Demand for radical change to the role of TAs

[dolfrog]

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Demand for radical change to the role of TAs

Very interesting. What would be the alternative to TA's within the classroom though? I have no idea

yes, that's my thought as well Bakelite. One m/s school I looked at for my child horrified me - when I asked the teacher what sort of support was given to children with receptive language problems her answer was "dunno, that's the TA's job" . So I do agree that there can be a masive issue with inclusion in some schools, that that child ends up excluded in effect if they are just being taught by the TA!. But what will happen to children with SN if they aren't supported by a TA? What do you think, dolfrog?

It's not really a new conversation. As a SENCo over many years, I've ensured that the children with SEN get as much teacher time as other pupils -more if possible - and that the TAs are just that : assistants to the teacher, who are there to ensure the teacher has as much time as is possible to teach.

eeer! Isn't this more about stopping SOME teachers from beng lazy?

The clue is in the name teachers assistant.

At my son's last school he was dumped with any ol bod in the corridor and given stuff WAY below his abiility level. ((neither he nor I knew who he'd be with day to day). For obvious reasons he made no progress, either in the 3R's or socially.

At this school the TA gently supports him in the classroom with the others, using specialist techniques to ensure he can access the curriculum, such as sign language when the teacher does lengthy talks, encouraging him to join in group and class discussions, calmng him when he gets anxious, TEACH lite etc. The work DS does is closely monitored by the teacher, who guides the TA. The TA is available to DS to ask questions when he doesn't understand something, tell him what's coming next etc. He's learning and loving school, without impacting the learning of others.

The TA needed a lot of traning in DS's specific SEN, as did his teacher. Teaching DS is not a job for amateurs, (even baby sitting requires someone who knows what they are doing!). My lad creates significant addtional work in terms of visual materials, differentiation of every lesson etc for his teacher's lesson plans.

Take away the TA and DS would need to be in a special school, his receptive language skills an social anxiety are too severe for him to cope without the addtional adult assistance he recieves. Frankly in order for him not to mentally break down at some point he'd have to forgo the social benefits of school and be home educated. There aren't enough SS places to accomodate kids at my son's end of the spectrum. The TA enables my lad to access the curriculum.

This article sounds to me like it's turning the blame for lazy teachers round on the children and TA's, who are after all the least well trained/paid on the school staff. They are NOT baby sitters, though this often becomes their role due to ignorance. LEA's are often NOT willing to provide either teachers, nor TA's with the funding to get proper training in the complex SEN's of the children they support. Although DS's school have taught lower functioning ASD's before they had an INSET day for the whole staff on HFA/AS this term as a result of having had DS join them. Our kids are not all the same.

is it not just as crucial to ensure that TAs actually fully trained for the job they are supposed to do?

dd1 has full time 1:1 (she is at SN school). there is not a moment of her day when she does not have an adult assigned to support her and teach her. but all her 1:1s are fully trained, and up to date on what ehr targets are, how they shoudl be being delivered, what the behavioural plan is, what her SLT plan is, and her OT plan etc.

in essence, they are all equal. they all know what should be being done, and how to do it.

the time dd1 spent in ms (was in pre-school, but all the same) was as the article said - she had a TA, whose job was basically to keep dd1 occupied. dd1 had fun, but she didn't learn anythign - there was no support to integrate with other children; no support to learn anything. just lots of fun and dd1 ran the show. the TA was actually doing her job pretty well - dd1 had a ball. but the expectations placed on every other child in the preschool were very different - they were there to have fun and learn, not 'just' have fun. there was no plan as to how to teach dd1, no cohesion as to how to deliver anything other than what dd1 wanted.

it is time for LAs to stop lowering expectations for children who need significant support, and provide properly trained, fully included TAs.

In the grand scheme of things my thought might not add much, but one step I'd like to see is TA's to be called Learning Assistants. Yes, it's semantics, but at the moment the role can be too focused towards removing distraction from teachers - i.e. babysitting so teachers can teach - rather than helping individual children to learn - which would mean active engagement with the cirricculum and learning objectives. So it's not (to use silverfrog's MS example) 'how do I keep SilverJr happy and make sure the teacher isn't distracted' but 'how to I make sure SilverJr is engaging in this lesson to the best of her ability and what can I do to help her meet the learning objectives within it'.

Does that even make sense?

I had this last year with DS Teacher. Trying to help him learn the signal when he was stressed and told him to put his hand up and shake his head as a signal to the teacher. Told the teach my idea and answer was "I have 32 other children and I dont have time to notice every time he is stressed. Best the TA deal with it"

Or DS misunderstood ran under the table as class way too noisey getting dressed for PE. Asked Teach if maybe she could remove DS from class during that short bedlam time to do some other activity and come back later as he may then get changed in the quiet and join in PE. Answer "he has to get used to it and I dont have time with 32 other children to get ready for PE. If his behaviour is bad he has time out with his TA, its easier that way" FOR WHO!

Glad to say its different this year. But I agree TAs are used so much they need and should be trained in SN and Teaching methods and to have the same expectations as NT children but just more patience.

I agree with the comment that teachers need to be taught how to use their TAs to best effect. As with all organisations, things work best when everyone realises they are part of a team - and its not them and us. This culture comes from the Head down.
In our school, the TAs are used to give additional support to anyone that is struggling to keep pace. Sometimes this is done when the teacher is teaching, sometimes as 1-1 away from the group and sometimes as an additional session - it all depends on what is being taught. There is no one size fits all solution as just as each child is an individual so they should be taught accordingly.