A framework for training graduate teaching assistants

Abstract

Powerful arguments have already been made for supporting new teaching assistants, and there now needs to be a framework in which this can develop within the present United Kingdom context set by the Dearing Report and the creation of the Institute for Learning and Teaching. The framework presented here is based on an underpinning model of how teachers of higher education develop and prominent theories of how professionals learn. In addition, the framework is designed to account for the wide variation in graduate teaching assistants' roles and responsibilities and the increasing acceptance and importance of gaining accreditation. The framework is illustrated through its development and implementation at the University of Plymouth.