This small-scale piece of research listened to the stories, experiences and perceptions of teaching assistants to hear their lived experiences of the role of teaching assistant. To hear how expectations have altered with/without legislative and framework guidance and consideration of the individuals who take up teaching assistant roles, in a…

Paraeducators assume a range of responsibilities to assist school members in supporting students who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). These responsibilities often include supporting the behavioral needs of students with extensive support needs. Given the growing adoption of…

Around the world, the number of learning assistants (LAs) employed in schools has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Underpinned by the global move towards more inclusive education, and consequently an increasingly diverse school population, they now play a key role in supporting learners with additional needs. A number of concerns…

Whilst teaching Assistants (TAs) are a crucial part of the education workforce, their role and contribution is little understood, even by teachers they work alongside. By giving a voice to TAs, The Teaching Assistant Dilemma helps to tackle this lack of understanding. Highlighting the problems TAs face, not just that their contribution is…

Teaching Assistants (TAs) (may also be known as Learning Support Assistants or Classroom Assistants) are important members of staff within a school environment. There is guidance on the deployment of TAs; however, little is known about how these recommendations are operationalised in a school setting. The aim of this research was to explore TA…

Common issues that arise between the physical education teacher and paraeducators are related to a lack of communication. This article proposes a few strategies to help establish open communication and collaboration between physical education teachers and paraeducators. It presents a series of forms that can be modified to meet the needs of each…

This article focuses on sustainable education for Batek children, an ethnic subgroup of Indigenous Orang Asli peoples in Malaysia. A number of important figures, including school leaders, teachers, parents and peers, are needed to support initiatives to improve the quality of education among Indigenous communities. However, studies have indicated…

This paper presents evidence of how the role of teaching assistants (TAs) in England has been remade by the COVID pandemic. Drawing on data from a national survey of 9,055 TAs and 22 semi-structured interviews with TAs, teachers and headteachers, the authors show how essential TAs were to schools' responses to managing the disruption caused by the…

The recommendations outlined in this article focus on research-based approaches to (a) establishing a healthy teacher-paraeducator relationship and (b) planning for and providing feedback on behavior intervention plans (BIP) implementation, both of which have been found to support teacher-paraeducator collaboration and implementation of effective…

In Québec (Canada), vocational training centres hire their teachers based on their occupational skills and knowledge. Often without prior pedagogical training, teachers must complete a bachelor university degree including three or four internships. Conducted in their workplace, novices are then accompanied on-site by an assistant teacher (AT).…

While teaching assistants (TAs) have experienced various employment challenges, little research has been done to examine factors affecting their well-being. Based on an extended Control-Value model in studying teachers' emotions and well-being, the present study examined the relationship between primary school TAs' Control-Value variables in the…

Paraeducators often work with special education teachers and school teams to support students with disabilities who have complex communication needs (CCN), including students who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) such as speech-generating devices. This study involved surveying 258 paraeducators working with students with…

This study used thematic analysis of interview data to explore how secondary school students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) perceived the one-to-one teaching assistant (TA) support they received for learning and wellbeing. One-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve pupils in five mainstream secondary…

Paraeducators are often tasked with supporting students with complex communication needs (CCN) without being well prepared to promote their communication. Previous studies have focused on training paraeducators to promote communication during non-instructional contexts for limited or unspecified communication types. We extend the literature by…

Co-teaching and related collaborative models of instruction are widely used in primary and secondary schools in many school systems. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of such models on students' academic achievement and how these effects are moderated by factors of theoretical and practical relevance. Although…