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This book offers the first collection of international academic writing on the topic of teaching assistants. It serves as an indicative summary of current research and thinking in this field and as a point of departure for future research and development.With contributions from leading researchers, the book draws together empirical work on the deployment and impact of teaching assistants from various perspectives and from a range of methodological approaches. It highlights and celebrates the vital everyday contributions teaching assistants make to their schools and their communities: from their role within classrooms, to their moment-by-moment interactions with pupils and teachers. The book examines the effect that teaching assistants can have on pupils'learning and wellbeing, and considers issues of over-dependence on classroom paraprofessionals and the unintended consequences to which this can lead. Bringing together work from a journal special issue with brand-new and updated chapters, the contributions offer insight into the liminal space between educator, caregiver, behaviour manager, and facilitator of learning and of peer relations, which characterizes the teaching assistant role. This timely and important book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, and students interested in special educational needs, disability, and inclusion, and those interested in the wider topic of paraprofessionals in labour markets.

This second edition of The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction is the definitive guide to teaching assistant-pupil interaction, fully updated with examples from schools that have implemented techniques from the first edition. An invaluable professional development tool for classroom support staff and the teachers who work with them, this new edition answers the need for specific, practical guidance on the role of the teaching assistant.This practical and accessible guide sets out a role for teaching assistants that focuses on developing pupils'independence and ownership of learning, with key learning points now summarised in each chapter. Based on a classroom-tested framework and covering the main contexts in which teaching assistants work, it includes a range of strategies and reflective activities to help improve the support provided to pupils in everyday settings. This book sets out successful strategies for: Responding to additional needs Understanding the principles behind effective classroom talk Carefully scaffolding pupils'learning Delivering intervention programmes The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction is an essential read for all teaching assistants and will also be of interest to school leaders, SENCOs and teachers in both primary and secondary schools who wish to improve their deployment of teaching assistants and their own interactions with pupils.Used in combination with Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools, The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction is a comprehensive and unrivalled resource for supporting school workforce improvement.

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.

Marking the 40th anniversary of the Warnock Enquiry (1978) into special education in the UK and capturing the coverage of a public debate on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) hosted by the University College London Institue of Education (2018), this volume explores the legacy of the Enquiry, considering how it has impacted on policy and practice relating to SEND and inclusion, and how it will continue to do so. Offering historical perspectives and drawing on professional and personal experiences, high-profile contributors, including practitioners, researchers, campaigners and parents, reflect on the approaches taken during the Warnock Enquiry and consider how successfully recommendations have been implemented. Reviewing conceptional and practical territory covered by the Warnock committee, and assessing the current state of the inclusion and education of young people with SEND in the UK, the text sets out broad, evidence-based principles for rethinking inclusive practice and explores topics including: the purposes, contribution and impacts of the Warnock Enquiry rights-based approaches to the education of children with SEND past and present dialogue between mainstream and specialist settings challenges faced by parents of children with SEND implications of the Enquiry for initial teacher training perceptions of SEND in the media the relevance of the Enquiry to policy and practice in the years ahead. This invaluable text will widen current debates by exploring how persistent problems relating to inclusion and the education of children and young people with SEND might be resolved. It is an essential read for researchers, educationalists, practitioners and families involved in the education of children with SEND.

Teaching assistants are an integral part of classroom life, yet pioneering research by the authors has shown schools are not making the most of this valued resource. Evidence shows the more support pupils receive from TAs, the less academic progress they made. Yet the reason for this has little to do with TAs. It is decisions made about them by school leaders and teachers that best explain this provocative finding.The fully updated second edition of this book draws on the experiences of schools that have put this guidance into action via the Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants programme. Revised to reflect the latest research evidence and changes within education, including the 2014 SEND Code of Practice, this book will help school leaders and teachers in primary and secondary settings to rethink the role, purpose and contribution of TAs, and add real value to what can be achieved in classrooms.Setting out a field-tested process, structured around a coherent and empirically sound conceptual framework, this book: helps school leaders review, reform and reenergise their TA workforce provides practical strategies to implement in the classroom illustrates key points with new case studies provides photocopiable templates and resources to support decision-making and action. Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants provides much-needed and evidence-informed guidance on how to unleash the huge potential of TAs, and is essential reading for all school leaders.

The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction is the definitive guide to teaching assistant-pupil interaction and an invaluable professional development tool for classroom support staff and the teachers who work with them. The authors'research and development work with schools has highlighted the need for specific, practical guidance on the role of the teaching assistant. This highly practical and accessible book sets out a role for teaching assistants that focuses on developing pupils'independence and ownership of learning. Based on a classroom-tested framework, and covering the main contexts in which teaching assistants work, it includes practical strategies and reflective activities to help you improve the support you provide to pupils in everyday settings. This book will help you to: Improve your interactions with pupils Understand the principles behind effective classroom talk Carefully scaffold pupils'learning Work effectively in collaboration with teachers Support the Assessment for Learning process Support group work and collaborative tasks Deliver intervention programmes. This book is an essential read for all teaching assistants. It will also be of interest to school leaders, SENCos and teachers, in both primary and secondary schools, who wish to improve their use of teaching assistants and their own interactions with pupils.

Over the last decade, teaching assistants (TAs) have become an established part of everyday classroom life. TAs are often used by schools to help low-attaining pupils and those with special educational needs. Yet despite the huge rise in the number of TAs working in UK classrooms, very little is known about their impact on pupils. This key and timely text examines the impact of TAs on pupils'learning and behaviour, and on teachers and teaching. The authors present the provocative findings from the ground-breaking and seminal Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project. This was the largest, most in-depth study ever to be carried out in this field. It critically examined the effect of TA support on the academic progress of 8,200 pupils, made extensive observations of nearly 700 pupils and over 100 TAs, and collected data from over 17,800 questionnaire responses and interviews with over 470 school staff and pupils.This book reveals the extent to which the pupils in most need are let down by current classroom practice. The authors present a robust challenge to the current widespread practices concerning TA preparation, deployment and practice, structured around a conceptually and empirically strong explanatory framework. The authors go on to show how schools need to change if they are to realise the potential of TAs.With serious implications not just for classroom practice, but also whole-school, local authority and government policy, this will be an indispensable text for primary, secondary and special schools, senior management teams, those involved in teacher training and professional development, policy-makers and academics.