Teacher assistants’ roles in Catalan classrooms: promoting fair and inclusion-oriented support for all

ABSTRACT

A critical aspect of inclusive policies and practices is the role that Teacher Assistants (TAs) are supposed to assume within mainstream classrooms. Despite the evidence, TAs are still linked to the most vulnerable children, especially those with severe afflictions. This exploratory mixed method of investigation analyses the differences between the job requirements standardised by the Catalan Government (Spain), the roles the TAs believed they had been hired to perform and the tasks they were really carrying out in their schools. It includes teacher and union representative experiences to obtain a more holistic view of current practices. This article provides TAs’ experiences in the Catalan context as well as an analysis of the legal framework on the matter; to better understand these agents, putting emphasis on inclusive practices. According to standards, only one type of TA should give educational support, the others should merely assist. The findings highlight the importance of real and coherent inclusion-oriented TA roles. This places the TA as a key member of a support network maximising all learning opportunities.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher assistants
• paraprofessionals
• educational support
• inclusive education
• policies and practices

Notes on contributors

Andrea Jardí is a PhD student from the University of Barcelona in the Department of Didactics and Educational Organization. She is a member of the research group ‘Interactive Media Lab’ (IML) and a member of Educational Support to Inclusive Education group belonging to the Educational Sciences Institute (ICE) of the University of Barcelona. Her research is focused on ways of improving the educational support offered by different stakeholders to vulnerable children.

Ignasi Puigdellívol holds a doctorate in Educational Sciences from the University of Barcelona, where he is a Professor in the Department of Didactics and Educational Organization. He was a Dean in the Teacher Training Faculty at this University, where he offered principal training. He is part of the Interactive Media Lab (IML), whose field of research focuses on inclusive education, particularly in special needs and minority groups.

Cristina Petreñas has a PhD in Education from the University of Barcelona. She is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Development and Educational Psychology section at the University of Lleida. She is a member of the research group ‘Plurilinguism and Education’ and a member of a Seminar on Inclusive Education Research. Her work is concentrated on the analysis of the educative and cultural identity of students in multicultural and multilingual contexts, interaction, and inclusive education, especially concerning educative support and teacher training in the development of inclusion-related competences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 OSOMD is an annual document written by the Department of Education of Catalonia (2015). This document summarises how schools have to be organised and managed. For instance, it specifies agents’ duties, training, the possible supports, protocols to act and the outlines for each education level.

2 SEEs require an ISCED-4 education level, post-secondary non-tertiary education (UNESCO 2014). SEAs and Carers require an ISCED-3 education level, upper secondary education.

3 ISCED-4, post-secondary non-tertiary education level (UNESCO 2014), vocational education.

4 ISCED-3, Upper secondary education level (UNESCO 2014).

5 Schools recognised for being in the most socioeconomic disadvantaged context. High complexity schools should have a lower student-to-teacher ratio, faster teacher replacement, preferential access to student grants and larger budgets.

6 Paraprofessional with a specific post-secondary non-tertiary education level (ISCED 4), who collaborate with preschool teachers to promote children’s autonomy and fulfil their basic needs.

7 Paraprofessional with a specific post-secondary non-tertiary education level (ISCED 4), who work with at-risk students, their families and other agents to promote students’ autonomy and social skills.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte [grant number FPU16/00284] and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [grant number IJCI-2016-28250].