Teacher aides’ voices: perspectives on teaching pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Background

Over recent decades, teacher aides (TAs) have had an increasing presence in mainstream classrooms internationally, providing vital support to students and teachers on a daily basis. Although the evolution of the role has given rise to many implicit and explicit shifts in TAs’ responsibilities, opportunities for TAs to develop and shape their own identities within school contexts remain limited.

Purpose

Set in Australia, our study responds to calls for TAs to be afforded ‘a voice’ to contribute to the improvement of the teaching pedagogy used in their schools. We sought to investigate TAs’ perspectives on their school’s pedagogical framework, based on the TAs’ lived experiences of carrying out their roles in the classroom.

Methods

A total of 23 TAs from a primary school in Queensland completed an online survey, which included questions that invited the TAs’ views on the main approaches and strategies embedded in the school’s pedagogical framework, and their reflections about the strengths and challenges of using it. Descriptive statistics were produced from the survey data and open responses were analysed qualitatively.

Findings

The analysis suggested that the TAs felt they had good knowledge and understanding of the teaching pedagogy and were confident and supportive of its use in the school. Participants cited student self-confidence in their learning, and improved academic results for children with diverse learning needs and those working beyond year-level expectations, as key strengths of the pedagogy. However, time constraints and student behaviour were seen as challenges to the success of the teaching pedagogy.

Conclusions

Whilst these findings are focused on one school, understanding TAs’ perspectives on their school’s teaching pedagogy as they go about their classroom work offers a starting point for further study into an important but insufficiently explored area of research. It highlights the need for TAs to be included as valued partners in their schools’ pedagogical journeys.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher aides
• teaching assistants
• paraprofessionals
• pedagogical role
• school improvement
• schoolwide pedagogy

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by Dr Anh Hai Le (Griffith University) in relation to the analysis of the quantitative data and preparation of associated tables.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The term ‘teacher aides’ (TAs) is adopted in this paper as it is familiar throughout many jurisdictions and was the term employed at the school in which the research was carried out. As discussed below, it is important to acknowledge that roles and definitions vary, and alternative terms such as teaching assistants, paraprofessionals, inclusion aides and support assistants are in use internationally.