Develop effective interactions with students
Suggestion for implementing the strategy ‘Identifying areas to build teacher aide understanding and confidence’
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Use agreed approaches
Use agreed approaches
Encourage teacher aides to follow agreed ways of communicating with students. Ensure timers and cue cards are easy to access if needed.
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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga
Maintain student dignity
Maintain student dignity
Ways to respect students and treat them with dignity.
Some students need help with eating, lifting, positioning, toileting, taking medication, and moving around the school.
This kind of support needs to be provided in unobtrusive ways that empower the student and respect their privacy and dignity.
Source: Module 3: Supporting students with complex needs (opens in a new tab/window)
Learn students’ languages
Learn students’ languages
Support teacher aides to learn the languages of the students they work alongside.
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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga
Be unobtrusive
Be unobtrusive
Students can feel singled-out.
Encourage teacher aides to:
- make support available to all the students in the class
- leave space for students who need additional help to try things for themselves first, before jumping in to help
- use a quiet voice when providing support to any student.
Use consistent approaches
Use consistent approaches
Encourage teacher aides to take a consistent approach when communicating with students.
- Communicate expectations positively and clearly.
- Use non-verbal cues, such as images, as well as words, to demonstrate expectations.
- Use “when–then” and “first–then” commands.
- Avoid negative commands, corrections, demands, and yelling.
- Redirect a disengaged student by using proximity, pre-arranged non-verbal signals, simple prompts, reminders, and pre-corrections.
- State requests or give directions to students, using brief descriptions of required positive behaviours.
Useful resources
Useful resources
Questions and keywords for critical thinking
This is a list of prompts to support teachers and teacher aides facilitating students’ critical thinking. It is from a downloadable UK resource.
Download PDF
Module 4 – What do we think about disability and diversity?
This resource from Special Education Online includes a workbook and presentation for teachers and teacher aides to work through together to examine key beliefs and assumptions about disability and diversity.
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Identify areas to build TA understanding and confidence”:
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Current page Develop effective interactions
Return to the guide “Supporting effective teacher aide practice ”
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How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Teacher aide practice
Strategies for action:
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Review and refine the TA's role and responsibilitiesShow suggestions for Review and refine the TA's role and responsibilities
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Develop effective recruitment, induction, and PLD processesShow suggestions for Develop effective recruitment, induction, and PLD processes
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Support and prepare teachers in their roleShow suggestions for Support and prepare teachers in their role
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Identify areas to build TA understanding and confidenceShow suggestions for Identify areas to build TA understanding and confidence
- Develop effective interactions
- Learn how to scaffold support
- Support group work
- Enable student independence
- Support student friendships
