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As the role of support staff increases in scope and complexity, so does the need to ensure that such staff have the tools to do their jobs. Although the need for staff development is perhaps most obvious in the case of highly specialized educational assistants such as physical therapists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists and nurses, all staff who support teachers in working with students have staff development needs.
Too often, school boards simply invite support staff to participate in professional development activities that have already been organized for teachers rather than arrange staff development activities specifically tailored to the needs of support staff. Joint professional development can be valuable, but it should not be used as a substitute for staff development designed specifically for support staff.
Staff development for support staff should relate to the specialized role that they play in the education process, should be geared toward helping them meet student needs and should be directly applicable to their work situation. Although educational assistants will likely require specialized training to carry out their tasks effectively, teachers can facilitate the work of assistants by implementing the following practices:
1. Ensure that time is set for assistants to meet with teachers on a regular basis. Teachers should press their school boards to set aside time to enable them to confer with their assistants. It is especially important that a meeting be set up early in the year or shortly after an educational assistant is hired to enable the teacher and the educational assistant to clarify their respective roles and to establish clear channels of communication. In addition, school boards should provide time for teachers and their assistants to confer on a regular basis throughout the year to engage in planning, exchange feedback and discuss individual situations. Such conferences can take place before or after school hours or, ideally, during joint release time, within the school day.
2. Establish effective lines of communication. To have a healthy working relationship, teachers and educational assistants need to communicate effectively. A starting point to doing this is to ensure that both parties understand their respective roles and responsibilities and feel free to discuss them openly on an ongoing basis. Effective communication also depends on both parties listening and accepting feedback.
3. Ensure that educational assistants are kept informed about school directives and activities. Principals should ensure that support staff have mailboxes so that they can receive notices about school events and directives and have an opportunity to participate in portions of school staff meetings that are relevant to them.
4. Help educational assistants develop data-collection skills. To be effective in the classroom, educational assistants must be aware of the teacher’s objectives for each student as set out in the individual program plan (IPP), be able to recognize when students are achieving the desired outcomes and understand how to report their observations to the teacher. More specifically, they must know
a) what data needs to be collected;
b) what forms and checklists to use in documenting the behaviours and achievements they observe;
c) how to further qualify the behaviours they observe in terms of such factors as length, frequency and intensity; and
d) how to write clear incident reports using plain language.
5. Model basic behaviour management strategies. Teachers are ultimately responsible for managing the classroom and disciplining students. However, anyone working with children individually or in groups can greatly benefit by learning such basic strategies as remaining close to students when interacting with them, using low-key responses and urging students to communicate rather than engage in conflict. Because teachers use these strategies all the time, they should consider teaching them—through role modelling or direct training—to educational assistants and others who work with children.
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