The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction

This third edition of The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction is the definitive guide to teaching assistant-pupil interaction and an invaluable professional development tool for classroom support staff and the teachers who work with them. Updated to include the latest research evidence and reflect the current educational context and varied roles that teaching assistants undertake, this highly practical and accessible book sets out a role for teaching assistants that focuses on developing pupils' independence and ownership of learning. Based on an extensively classroom-tested framework and covering the main contexts in which teaching assistants work, it includes practical strategies and reflective activities to help teaching assistants improve the support they provide to pupils in everyday settings. It sets out successful strategies for: responding to additional needs; understanding the principles behind effective classroom talk; carefully scaffolding pupils' learning; and delivering intervention programmes. Used in combination with the authors' book for school leaders, Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools, this provides a comprehensive and unrivalled resource for supporting school workforce development. This essential read is designed for all teaching assistants and will also be of interest to school leaders, special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and teachers in both primary and secondary schools who wish to improve their deployment of teaching assistants and their own interactions with pupils.

Paula Bosanquet is a Lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education and Psychology at UCL Institute of Education, London. A former primary teacher, she has worked extensively as a trainer with teaching assistants, schools and local authorities. Rob Webster researches and writes about special educational needs and inclusion, and he developed the Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants programme.

List of figures Introduction: Teaching assistants and their roles and impact in schools 1. The teaching assistant as scaffolder 2. The value of planning the right task and pupils taking an active role in interactions 3. The principles of scaffolding 4. Scaffolding strategies 5. Assessment for learning: Providing valuable feedback for teachers and pupils 6. Promoting effective group working 7. Delivering intervention programmes Conclusion: A summary of coverage Appendices Index