Wat do you think about Teaching Assistants?

Question

As a Senior Teaching Assistant i se the amount of paid and unpaid work that we do for the benefit of the children. I know that teachers also do this but we are paid far less but in my school at least.....we work exceptionally hard. I would like the views of parents/carers and teachers alike. But i would appreciate serious answers only please

Yes i did spell 'What' wrong.......i have a bad keyboard and didn't use spell check!

ty for answers so far.....Please don't think for one minute that i am putting Teachers down.........i'm not! I have every sympathy with teachers as i do with those T/A's that are worth their weight in gold. Theres good and bad in both roles.

I actually love my job very much and i am seriously NOT putting teachers down! I find the work very rewardng but despite numerous training courses and many unpaid extra hours work and a massive increase in workloads over the past few years, i really think we deserve a little bit more..... and at age 45 i'm not thinking of spending 3 years in uni' to become a teacher at 48.....

In my school we have to plan for SEN children that we work with one to one. We also have to contribute to planning for the week in our meetings and contribute to the LA's planning for the week. We also have to sit in on most of the Teachers inset training sessions after school.

Answer 1

i think a teachers assistant should at least be able to spell. maybe you'll get paid more when you sharpen your skills.

(edit)
i know..."boooo" i just couldn't resist the irony.

Answer 2

Hello, I myself have been a Teaching Assistant and I do agree with you about the hour's put into the job and the training included. Most of the pupils dealt with by TA's are either SEN or have behaviour difficulties of various sorts, not an easy job for anyone, teaching staff also have the added bonus of an extra pair of hands and eyes in their lessons. It is hard to ignore inappropriate behaviour of others in a lesson therefor, the TA usually gets involved again making teachers jobs easier. Where I worked the TA's also have to keep records,attend reviews,differentiate pupil work,maintain equiptment,cover break duties,replenish display boards and so on...........This is with a ten minute break in the morning and a lunch that was reduced to half an hour!! Working too up until 4.30pm when other staff have long gone home.
Our local authority (not sure if others are doing it yet) are reviewing support staff roles and duties to re-scale staff where ever possible, surely this will not be an increase in pay as usual another money saving scam.
Last week I was made redundant from a role as Learning Mentor, I see myself as a professional person who loves to help the kids but unfortunately due to the way support staff are treated within schools, the constant cut backs and low morale, I am now contemplating a career change.
Work done by support staff needs to have more recognition,before all the excellent,hard working,caring individuals leave these jobs for good.
Hope these comments make you realise that you are not alone in your thoughts.

Answer 3

Yes, most TA's do put a lot in to the job - paid and unpaid. But the majority, if not all, of the unpaid is voluntary. The salary is not great but you are working a shortened day (mainly to fit in with childcare) and get 13 weeks off a year with no obligation to do any work within this time. It is also an unskilled job (yes, i know you can argue it as skilled but actually you do not need any qualifications) so all in all, i don't think the hourly pay is that bad. Obviously, if you do disagree I would either train as a teacher and see how well you are paid then for the responsibility and extra work you have or look for a job outside of education.

Answer 4

TA's rock! I never made it as a teacher as my health seriously declined after I finished my 2nd year but I did do 2 years of it and therefore several placements.

First off, taching assistants were the most friendly, approachable and helpful members of staff in the entire school. The teachers were too busy to give me any time (too snobbish? Surely not, lets just call it busy!) but all of the TA's I worked with were fantastic.

TA's do usually train and I don't feel that their pay reflects this. As teachers are getting more PPA time, it falls to the TA to teach the class and organise activities. I have seen teachers "fob off" the children with behaviour difficulties, and learning difficulties on to the A so the teacher is left with a class of well behaved quick learners and the TA has all the "difficult" children. I know this is an exception not the rule but I've seen it too many times to say its uncommmon.

TA's often have to run library sessions or computer sessions and give general support to the children during lessons. In one classroom I was in the teacher was so unapproachable that all of the parents went to the TA when they needed to.

Alongside all of this, the TA has to put up displays, collect swimming money, complete records,mark SAT's practice papers, file records, photocopy and any other peice of admin you can think about.

To top all of this off, I've been in two schools where the TA's wern't even allowed in the staff room (except to do the teacher's photocopying of course!)

So in answer to your question, TA's are very under valued, I always vowed that if ever I became a teacher I would let my TA know s/he was great! But never got that far.

Ithink TA's should be paid a lot more than they do, although agree that teacher's who have to be graduates, and do placements and a lot of work., shhould be paid more.

Answer 5

First let me say that I am a full time teacher so I know where you are coming from. I feel that the whole profession is underpaid somewhat. The importance of a teacher's aid or assistant really comes down to 2 major factors in my opinion. The first is out of the assistants hands, and that is the size and behavior/needs of the class. A large class or a class with many special needs require teacher's assistants in order to run efficiently. Smaller classes with less needs don't necessarily require the assistance of an aid. The 2nd factor is the quality of the teacher's assistant. I've worked with assistants who make my job 10 folds easier because they are great workers and work very knowledgably with the kids. I've also worked with assistants who aren't necessarily bad at what they do, but just don't seem to have a major impact on the class. So there are many factors that come into play, but I feel that teacher's assistants as a general rule are very helpful, and a very underrated position.

Answer 6

Unfortunately there TA's and there are TA's some are ca[able and do work under their own initiative others are more worka and less helpfull than the children they help.

My wife is a TA and puts body and soul into it and appears to be valued but paid little she has often bruoght work home or stayed behind helping with preperations.

My daughter is a teacher and this year has three part time TA's none of which can be left to their own devices. It takes her rime to oversee what they are doing and often gets better results by doing it herself.

The difference in ability would make it hard to assess but for those that can provide the value they are grossly under paid

Answer 7

I would die without my wonderful one! We have worked together for 6 years and she can anticipate my every move!
BUT she is grossly under paid and there is nothing I an do about it. Her job title isn't up for review so who knows when she will get a raise! I feel badly as she does work hard and teaches a lot when I get called out of the room to supervise 4 other people. What really bites is when she is left off the e-mail or not invited to staff breakfast, "shower" or something social. Oh and when I am absent my requests for a sub are denied as she does the job of a sub, which in my district is about $85 a day. They don't pay her as a sub. They are "saving" money. She makes $8.50/hour. ( how does that rank with you guys?)

Answer 8

How many years of their lives do teaching assistants devote to educational training; how much debt do they accrue going to university? How much responsibility do they bear, how much is their job on the line, if their students fail to achieve the goals and requirements set by the No Child Left Behind act? How many hours do they spend outside the classroom preparing curriculum, grading, dealing with parents, other faculty, administration? I am not saying that teaching assistants are not essential, they are... but all things also need to be in perspective. In most states now, teachers are required to go to extraordinary lengths to get their teaching certifications -- including completing a master's degree (usually while teaching full time) within five years after getting their certifications. In most states, teaching assistants have a high school diploma. High school diplomas simply arent enough to make a decent living with any more.

I agree, teaching assistants should be better paid -- but then so should everyone in the field of Education. Unfortunately, children seem to be our society's least priority.

I am of course, assuming here, that you mean teaching assistants in the k-12 educational system, not university Teaching Assistants who act as instructors and professors.

Answer 9

I am a teacher and I believe that schools employing teaching assistants quite obviously care for their staff. Teachers become so overloaded with paperwork demanded by the education department that in some cases the actual teaching is neglected. In these cases the job of a teaching assistant becomes invaluable. As far as the pay goes, qualifications should be compared. The teaching assistant who has the same qualification as the teacher should indeed earn the same pay.

Answer 10

I was a teacher of teaching assistants, including the STA students so I have sympathy with them. They do work hard but they not do not do the planning that teachers do. There has to be differentiation of pay for roles and responsibilities. I know teachers who work as teaching assistants and are happy with the lower pay as they prefer not to have the massive paperwork to do. It's a bit like the debate about Doctors and Nurses and their pay difference but the gulf isn't as wide. I hope you enjoy your role as it is a very valuable one. I guess the answer to more pay is to do the training that allows you to be a teacher if that is what you really want.

Answer 11

I agree with you on this, Teaching Assistants/Auxiliaries are underpaid for the work and hours they do, I know one who is a very conscientious person and is at work 15-20 minutes before her starting time, and seldom leaves her work less than 15 minutes after the kids leave school tidying up the classroom. They are expected to monitor children in the canteen, in the playground, and normally have a very short lunch break due to their workload.