Reassessing the Impact of Teaching Assistants

Blatchford, Peter; Russell, Anthony; Webster, Rob

doi:10.4324/9780203151969

Cited by 115 publications

(80 citation statements)

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“…One also wonders whether it would simply reinforce an 'overreliance on support' (Bailey and Baines 2012, 61), but undermine the development of intrinsic resilience, particularly as the literature has raised concerns regarding TA support (Blatchford, Russell, and Webster 2012). If we return to the girls' interviews, it is interesting that they were not particularly grieving for particular individuals; rather, they just simply required further support.…”

Section: Quasi-familial Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

‘White British girls on free school meals’: power, resistance and resilience at secondary school transition

Fisher

2016

Gender and Education

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This article explores the perspectives of 10 White British girls eligible for Free School Meals as they transfer from English primary to secondary schools. Having identified the discourses relevant to the girls at transition -good girl, girl power, hyper-femininity, authenticity, 'challenges at home', 'friends as family' and standards -the article uses Foucault to theorise these examples, reflecting on the complexity of associated power, resistance and resilience. The article continues by drawing on the multiplicity of resistance to these discourses to identify the girls' developing intrinsic strengths, and argues that these should be used both a starting point and a structure for supporting them through discourse negotiation at secondary transition and beyond. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Quasi-familial Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

‘White British girls on free school meals’: power, resistance and resilience at secondary school transition

Fisher

2016

Gender and Education

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“…Books, which are not peer reviewed, made up the next category. Of this, almost a third were written by Blatchford's team using data from the DISS report, (Blatchford et al ., ; Russell et al ., ; Blatchford et al ., ) which was the largest and most comprehensive piece of research on TAs to date. The research had a significant sample of respondents and methods of data collection (700 pupil and 100 TA observations, 17,800 survey responses, 470 interviews) and can therefore be judged to be empirical and large scale.…”

Section: Paucitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to the landmark publication ‘Deployment and Impact of Support Staff’ (DISS) by Blatchford, Russell & Webster, (), which was the largest piece of research conducted into TAs worldwide, there was a paucity of exploration of TAs’ work. Earlier research had lacked empirical research and mainly focused on ‘describing at the classroom level’ what TAs did (Cremin, Thomas & Vincett, ; Devecchi, ).…”

Section: Paucitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Earlier research had lacked empirical research and mainly focused on ‘describing at the classroom level’ what TAs did (Cremin, Thomas & Vincett, ; Devecchi, ). However, research into TA's efficacy at improving educational standards and deployment has increased (Alborz, Pearson, Farrell & Howes, ; Blatchford et al ., ; Blatchford et al ., ; Blatchford, Russell & Webster, ; Cockroft & Atkinson, ; DfES, ; Graves, ; Hammersley‐Fletcher & Adnett ; Hammersley‐Fletcher & Qualter ; HMI, ; Radford, Bosanquet, Webster, & Blatchford, ; Russell, Webster & Blatchford, ; Sharples, Webster, & Blatchford, ; Webster et al ., ; Webster & Blatchford, 2013; Webster ). However, despite the increase in research there are still issues within the body of existing research.…”

Section: Paucitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature review used cannot be assumed to include all relevant publications, but it does reflect general themes in published research. Of the reports cited, three quarters are by the team who authored the DISS report (Blatchford et al ., ) highlighting advances in research into some aspects of TAs.…”

Section: Paucitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teaching Assistants managing behaviour – who knows how they do it? A review of literature

Clarke

Visser²

2016

Support for Learning

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This article revisits a previous publication which questioned how Teaching Assistants (TAs) manage behaviour in mainstream English primary schools (Clarke and Visser, 2016). That paper highlighted the lack of specific research in the area and noted, that despite increases in research on TAs work, there remained a lack of understanding in relation to how TAs supported children’s non‐academic or ‘soft skills’. Following on from that, this article details the findings of a doctoral research project that investigated factors that constrained and supported TAs’ management of behaviour. Using the findings from that research, this article offers answers to the to the question I outlined in the previous publication ‘Teaching Assistants managing behaviour – who knows how they do it?’ (Clarke and Visser, 2016). Concepts including TAs’ understanding of their ‘place’, the impact of agency and how consistency in a range of areas influenced the agency TAs experienced in managing behaviour will be discussed.

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Worlds apart? The nature and quality of the educational experiences of pupils with a statement for special educational needs in mainstream primary schools

Webster

Blatchford

2014

British Educational Res J

Self Cite

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from the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project showed that support from teaching assistants (TAs) had a strong negative impact on the academic progress of pupils, and this applied particularly to pupils with a statement of special educational needs (SEN). Although the DISS project found that such pupils experienced less contact with teachers, little is known about school-and classroom-level decision-making relating to provision. This paper addresses the nature and quality of the educational experiences of pupils with statements, and who has responsibility for putting in place and delivering provision for these pupils within schools. Results come from the Making a Statement (MAST) project, which tracked the educational experiences of 48 9-and 10-year-old pupils with the highest level of SEN, attending mainstream primary schools in England. The study involved the thematic analysis of 48 detailed pupil case studies, drawing on interview, documentation and field note data. Results are presented in terms of four key themes: (1) the explicit and subtle forms of separation these pupils experience daily; (2) the high level of pedagogical decision-making TAs have for pupils with statements; (3) the impoverished pedagogical diet pupils with statements receive, compared to their peers; and (4) the gaps in teachers' and TAs' knowledge concerning meeting the needs of pupils with statements. The findings have particular implications for the deployment of TAs and for provision for pupils with SEN, with and without statements.

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Reassessing the Impact of Teaching Assistants

Cited by 115 publications

References 0 publications

‘White British girls on free school meals’: power, resistance and resilience at secondary school transition

‘White British girls on free school meals’: power, resistance and resilience at secondary school transition

Teaching Assistants managing behaviour – who knows how they do it? A review of literature

Worlds apart? The nature and quality of the educational experiences of pupils with a statement for special educational needs in mainstream primary schools

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