i n t h e acknowledgement of t h e place of teaching assistants i n schools, and recognition of the important part they can play i n supporting the teaching and learning of pupils. For the first time i n our h istory of education, career development for teachi ng assistants is com i ng to be seen as an essential aspect of making the most of schooli ng for young people. Some teaching assistants are nurturing ambitions to progress in career terms eventually to become teachers. Others m ay be i n terested more in developi ng distinct aspects of their work to support teachi ng and l earning collegially alongside teachers. Whether aiming to qua l i fy as teachers or as h igher-level teachi ng assistants or simply seeking p rofessional develop­ ment, increasingly, teaching assistants are turning to u niversities and colleges for program mes of professional development. For some it is the first time that they have set foot in this environment.

WHY WRITE THIS BOOK? •

Foll owing requests from the local education authorities in our region we have been working with secondary teachi ng assistants at undergraduate l evel. This has been very exciting but during this time it became clear that there were no books or resources that really addressed the situation our students faced: entering h igher education for the first time as m ature students on a day-release basis, and relating their study at university to their working p ractices at school. Teaching assistants are taking on more and more responsibility and working i n larger numbers i n a wider range of classes than ever before, and as a result are developing their own education theories and organisational structures. Coming together in a

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

xi

BECOMING A TEACHING ASSISTANT

higher-education setting encourages the articulation of those theories, or an exchange of ideas, comparison of school structures, reflection on p ractice, and increasing confi dence in, and consciousness of, the signifi­ cance of the work that they do in schools. A grant from the DfES enabled research into barriers that teaching assistants faced if they aimed to become qualified teachers. As wel l as a survey of local p rovision, we interviewed a range of teaching assistants and carried out case studies to investigate the nature of their work and thoughts about career progression. I t became apparent that where training courses did exist, they tended to be self-contained and uncon nected to other courses. Thus, teaching assistants, however enthusiastic, tended not to be able to access a coherent path of further development tailored to their needs. What also became clear from this project was the range of roles u ndertaken by teachi ng assistants, from teacher-like work to anci l­ l ary-type activities. The relationships between teachi ng assistants and teachers are subtle and complex, and through the p roject we were able to d iscern some of the factors that make those relationships mutually successful and ful fi l l i ng. A further grant from the Un iversity of Sussex Teachi ng and Learning Development Fund enabled us to bring together the fi ndings of our earlier research with our work with m ature students i n h igher education. The research p rojects informed our teaching and our learning, j ust as our teachi ng, our mutual learning and the experiences of the teaching assistants at work informed the direction of the research. This book reflecting this complementarity, is a means of disseminating the shared experience of working as teachers, researchers and students together, in a man ner that wi l l equal ly support others setting out on a similar journey of exploration and development. The stories of the teaching assistants are included as a means of raising signifi cant i ssues about rel ating learning to work from their perspective. Each chapter i ncludes activities for readers to do, to help m ake expl icit their own thoughts, feel i ngs, ideas and theories. The teaching assistants we worked with were m a i n ly, although not exclusively, women. Not surprisingly, the stories therefore reflect the position and status of women in l ow-paid occupations, struggling to combine work in school with work to sustain fam i ly and friends. Taking on the additional challenge of entering h igher education added pressure to already ful l l ives, and this pressure is evident i n several of the stories that are included. Readers may also want to engage with the issues that this dimension raises.

xii

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

INTRODUCTION

WHO IS THE BOOK FOR? •

This book is intended mai nly for teaching assistants enrolled on higher­ education programmes in England and Wales, and aims to facilitate transition into undergraduate study. As such it is essentially introductory in natu re. Sections I and I I woul d be of interest to any teachi ng assistants entering higher education . In Sections I I I and IV there is some reference to the National Curriculum for England and for Wales and to the developments for teaching assistants led by the Teacher Training Agency ( ITA) . The text will be a useful teaching resource for tutors in higher education. I t wi ll also provide the line managers of teaching assistants in schools with in-school support for professional development. The book offers professional training with respect to teaching assistants' work i n schools, and a step in progression toward qualified teacher status or h igher-level teaching assistant status for those who want it.

HOW IS THE BOOK ORGANISED? •

The book is arranged i n four sections: Experiences of entering h igher education; Learning in higher education; Developing professional skills and knowledge; Issues of professionalism. We do not expect that the book will be read as a single n arrative (although we hope that readers would enjoy doing so should they wish ) . Rather, students, mentors, tutors and l i ne managers will be able to d raw on and use sections that are immediately pertinent to arising needs. An expanded contents page should help navigate for this purpose. Throughout the book we have used the word 'pupils' to indicate school students, so as to differentiate from 'students', which is used to i ndi cate university or college students. Each section is introduced by a short preface h ighlighting the main issues raised in the chapters, so that readers can dip in and out of the material just as easily as fol lowi ng a continuous narrative. Course tutors will therefore be able to use the m aterial in any order, according to preference and course structure. I n terms of structure and style, the book develops from p roviding direct guidance in Sections I and I I , to becoming more analytical and critical in Sections I I I and IV, so as to provide exemplifi ca­ tion of what this means for students new to higher education. Each chapter is punctuated by activities for teachi ng assistants to think about, discuss, or research, thereby creating a conti nuous link between work experience and school practice, and development as learners.

This SAGE ebook is copyright and is supplied by Dawsonera. Unauthorised distribution forbidden.

Copyrighted Material

xiii

BECOMING A TEACHING ASSISTANT

Section I : Experiences of entering higher education. In this section

experiences of others who have faced the challenges of studying i n higher education are presented, from fi rst steps towards choosing a suitable course, through to dea l i ng with challenges arising out of acquiring funding, and from balancing work, family life and study. The section provides the means to engage with i ssues through four case studies of teachi ng assistants, supplemented by other examples. It leads towards consideration of the gains to be made professionally by combining work with study, which, i n the cases highlighted, offsets the sacrifices made. Section II: Learning in higher education. This section offers a practical

guide to studyi ng in higher education, and deals specifi ca l ly with a range of study skills. The section focuses on what it means to study, and offers p ractical support and strategies in understanding what wil l be expected of you . Section III: Developing professional skills and knowledge. I n this section we examine three issues that impi nge significantly on the work of teaching assistants i n schools: implementing national strategies, i nclusion and behaviour management. Teaching assistants, in order to expand their remit i n schools, will want to understand some of the thi n king underpinn­ i ng these issues, and to be ready to make sense of them in their own school settings. Section IV: I ssues of professionalism. Expectations of the contribution of teaching assistants are i ncreasing, as are the expectations from teachi ng assistants for recognition and status. Routes to teacher accreditation have become more abundant. A growing sense of professionalism is emerging, and i n this section of the book we discuss how and why this has happened, and what i t might mean for teaching assistants.

Pat Drake, Angela facl