Supporting Learning Activities

Teaching Assistants support classroom management and assist with general administration. They help manage pupil behaviour and support pupils’ health, safety and emotional/social development. Teaching assistants establish relationships with learners and help pupils to access the curriculum. They support the development and effectiveness of work teams, work with other professionals and liaise effectively with parents.

A Teaching Assistant, as the name suggests, is there to help pupils achieve results whilst attending school. This is where the most differences in roles can be seen. In primary schools, a Teaching Assistant assigned to a class is responsible for assisting all pupils in that class. There are many tasks this involves including:

During the lesson the teaching assistant should assist and be a role model for the children and throughout the lesson the teaching assistant should do what the teacher asks and requires.

Although the class teacher is primarily responsible to plan, deliver and review all learning activities for the class, a teaching assistant can work alongside the teacher and make contributions that can improve the teachers plan, alter the delivery to make it more effective for pupil attainment and extend the teachers initial review. “Planning, teaching and evaluation follow a cycle which gives structure to the learning process” (Baker, B., Burnham, L., 2010) and is vital in my role as a teaching assistant. I aim to describe how I aide the teacher to plan and deliver lessons and how I give feedback to the teacher about individual pupils, in order for the teacher make improvements in her planning and to be able to target individual

SENCO - The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) is one of the statutory roles in schools. They are responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of the school’s Special Educational Needs (SEN)policy by providing guidance and training to colleagues and liaising with professional outside of school to find further support if needed. They are not only responsible for a high quality teaching for SEN pupils but also take care of their records and keep in touch with their parents.

The special educational needs (SEN) team are supported by a very active group who make sure that they provide a range of activities to meet the needs of our ever growing community of special schools, as well as colleagues in mainstream primary and secondary schools. Their aim is to work together to ensure good practice to promote effective approaches to enhance the students learning with Special educational needs.

The support that a teaching assistant can give to their colleagues and their activities may be their time, resources and advice. The teaching assistant should always:

“One of the essential roles of special education teachers is coteaching and working with other professionals, as well as communicating with family members and between special education teachers and other school-related professionals(Vaughn & Bos, 2015, p. 114)”. With the importance of a least restrictive environment special education and general education teachers are working together in a classroom with varying levels and abilities of learners. It is vitally important to have an effective relationship between the two teachers while developing and implementing lesson plans for learners with special needs. The physical space and dynamics of the classroom should fit the needs of the students and the established procedures should ensure a highly functional environment. Importantly, educators need to communicate to families “encouragement about what they can do at home and about an effective plan for providing instructional supports for their child(Vaughn & Bos, 2015, p. 114)”.

For example, if a practitioner has a child with a hearing impairment then, the practitioner with work with the settings Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO). They will both work together in order to give the child the best support possible and they will also provide the children with the necessary resources and supplies that the child needs for them to develop at the right stage as the other children.

The special education teacher interviewed, talked about this goal to meet each child’s need is challenging to her especially in eleventh and twelfth grade. The teacher tries to strive towards their educational goals, their need areas, and work on their strengths.

1.1 I work as a Special Education Needs Teacher Assistant (SEN TA) in a year two classroom in a primary school; it is a small school with one class of around thirty children for each year, ranging from reception to year 6. In year two I work with aged 6-7 year old children, one teacher and a teacher assistant.

While a supplemental curriculum would need to be designed in order to meet the needs of every student within a special education room, there may be some resistance from the district, as they prefer all teachers to use a universal curriculum and not individualize it. However, due to the fact that not all students have the same disability or limitations, they cannot be expected to participate in a universal curriculum, as it will be limited in its ability to accommodate for every student’s individual needs (An Introduction,

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators concern themselves with the needs of any individual pupil who may need extra help. Their strategic purpose is to monitor the ever changing needs of these children, to liaise with external agencies who may need to work with certain children within a school, and to draw up individual learning plans for each child, in conjunction with teachers, support staff and the child’s parents, guardians, or carers.

All students, even students with disabilities, are to be provided with accesses to the general education curriculum. The general education teacher provides the framework of the curriculum and content standards for the academic courses. They are the content specialist. Effective teaching strategies, accommodations and modifications to the curriculum are under the responsibility of the special education teacher. Their primary role is to make the curriculum accessible to the student with disabilities. In my district, the school psychologist is the case manager for the individualized educational program (IEP) team. In addition to testing, evaluating and interpreting the data, the school psychologist runs the IEP meetings. The role of the counselor is to provide guidance through course planning and to serve as a resource for the student and the parent as the student navigates through school. In addition to the counselor, our school has a transition facilitator. This individual is another counselor that serves in the capacity to guide the student through issues of transition to high school, peer issues as well as emotional or behavioral support. The may also include other support professionals, such as a speech pathologist, or physical therapists, depending on the needs of the student. The last two members of the team include the student and the parent(s). At the high school level, the students can participate in their own

Teaching students with special needs is highly rewarding. “Every child deserves a champion- an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best they can possibly be.” (Pierson). Special education teachers work with and serve as a mentor to students who have a wide range of learning, mental, emotional and physical disabilities.