Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

Professional development in international schools; issues of inclusion identified by a group of international school teaching assistants

Tarry, E. and Cox, A. (2014) Professional development in international schools; issues of inclusion identified by a group of international school teaching assistants. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs. 14(4), pp. 248-254. 1471-3802.

Item Type: Article
Abstract: With the growth in numbers of teaching assistants (TAs) in the UK, it has been identified through research carried out on behalf of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) research that TAs in British international schools have specific and unmet training needs. Following the development of a course for TAs in international contexts, COBIS and the University of Northampton provided a Professional Development Programme for TAs working in British international schools. The 2-day event took place in a European city, with participants from three further European 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 British 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.
Additional Information: A pre-publication version of this article was made available electronically by the publisher on 16 July 2013
Uncontrolled Keywords: Teaching assistants, international schools, continuing professional development
Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1705 Education and training of teachers and administrators
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2376 International education
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2832 Teaching personnel
Creators: Tarry, Estelle and Cox, Anna
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > Education, Children and Young People
Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > Early Years
Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > Education, Children and Young People
Date: October 2014
Date Type: Publication
Page Range: pp. 248-254
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs
Volume: 14
Number: 4
Language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12024
ISSN: 1471-3802
Status: Published / Disseminated
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/5718

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