Developing the scaffolding practices of teaching assistants: A continuing professional development model

This presentation reports on the continuing professional development (CPD) implications of the findings of a research project which used applied conversation analysis to build theory and make recommendations for improving policy and practice in relation to pupils’ literacy learning (Bosanquet, 2012). The purpose of the research was to explore the learning experiences of pupils during literacy intervention sessions in primary schools, by examining the moment-by-moment interactions between teaching assistants (TAs) and pupils. The numbers of TAs in mainstream schools in England has risen dramatically in the past 15 years, and is reflected in other countries in Europe and further afield (Giangreco and Doyle, 2007). TAs have taken increasing responsibility for teaching and learning, including the teaching of intervention sessions aimed at supporting those pupils not making expected progress. It is argued that the effectiveness of any intervention is reliant on the moment-by-moment interactions, as social-constructivist theory indicates that it is in these interactions that shared meaning is negotiated and scaffolding provided. However, there has been a lack of research into how this occurs in the interactions between TAs and pupils.