The Teaching Assistant s Guide: New perspectives for changing times

This textbook, designed to meet the needs of students on the teaching assistant foundation degree, provides an accessible overview of the teaching assistant's role, incorporating practical tasks that will challenge students to reflect on and improve their day-to-day practice.

Set within a wider educational context, and full of thoroughly grounded advice throughout, this book includes:

• personal professional development - helping teaching assistants to understand their role and their workplace
• growth, development and learning - introducing the basic theories human development and learning
• behaviour management - exploring strategies that encourage and support appropriate behaviour
• today's curriculum and how children learn literacy, maths, science and technology
• understanding inclusive education, exploring access, participation and additional needs for specific groups of young people.

With activities, task lists, discussion points, ideas, summary points and notes on further reading, this textbook will be the essential companion for all foundation degree students, as well as a useful handbook for teaching assistants in practice.

Linda Hammersley-Fletcher is Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Staffordshire University, UK. Before completing her teacher training and PhD she was a Teaching Assistant in both the primary and secondary sectors.

Michelle Lowe leads the Foundation Degree for Teaching Assistants at Staffordshire University, UK. She has extensive experience of working across the primary sector at a senior level.

Jim Pugh is Lecturer and Course Team Leader within the Teacher Education Department at Stoke-on-Trent College. He has worked across several educational sectors during his career, and still teaches in primary schools.