3.1 What is the value of teaching assistants?

Outline

3 Contribution and roles

Hilary Cremin et al. (2003) in their evaluation of the ways in which teachers and teaching assistants can work together in teams, suggest that, while there is enthusiasm for additional support, little attention is given to how this actually works in classrooms. It is true that learning support staff have been introduced into classrooms without clear research evidence that they can make a difference to children's learning, but then life often moves faster than the supply of research evidence.

As we have indicated, volunteers are often invited into schools to assist teachers, and teaching assistants are employed without necessarily having any specific training (although, increasingly, in-service training is being made available). However, as we have suggested, volunteers and teaching assistants often have relevant informal experience, transferable abilities and intuitive skills that can support the work they do in schools. Furthermore, common sense suggests that, when large classes of children have access to additional adults who wish to help and support them, this will have a favourable impact on their learning and development. For instance, in a similar way, many schools actively encourage parental involvement in children's homework.

Evidence of the value of teaching assistants is now coming through, particularly in research reports. Kathy Hall and Wendy Nuttall (1999) in their survey of English infant teachers found that 75 per cent rated classroom assistants as equal to, or more important than, class size in terms of the quality of teaching and learning. More recently, Valerie Wilson et al. (2002) provide evidence from Scotland, and Roger Hancock et al. (2002) add to the evidence from England. References to the important work of learning support staff can also be found in formal inspection reports from Ofsted in England, Estyn in Wales, HMIS in Scotland, and ETI in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland a recent chief inspector's report stated that, ‘Evidence from inspection highlights the positive contribution made by classroom assistants, including those employed under the “Making a Good Start” initiative (MAGS), in helping to promote and support the children's early learning and development’ (ETI, 2002, para.2.19).