Teaching Assistant taking a class full time. Is it legal?

[calzone]

Will be vague so as not to drop myself in it! 😀

TA in y4.
Teacher quits due to stress. TA takes over. TA is able, motivated but not a teacher. Has now taken over the class full time (and is full of herself but that's another story!)
Meanwhile, HT appoints another teacher to free up the deputy from teaching so she can do leadership.

My questions are:

Would you be ok with a TA teaching your child full Time?
Would you be annoyed as a teacher that she hasn't done the uni route but sailed into teaching?

[Hulababy]

In my HLTA role I teach computing to the classes, during PPA time. I don't follow a teacher's lesson plan as I write them myself, along with the computing scheme of work for the school. I am a qualified teacher of ICT and computing and did teacher for several years. I now work as a HLTA through choice, and I am happy to take on the computing subject leadership role - again through choice.

I teach the computing curriculum at a decent level, and know what I am doing. The class teachers don't plan my lessons, as most (all?) do not have the same level of knowledge and understanding of the subject as I do. I know this for sure having been on several courses about the new curriculum in the pat few years - a lot of primary school teachers are not that clued up on coding, etc. And tbh - why should they be, when they have so much more to be doing.

I also teach the teachers as part of my job, alongside the classes - this is a continuing programme with the teacher training aspect swapping between teachers/classes each term last year and this. Hopefully this will increase the teachers' skills so that if they do move on to new schools at some point, or I moved on I guess, they would feel more confident to teach to a high level themselves.

[PinkIndustry]

This is happening in my (free) school too. TA with less than a year's experience of working in a secondary school, no teacher training and a degree only half relevant is teaching a core subject to Years 7, 8 and 9. Very nice person who is "thrilled" to have the opportunity and a tiny bit of extra remuneration. Of course, she is making a pig's ear of it but SLT equally "thrilled" and laughing all the way to the bank.

[calzone]

It's not actually to do with liking or not liking her......am just puzzled as to why she is allowed to do it......

I taught a class for a week and a half while the teacher was absent but I didn't approve of it really.....am not a qualified teacher and think it's a slap in the face for qualified teachers.....anyone can do it, so to speak.

[rosebiggs]

A newly qualified TA is teaching a core subject in secondary without a relevant degree! That's bonkers. Poor kids.

[neolara]

I would be very, very unhappy if a ta replaced a teacher at my kids school.

[LuluJakey1]

You get some excellent TAs but they are not teachers. Working in a secondary school, we had one who was excellent and three who were not highly literate or numerate and did not have anywhere near the level of subject knowledge to teach any subject at secondary level.
If people want to be teachers they should do teacher trainng. There are far too many routes now that allow people with few or no qualifications at an appropriate level to find their way into classrooms.

[iwuddarryl]

There are far too many routes now that allow people with few or no qualifications at an appropriate level to find their way into classrooms.

True.
Also, a lot of schools,run on a popularity system. If your face fits and you brown nose enough, they will often let people work in temporary roles in which they are often worryingly unqualified for.
It's,wrong on so many levels,and parents shouldn't stand for it.

[80sMum]

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest what exams the person teaching my child had passed or whether they were a 'qualified teacher' or not. What I would be interested in is, are they capable of doing the job, do they have the aptitude and the ability to teach.
There are plenty of qualified teachers who can't teach and equally plenty of unqualified teachers who are excellent teachers.

[G1raffe]

My infant school has several.classes where there is a TA taking the class a day or two a week to relieve a deputy head.

Currently in between teachers so having a half term taught by the normal TA and supply teachers...

[jellyfrizz]

Thing is 80sMum how do you know they are excellent teachers if they are unqualified?

[jellyfrizz]

How would you know they are 'capable of doing the job' or 'have the aptitude and ability to teach'?

[80sMum]

jelly, most of us can probably recall a favourite teacher from our school days. He /she is usually the one who brought a subject to life; or who planted the seed of a life long interest or love for a subject or a particular book or poem; or who gave us a 'light bulb moment' when we suddenly understood something that had eluded us before; or who took the time to listen to us and help us through a topic when we were struggling, enabling us to succeed when we we never thought we would. Those are the qualities that make 'good teachers' imo.

[Katarzyna79]

i agree with bloodyteenager it doesn't seem fair or right the amount of training teachers do, and the assessments and scrutiny they go through to do a profession they have a passion for it is going to be devalued. If Ta's can do the same job why make teachers go through such rigorous training?. Surely only qualified teachers should do the bulk of the teaching, Ta's are there to supplement not take the main leadership and teaching role?

i know 2 ta's 1 had broken English when she started, but was good enough to become a TA, she secured a place with a primary school and did on the job training. But would you be happy with her teaching your kids full time with zero experience and not the best command of the English language? Is she better qualified compared with a teacher?

Then i know another TA who loves children is very passionate about the job but academically she has always struggled. She is doing on the job vocational training. Would she be given a full time role in lieu of a teacher? Is this right? Even with years of experience i still don't think it's correct to give TA;s the same job as a teacher.

[jellyfrizz]

Ok 80smum you've defined what you think the qualities are that make a good teacher. Now, how are you going to make sure that unqualified person has those qualities before putting them in front of a class?

[Fedup21]

Those are the qualities that make 'good teachers' imo

That is your opinion-lots of other people have different ones. That's why it's probably best we have teacher training-so it's not completely arbitrary.

[greenbloom]

I don't think it is right that TAs should be teaching classes on minimum wage, or thereabouts. As a TA myself I would hate to have that kind of responsibility for so little pay. I'm not a qualified teacher and have no wish to be treated as one.