Three research projects focusing on teaching assistants and the wider workforce, explore ways to improve understanding and practice between teachers and those supporting them in the classroom.
At the University of London, trainee teachers work as TAs in subjects outside their own specialism during their placements. The aim is to help them better understand the role of the TA, and to create further engagement with SEN pupils.
A second project, based in the West Country, involves a researcher filming 30 to 40 interviews with TAs, learning support assistants and others involved in the wider school workforce, to identify good practice.
The third project, "Growing Talent for Inclusion" from the University of Northampton, is the result of partnership between the Educational Psychology Service and teacher educators.
This is the second of three programmes exploring the work of educational researchers aiming to improve teacher training by developing projects relevant to SEN.
