Tasks often assigned to teaching assistants include, preparing the classroom prior to a class with any necessary equipment, preparing lesson materials by photocopying worksheets, listening to children read and highlighting any problem areas to the teacher.
Teaching assistants also sometimes take small groups of children with special educational needs out of a class and give them extra support in an specific area, such as literacy or numeracy using special needs resources. This can help children reach specific goals in their education that cannot be accommodated in a normal class. These goals could be personal - focused on behaviour and social interaction with peers or they could be more academic - to reach certain standards in various subjects.
The most important qualities in a teaching assistant are patience, kindness, social intelligence, reliability, trust, understanding and empathy. It is also important to have good intuition and be able to observe and control the dynamics of a classroom. If a teaching assistant fulfils all the above criteria, then they will undoubtedly have success in helping children with their school and personal needs. In the case of children with special educational needs it is also helpful for the teaching assistant to be familiar with SEN resources, which can be used to support the child's learning in and out of the classroom.
Children with special needs can find mainstream school very challenging as the pace of lessons can push the limits of their learning ability, this can be demotivating and lead to behavioural and attention issues in the classroom. Special needs learning resources can really come into their own when used to tackle these challenges. Furthermore, with the support of a teaching assistant these children can be successfully integrated into the mainstream classroom and flourish with the rest of the students.
It is very important to correctly identify the issues associated with specific learning difficulties in order to help the individual child achieve their best. It is necessary to focus on the specific issues rather than simply labelling the child as 'special' and treating them differently in all areas. It may well be possible for the child to participate in the majority of classroom activities and excel in certain areas, or on the other hand they may need support in the form of a teaching assistant or SEN resources in other instances. Either way the important point is to correctly identify the issues and address them accordingly both in and out of school.
Apart from special needs resources and teaching assistants, both parents and teachers can also play an important role in helping children with special needs to achieve their best. Whether by including children in classroom activities or setting special goals for the student, the teacher can ensure that special needs children improve throughout the school year. Parents can also implement reward systems at home and support the child in homework tasks, which should help motivate children when they return to the classroom. Praise and rewards are important both in and out of school, effective use of praise and reward systems can lead to greatly improved learning development.
Claire Hall is a former school teacher turned stay at home mum who blogs about education and curriculum for LDA Learning.
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