Is_Communication_the_Most_Important_Skill_for_a_Ta_

I think that communication is the most important parts of the teaching assistant role. Without communication a TA would not be able to carry out their role competently or successfully. For instance, a TA must be able to follow the teacher’s plans, support the teacher, the children, other staff in the school and parents, give feedback to the teacher, assess children’s work, maintain pupils records, plan activities with the teacher and follow school policies. None of this is possible without good communication skills. A TA has to communicate with many different people every day. These people will include the children and room teacher but also the head teacher, parents, colleagues (other teachers, TA’s), SENCO and professionals from outside agencies such as educational psychologists, physiotherapists, social workers etc. This means that the TA has to be aware of and adapt their speech to the listener every time but also has to display the correct body language and show that they are listening to what the other person has to say. This creates a trust between the TA and the person they are talking to which in turn makes the TA invaluable (especially to the teacher when they give instructions or change a lesson plan at the last minute!!). When speaking to the children the TA has to listen and show the child that they are listening and what they are saying is being valued. There must be a respectful, professional relationship created between the child and the TA. If they enjoy being with you they will respond better. The basis of forming a relationship with children is to consider what their needs may be and to adapt the way in which you work to meet these needs to suit the age or stage of development. You need to make sure that children are always able to turn to someone when they are upset, disappointed or dealing with problems. They need familiar, friendly and supported faces. This means you need to be a good listener. TA’s must adapt their speech to fit in with what the child is telling them and react in an appropriate manner. This also acts as a role model for the children to follow i.e. if a child had just told you that their pet had died you would respond in a quiet manner “Oh dear, that’s so sad”, “how do you feel'” or if they told you a relative was coming to visit from another country “Oh wow, you must be so excited”, “what are you going to do'”, “where are you going to go'”. Often when a child has news (happy or sad) it will lead to them telling you other events in their lives or other information. Children need to be shown that they are important and that everything they say (relevant or not) is being heard. This gives them confidence to communicate and encourages them to communicate with others. Good listening encourages trust in the child to the point where they feel they are able to tell you anything and this may lead to a disclosure as they feel that you might be the only person that is able to help them. Body language with children communicates to them that you are a willing listener and helper. The TA’s role is equally important when dealing with children who have English as a second language. They are very vulnerable because of the fact that they cannot communicate with other children. The TA will have to support that child and encourage them to communicate even if it is through making a noise (some children who are not confident about communicating will make grunting noises as a way of responding to questions so that they don’t have to speak), drawing a picture or chattering in their own language (show them a picture of a dog or cat and they might become excited that they had / have a dog or cat at home and tell you in their language). The best communication a TA can use with children is a smile! When dealing with parents a TA will have to deal with many situations. In our school the TA is available at the door in the morning to greet the children as they come into school and to take any messages, deal with any problems or ‘catch’ a parent if you have a message or information for them that they have asked for. I have found that I have quite a lot of information to remember in the morning so I have started to use a note pad which I keep with me so that I can write down any information I am given. In each of our classrooms we have telephones. The front office can contact each classroom with any information such as ‘so-and-so is going home with so-and-so tonight’ if a parent has had to change their plans and arrange for another parent to collect that child. Parents also need to feel that you are listening to them and understand everything they are telling you. They are talking to you about their most prized possession and need to be reassured that they are being looked after in the best way possible way. Sometimes a parent will tell you something that is to be kept confidential, they must feel able to trust you to keep information private and not share it with anyone who doesn’t need to know what they have told you (this applies to all information given from a parent). A TA must use their discretion when sharing information with others. Headteachers and other colleagues may come to you for some extra help for example, helping to sort the library. There is a lot of pressure put onto TA’s as I think sometimes they are seen as hired help and sometimes their true role is forgotten. TA’s must be organised and confident to be able to get all of their everyday jobs in the classroom done and then to take on any extra jobs that need doing. I was once asked by another year 1 to fold 90 cards and make templates and cut out hearts in the last 20 minutes of lunchtime (as a last minute activity). I thrive on this kind of pressure but I think sometimes you must be confident and say “ I can help you but I have this job to do first”. It is very hard though, to say no to the headteacher. Outside professionals will need to talk to you if you are to give reports, review or assess children after they have been referred to an outside agency. This may be face to face, over the phone or in written format (i.e. filling in forms, e-mails, writing a letter etc). The information you provide must be relevant, and easy to read/understand. This will help the professional to assess the child’s progress and decide what the next step should be to help the child progress. In our school we have a child who sometimes needs physical support in the form of physiotherapy. A physiotherapist had to make a few visits to the school and have meetings with the TA in the child’s class and the paediatric first-aider to explain to them how the physiotherapy they may be needing to apply would help the child. The physiotherapist then showed them (over a few sessions) how the exercises should be carried out. Communication was vital in this instance because it was essential that all parties understood what was required of them but also that they could ask questions if they didn’t understand what they were being told.