Effective Use of Teaching & Support Assistants

There are many effective ways to use a teaching assistant, and it really depends on the needs of the classroom and the specific skills and abilities of the assistant. The advice below, supporting introductory video and lesson will help you understand what the research tells us about effective use of teaching assistants.

To get you started, here are a few tips that might be helpful:

1. Communication is key. Make sure that the teaching assistant knows what is expected of them and what their responsibilities are. Create a clear plan for how they will be working with the students, and be sure to touch base with them regularly to make sure things are running smoothly.
2. Use your teaching assistant to differentiate instruction. They can work with small groups of students who need extra help or provide one-on-one support for students who need it. They can also help create materials to support different learning styles and abilities.
3. Have them assist with grading and administrative tasks. Teaching assistants can be a valuable resource for grading assignments, tracking attendance, and other administrative tasks. This can free up more time for you to focus on lesson planning and instruction.
4. Use them to provide feedback and support. Teaching assistants can be a great resource for providing feedback to students. They can help students with their writing, provide feedback on assignments, and answer questions.

Overall, the key to effective use of a teaching assistant is to communicate clearly, use them to differentiate instruction and provide feedback.

Our Presenter

The lesson with this course is presented by Nicola Musgrove. Nicola is a distinguished education specialist, renowned for her expertise in autism and the effective utilisation of teaching assistants (TAs) within UK schools. With over 20 years of experience in the education sector, she has dedicated her career to promoting inclusive practices that support the diverse needs of students, particularly those on the autism spectrum.

Nicola Musgrove is a distinguished education specialist, renowned for her expertise in autism and the effective utilisation of teaching assistants (TAs) within UK schools. With over 20 years of experience in the education sector, she has dedicated her career to promoting inclusive practices that support the diverse needs of students, particularly those on the autism spectrum. Nicola is highly regarded for her ability to develop and implement strategies that enable students with autism to succeed in mainstream educational environments.

Take the lesson below from Nicola for information on research and practical insights into this topic.

Once you have completed the course, please do click the link to share your feedback with our Learn team: You can feedback to the team here.

Helpful links

You may also find research from the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) helpful which explains the research around preparing and deploying teaching assistants in the classroom. The EEF research related to this area are located in the materials section of this course. You can access their research here.