Scaffolding by teaching assistants in England: exploring the interaction between practice and task structure

Abstract

Internationally, teaching assistants (TA) support children with special needs and/or disabilities as they complete classroom tasks; meanwhile, teachers manage whole-class instruction. Given the limited training for TAs, Bosanquet et al. (2020) developed an influential framework promoting TA effectiveness. Their ‘scaffolding framework’ encourages TAs to provide minor support, such as prompting, while children complete tasks. Accordingly, children retain independence, maximising thinking and learning. This study examined how different task structures, including open tasks, influence the strategies TAs use. Two focus groups were conducted with four TAs working in an English primary school. Through facilitated discussion, participants reviewed the scaffolding framework, and commented on videos showcasing the practices of another primary-school TA across open and closed tasks. Data were largely coded using the categories of the scaffolding framework. The findings reveal that TA support, such as prompting, is recommendable across tasks. In open-task settings, TAs could also utilise more nuanced assistance, notably ‘what else’ questions. These encourage children to further elaborate on their ideas, leveraging the undetermined nature of open-task responses. Such scaffolding opportunities are more limited in closed tasks, which require precise answers. Moreover, the findings illustrate that effective TA practice stems from open-ended or closed tasks well-suited to children’s capabilities.

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ORCID for Vasilis Strogilos: orcid.org/0000-0003-1754-4306

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