Another snippet from ‘Talk for Teaching’. Was and the need to include them in professional practice and especially Talk for Teaching.
What’s in it for me? TAs/HLTAs.
A number of the pieces in chapter 12, provided by heads and senior leaders with whom I’ve worked, illustrate the benefits that Talk for Teaching has provided for teaching assistants. Heads also talk about the skills and experience teaching assistants can bring to Talk for Teaching. Ben Lyons, headteacher of Forest View Primary School in Cinderford, wrote:
‘Paul’s approach to this (securing high quality practice) through ‘Talk for Teaching’ was very different for the school’s staff and was something that they embraced and enjoyed from the start. Teachers no longer focussed on a lesson grading but on what went well and what their developmental areas were. They did this simply through watching each other’s lessons and then, with Paul facilitating, discussed what they saw with each other. What made this process even more powerful for our staff is that we included support staff in the process and they were involved in watching and discussing lessons with the teachers’.
Rachel Pattison, headteacher at Marpool Primary School in Exmouth also writes:
‘As a school we have taken Talk for Teaching across the teaching staff, support staff and governors. For teaching staff, many felt privileged to see how their colleagues were mastering the craft of teaching and learning, reflecting on similarities, differences and the subtle changes or tweaks they may wish to make to their own craft or suggestions for development areas for colleagues. For support staff, the power of feeling teaching and learning across the school and the key ways colleagues interact within their learning bases, proved a real success.’
Professional Standards for Teaching Assistants (TAs, or HLTAs).
A set of professional standards for teaching assistants has been recently developed by a wide-ranging group of teachers, TAs and educationalists. They build upon the report for the Sutton Trust, co-authored by Jonathan Sharples, Rob Webster and Peter Blatchford: ‘Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants: Guidance Report’ published in 2013:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Campaigns/TA_Guidance_Report_MakingBestUseOfTeachingAssisstants-Printable.pdf
The standards were produced in June 2016, but by a different route from the Teacher Professional Standards and they have a wider scope than simply professional development. They are designed for TAs, but are engineered to sit alongside the Statutory Teacher Standards:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283566/Teachers_standard_information.pdf
The NAHT published the standards, together with UNISON, the National Education Trust (NET) and Maximising Teaching Assistants and The NAHT write on their website:
‘The standards were originally drafted by a working group of experts, commissioned by the DfE, who ultimately chose not to publish them. The above group of organisations, interested in promoting the professional work of teaching assistants, asked for and was granted permission by the DfE to publish the standards, subject to it being made clear that the government is no longer involved with the document.
These teaching assistant standards are non-mandatory and non-statutory, but they sit alongside the statutory standards for teachers and head teachers and help to define the role and purpose of teaching assistants to ensure that schools can maximise the educational value and contribution of employees working directly with pupils.’
http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/news-and-media/key-topics/staff-management/professional-standards-for-teaching-assistants-published/
Again, I feel it is a pity that the decision not to make such a set of standards statutory. The group that produced them was drawn from across the profession and the standards make for cogent reading.
The standards are set out in four themes.
- Personal and professional conduct
- Knowledge and understanding
- Teaching and learning
- Working with others
Within each theme there are several standards expected of teaching assistants, many of which touch upon professional development, such as:
1:5 Committing to improve their own practice through self-evaluation and awareness.
2:1 Share responsibility for ensuring that their own knowledge and understanding is relevant and up to date by reflecting on their own practice, liaising with school leaders, and identifying relevant professional development to improve personal effectiveness.
3:1 Demonstrate an informed and efficient approach to teaching and learning by adopting relevant strategies to support the work of the teacher and increase achievement of all pupils including, where appropriate, those with special educational needs and disabilities.
4:1 Recognise and respect the role and contribution of other professionals, parents and carers by liaising effectively and working in partnership with them.
Indeed, it could be argued that good professional development underpins almost all of the 21 bullets that comprise the standards.
In the past, teaching assistants have sometimes been poor relations in receiving professional development and may not have made the choice to attend after-school INSET, or staff meetings, as these were non-contractual. Fortunately things have now changed in many schools, who will pay teaching assistants to attend training events. Indeed, the value of TAs can now be so great to some schools that primary teachers in particular have said that teaching without a class TA is nigh on unthinkable. Many schools have professional development programmes for their TAs, which may be extensive. In addition, routes have opened for teaching assistants to gain promotion and an increasing number are training to be teachers. Thus teaching assistants are more willing to take control of their own PPD and participate in school based and external events.
TAs are crucial to the success of Talk for Teaching in a school. They contribute so much to group discussions and get a great deal out of the process in terms of their professional development and enhancements to their status. You only have to read the schools’ pieces in chapter 12 to see that. Talk for Teaching helps to raise both the profile of TAs in the school and their aspirations. Talk for Teaching can also go a long way towards schools being able to fulfill the professional needs of teaching assistants by helping schools to help its TAs to achieve what is expected of them in their professional standards.
Kevin Gaiderman writes movingly about the effect that Talk for Teaching had on the practice of one of his teaching assistants at Selston High School:
‘Individual successes (of Talk for Teaching) are many, but a couple really stand out in terms of their own development. Mandy, the teaching assistant attached to the mathematics department, commented at the start of her involvement that she felt somewhat threatened by being included in discussion groups with experienced teachers. As her own confidence grew through encouragement to take part by Andy Brumby and Paul Garvey, she was able to provide clear and concise feedback to the ‘spark’ to enable them to reflect on their own teaching. Indeed, in future Talk for Teaching sessions Mandy became a popular choice to be partnered with and indeed sparks asked for her to be involved in observing!’
Who wouldn’t include TAs in Talk for Teaching after that!
Paul Garvey September 2016