Teaching Assistant experiences?

ppolly

I'm thinking of becoming a teaching assistant, but I have some questions. Do you have to get a qualification first or is it possible to get recruited without qualifications? What is is like? (All my relatives are teachers and are not very nice about teaching assistants).
I have several degrees (in English) and experience as a playgroup worker. I tutor English (when I can get the work) and I also work as a part-time dinner lady at the local school. I'm enjoying doing all this very much indeed.

ohreally

ppolly wrote: »

(All my relatives are teachers and are not very nice about teaching assistants)

Is the calibre of teaching assistant not meeting expectations or are they being judgemental pillocks?

heretolearn_2

Why a TA and not a teacher, if you have a degree? For a start it pays a lot better!

ppolly

ohreally wrote: »

Is the calibre of teaching assistant not meeting expectations or are they being judgemental pillocks?

Made me laugh! Both, as far as I can make out. They resent the ones who are teaching assistants but really want to be teachers. I've thought about teaching for many years but have been completely put off by their stories and cynical attitudes. But having now worked with children a bit and found myself enjoying it, I've started to wonder if I could do it myself. I already teach adult education.

Why not train to be a teacher? Only if I could somehow do it on the job. My DH had a pay cut earlier this year.

evespikey

They might wonder why you want to be a TA rather than a teacher as you have a degree. I don't know if you will need experience to get your first TA job as you have quite a lot of relevant experience already. I might contact a local school and ask if they would like a volunteer in the English department once a week, for example...that way you already have your foot in the door, as it were, if a position comes up.

flimsier

We have TAs who want to be teachers - for many it's a way into seeing if it's the job for you... I'd be far more likely to employ a TA with a degree (but that wouldn't be the biggest factor at all).

There is no qualification, but if you enjoy it you can do a course to become a Higher Level Teaching Assistant. However, assuming you can get on a course and the school will have you, I'd advise on doing a GTP and becoming a teacher. The problem is getting the TA position in the first place. Despite the god-awful wages, they're very very competitive. We get far more applications per post than we do for teaching posts (and high calibre people, out of business and so on), especially in the current climate.

his_missus

I'd been a teaching assistant in primary education for 15 years before I changed careers completely recently. Most schools don't expect a teaching assistant qualification just a good standard of education (usually GCSE maths and english, not sure if requirements are greater in secondary schools). There were a few TAs where I previously worked who were training to gain a TA qualification but that was more for their own urge to better themselves. Experience is always beneficial, a lot of interviews now include a task you have to plan and prepare working with a group of children usually of mixed ability. Volunteering sounds like a good idea and some areas have supply agencies for teaching assistants.

What I enjoyed about being a TA over being a teacher was that I got the joy of working with children and helping them learn but without all the extra workload. I went home at 3.15pm and switched off unlike my teacher friends who went home and marked, planned etc.

heretolearn_2

Only if I could somehow do it on the job.

You can. Do some more research.

dawyldthing

you can do a GTP through local unis (search through the teach.com website i think it is). Many do have qualifications, and they ask for them more and more now. Often its just a case of getting your foot in the door, so if you can do some volunteering first it might be useful as you'll gain contacts that way.

ppolly

Many thanks for all your replies. I'll get some voluntary work sorted and apply to any teaching assistant posts that come up. I'll leave the GTP for now until I'm completely certain that this is the direction I want to go.

marmitequeen

In secondary we tend to see two sorts of TAs - those who want to do just that job (although inevitably they turn their hands to everything and are lifesavers), and those who are getting classroom experience to do their teacher training (GTP or PGCE). Both sorts can be fantastic and make a real difference to the lives of the children.

You have to have maths and English GCSE (or 'O' Level). Any subject specific qualifications to degree level, especially in Maths or English or Science subjects will be welcomed as it means the TA can take 1-1 lessons which are rising in frequency, especially with the pupil premium.

Whether you want to be a TA or a teacher it's a great job and you will change lives - a totally worthwhile thing to do.

Things you could do to increase your chances in this very competitive area would include being able to offer first aid, having Safeguarding training and having a CRB check. If you could volunteer as well that would help as we do get some people who realise they aren't cut out for it once they are a few days into it. Those who can say they've done it and enjoy it and know it's for them are a much safer bet for us to employ.

The other post you might like to consider is a Cover Supervisor. If you can go round and help students with their independent work you might enjoy this. I've also known a few who do this as a route into teaching.

Look for schools you would like to work in and write to them. I always keep letters/CVs of interesting people on file although we always have to advertise jobs and applications must always be on the official application form for Safeguarding reasons. We tend to advertise for these jobs on our website and local papers.

Good luck.