To be sad that this woman was embarrassed about being a TA?

[jennymanara]

We were out tonight at a social event where most couples seemed to do well paid or high status jobs such as Dr or in the corporate world. I was chatting to one couple and the issue about jobs came up and she very embarrassed said she was a TA. Her job is really important and much more important than some of the others there doing work in corporate firms. It is a crazy world we live in where someone doing a valuable job is embarrassed about it because that job is underpaid.

Hold on:

I was chatting to one couple and the issue about jobs came up and she very embarrassed said she was a TA.

So it was you who turned the conversation to jobs then OP? Perhaps if you had not asked she would not have ended up being embarrassed? You should work on your small talk skills.

I'd feel more embarrassed explaining some of the "high-flying" roles I've had in the past than being a TA, to be honest. So boring to explain, I could see people's eyes glaze over.

I find people's jobs are usually the least interesting thing about them.

That seems a shame. Both DH and I have been lucky enough to end up in jobs that we love, that fit well with our personalities and that are intellectually engaging. This is the case for most of my friends too, although that probably does just mean we were all fortunate enough to be financially secure and have supportive parents while growing up.

My point is that for most people I know, their job is a key part of their identity (and that includes the significant proportion who are teachers/TAs)!

Some of these comments make me feel a little sad.
I am currently training to be TA after being a single SAHM to my DS, currently on placement working in reception. My teachers have 1 other assistant to cover around 50, the amount of praise I get from them as I spend most of my time 1-1 reading with children who are really struggling, helping 1-1 build confidence and help the children who struggle with their writing

I've created a great bond with the children in a very short time I've been there, comforted the ones who get upset and want to go home and get them joining in and smiling again. To have a little one you can see visibly anxious when they sit down to read or write and the look on their faces when they've finished their time with you, its priceless for me

To say it's not an important job?? They wouldn't be getting this time if I currently wasn't there because there just isn't enough staff to cover this

So when I've qualified, I'll be proud of the work i've put in, and the judge ones can fuck off

I think it's very sad that some people still think that TAs wash paint pots, sharpen pencils and cover "flash cards" in sticky back plastic.

They don't understand the role and what it involves. I also think it's sad that the TA in the OP was not confident enough to defend her role and explain what she does and how her interventions support children to learn academically, emotionally and socially.

for Joan, Romeela,Betty, Maureen, Salima, Fatima and all the other TAs who made my job possible.

I've actually found the opposite. DH works as a TA in a secondary school. He's always had a very positive response from people about it..... He loves his job, is enthusiastic and has done far crappier jobs in the past. In general people are interested about it and jealous of the holidays and the time he gets to spend at home with the children ( women and men).True isn't isn't very well paid but I'm the main wage earner and we still in total earn a decent wage, so maybe that makes a difference?

Then they get stuck kids leave school and fly the nest and they still assisting with primary whilst dh career flies upwards

I imagine some women love it. I'm not devaluing the job...I have huge respect and appreciation for tas. However, if your husband is the main provider, then I imagine for some women being a TA working school hours and with school holidays off must be bloody lovely.

The first thing that people ask socially is “so what do you do?”

I used to be a health and safety advisor in the City in the corporate world. Then had DC and was a SAHM. I’m now volunteering in a school part-time and looking to get a job as a TA before applying for a PGCE.

Unfortunately, a lot of jobs are looked down on for whatever reasons. It annoys me!

TAs made the world of difference to DS1. He has ASD and SEN and was terrified of school. They helped him learn to read, with maths and science, with PE and practical subjects. But most of all they helped him to feel safe and secure, they cared for him and built his confidence.

He now, in his late 20s, can hold down a part time job, he has friends and a social life, he has confidence in himself.

His TAs played a huge part in this and we are hugely grateful to all of them, and so is he. He still visits some and remembers them all.

Thank you to all TAs who are reading this thread - you really are valued.

The most important work is always the least valued. Sadly, in our society, importance is money driven.
The more money one has, the more important one is.
Look around - carers, health workers, paramedics, teachers, teaching assistants, sewage workers, waste collectors, street cleaners. To name just a few of the workers who make life so much better for us all on a daily basis.
But none of these are paid much at all, and mostly not considered careers to aspire to. The high earner, on the other hand, sitting at a desk in Canary Wharf and pushing money around, now THAT'S important !
If it weren't for a TA, my grandchild may well still be mute and locked inside himself.
I give thanks every day for her amazing abilities and dedication to the new generation.

It's a varied, challenging and stimulating job. It is not, however, a job for those who value status and power. The problem comes when those who do value status and power confuse status and power with intelligence and skill and assume those who have not sought status or power are dim and low skilled.

So it was you who turned the conversation to jobs then OP? Perhaps if you had not asked she would not have ended up being embarrassed? You should work on your small talk skills.

I agree with this - it's rude in these situations to ask people directly what they do - and it's clear in this case that the other person didn't bring the subject up if they were embarrassed about it.

I come across this quite often. I have a good job now, but remember the slightly pitying /disinterested looks I would sometimes attract at dinner parties etc when I was a SAHM.

Now, when meeting in groups of parents at my dcs independent school, I've noticed a couple of other mums squirm when asked about their jobs. A couple are SAHMs or work in low-status jobs (eg shop assistant at a supermarket) and you can see people's reactions to them change when they find out. It's awful.

From a feminist perspective I wince slightly when incredibly bright women with previous careers become TAs. I know corporate lawyers senior building planners and senior tv producers doing this role. All women.

If it's what they have chosen to do then I don't see that there is an issue with it - feminist or otherwise. I have had TAs who have made it their career, in some cases accepting a lower salary even though they were single because they valued a job where they made the difference over a job with a high salary - some of them had rejected the high salary roles deliberately because they wanted to make a difference.

TAs are the glue that holds schools together ...

Bit overblown and silly. In a forty year career I worked with many TAs who didn’t contribute anything particularly spectacular. Anyway, this claim could be probably made about almost any discrete, important group in any organisation.

My sons 1:1 is classed as TA. She has oodles of sen qualifications and experience . If it wasnt for her I couldn't work as my son wouldnt be in school getting an education. So super important to.me

I second the pp who said that some TAs are amazing and really make a difference. Some are OK and I have experienced some who have actively hampered me as a teacher by telling the students incorrect information. It's a mixed bag like most professions.

I'm a teacher. All of our TAs are wonderful people who work extremely hard for very low pay. I could NOT do my job without them.

Often they're the ones who notice things that I would miss in front of a class of 30 teenagers, they're the ones who have time to give 1:1 where it's needed and they're the ones I ask advice on making my lessons accessible for individuals.

I have worked as a TA when I was short on my timetable and it was bloody hard! Kids treat TAs badly far more often than they do teachers.

I always tell people they don't get paid enough and I always make sure to say thank you and involve them in reflecting on the lesson. My TAs are professionals, quite a lot of them have qualifications in their area too.

Some of my favourite people are TAs.

*TAs are the glue that holds schools together ...

Bit overblown and silly. In a forty year career I worked with many TAs who didn’t contribute anything particularly spectacular.*

During most of your 40 year career TAs were only expected to listen to readers, wash paint brushes and do menial tasks. The job has changed now beyond all recognition even in the last 5 years. Now I put up displays, clean up paint pots etc after school because my TAs have far more important things to do during the school day.

Saying that they are the glue that holds schools together is very, very true.

I find the point about feminist perspective cringing when career women become TAs interesting. Isn’t the point that traditionally female/feminine roles (eg caring, nurturing) are still undervalued and not considered important in our society?

It’s interesting the PP who had a similarly dismissive response to saying she’s a teacher at a dinner party. It is a sad reflection that people who choose to work educating our future society are so undervalued.

I’ve read that in Finland (I think), the brightest graduates are scouted to become teachers and teaching is a highly valued career.

Nursing is another profession that is woefully undervalued- and the care sector. All traditionally female roles. From my feminist perspective that is more problematic than women who choose to leave city jobs to work in schools.

During most of your 40 year career TAs were only expected to listen to readers, wash paint brushes and do menial tasks

Utter tosh. Also, know absolutely nothing about my experience of working with TAs.

you

Without TAs, many teachers would struggle to do their job. Same with PAs to directors or any person who relies on support for that matter.

The 40 year career says a lot ! I started teaching 20+ years ago and it was a different job even then.

I was chatting to one couple and the issue about jobs came up and she very embarrassed said she was a TA

The lady devalued her self - ; "oh I’m only a TA", with the accompanying slumped shoulder, eyes down, body posture as opposed to "I work as a learning support assistant for children with learning difficulties/physical disabilities, I absolutely love my job it's so rewarding" with a bright breezy smile

Same job, two different aspects. I’m afraid it comes down to this woman’s perception of herself and quite possibly her own poor self esteem

I will never understand "feminists" who despair of women who don't choose to chase the demons of "career" and "wealth". Anyone who prioritises those things will never understand the value of, or the personal satisfaction which comes from, helping children achieve in education. Nobody's driving focus in education is money or social status. It's about watching those little lightbulbs come on and the progress made (no matter how small) in all sorts of ways.