The role of a Teaching Assistant
The Role of a Teaching Assistant
The role of a teaching assistant can be broken down into four distinct areas. These four areas are all equally important and play a part in every teaching assistant’s position. The first area of support is the obvious one, support for the child. The most obvious role being that of supervising and assisting children in activities set by the teacher. This could be with a small group of children or with an individual child who is in need of some extra help. A teaching assistant should always try to raise the standards of each child’s achievement, be it through group work or individual tasks. They should do their best to enable children to become independent learners through allowing, for example, younger children to choose activities and carry out tasks that they may not normally be able to do such as dressing themselves or personal hygiene tasks.
Children’s social skills are also of high importance and teaching assistants should work towards supporting relationships amongst their pupils. This could come from helping to organise group activities or allowing children to work in pairs so that they develop different relationships with other children. It is also vital to allow children to understand the importance of including others in activities. Most children learn well through play and teaching assistants should utilise this and should try to keep children focused by providing fun ways of learning for them.
From personal experience I also know that it is very important for teaching assistants to show interest and get to know each child individually. This shows the child that someone is there for them if they ever need to talk and involves the family of the child in their education more. The family also need to know that someone is there for them if they ever need support.
Another area of support is support for the teacher. This can be through routine tasks like tidying the classroom and keeping it in order, admin tasks or setting
The role of a teaching assistant can be broken down into four distinct areas. These four areas are all equally important and play a part in every teaching assistant’s position. The first area of support is the obvious one, support for the child. The most obvious role being that of supervising and assisting children in activities set by the teacher. This could be with a small group of children or with an individual child who is in need of some extra help. A teaching assistant should always try to raise the standards of each child’s achievement, be it through group work or individual tasks. They should do their best to enable children to become independent learners through allowing, for example, younger children to choose activities and carry out tasks that they may not normally be able to do such as dressing themselves or personal hygiene tasks.
Children’s social skills are also of high importance and teaching assistants should work towards supporting relationships amongst their pupils. This could come from helping to organise group activities or allowing children to work in pairs so that they develop different relationships with other children. It is also vital to allow children to understand the importance of including others in activities. Most children learn well through play and teaching assistants should utilise this and should try to keep children focused by providing fun ways of learning for them.
From personal experience I also know that it is very important for teaching assistants to show interest and get to know each child individually. This shows the child that someone is there for them if they ever need to talk and involves the family of the child in their education more. The family also need to know that someone is there for them if they ever need support.
Another area of support is support for the teacher. This can be through routine tasks like tidying the classroom and keeping it in order, admin tasks or setting