The SecEd Podcast: Effective deployment of teaching assistants

This episode offers practical advice for the effective use of teaching assistants (TAs) in the secondary school classroom.

Packed full of practical ideas and examples, the episode features three experienced educators, including teachers and TAs.

We ask why we need TAs in the modern secondary classroom and the kinds of skills, training and CPD that our TAs need to have in order to be effective.

From there, we move on to discussing effective deployment and how teachers can work effectively with their TAs to support teaching and learning in the classroom.

We discuss a number of ideas and approaches, including flipping the traditional model of TAs providing one-to-one support. We also discuss what role TAs should have when delivering additional interventions. And, crucially, we discuss what effective communication between teachers and TAs looks like.

We also touch upon the role of TAs in supporting the social and emotional development of our young people.