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Professional development in international schools; issues of inclusion identified by a group of international school teaching assistants
Author(s) -
Tarry Estelle,
Cox Anna
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of research in special educational needs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.543
H-Index - 27
ISSN - 1471-3802
DOI - 10.1111/1471-3802.12024
Subject(s) - inclusion (mineral) , head teachers , event (particle physics) , medical education , professional development , psychology , focus group , pedagogy , medicine , sociology , social psychology , quantum mechanics , anthropology , physics
With the growth in numbers of teaching assistants ( TAs ) in the UK , it has been identified through research carried out on behalf of the C ouncil of B ritish I nternational S chools ( COBIS ) research that TAs in B ritish international schools have specific and unmet training needs. Following the development of a course for TAs in international contexts, COBIS and the U niversity of N orthampton provided a P rofessional D evelopment P rogramme for TAs working in B ritish international schools. The 2‐day event took place in a E uropean city, with participants from three further E uropean cities. The impact of this training on subsequent professional practice was investigated. An initial questionnaire was completed at the conference, and follow‐up questionnaires were distributed at 6 weeks, post‐event. Responses came from participants and from head teachers of the B ritish international schools in which they worked. This paper focuses upon issues of inclusion, which arose from the feedback received, both during the event and afterwards. Group discussions during the event revealed concern among the group that they had insufficient knowledge to provide the level of inclusion support that they felt should be available. Data from the questionnaires provided more detail about these issues and allowed some first conclusions to be drawn, providing further focus and direction for subsequent training for international school TAs .