DigytaliaOne of the most sought after positions in the education field is that of a teaching assistant. To that end there are numerous teaching assistant courses available at several levels, from certified to high school to post secondary. The position is attractive to people who have limited secondary education opportunities, and cannot or don’t desire to attend a four year college for a degree that will enable them to teach. There are certified programs in virtually all primary and secondary education subjects such as English, math, history, sciences and more provide broad training to prepare the teacher’s aide for effective work in the classroom with the primary teacher. For schools with a significant number of bilingual students, or students for whom English is not their first language, teaching assistant courses in Spanish, French and other languages are available.
Teaching assistant courses are also available in computer skills, which everyone in the teaching field today should develop to at least a basic degree. Certified courses in child care, working with teens, economics and other skills based subjects can be very helpful when trying to land a teacher’s aide job.
Different schools and districts require different abilities and experience in their teacher assistants according to what type of students they are teaching assistant with blocks dealing with and what their responsibilities are. In many areas aides are only allowed to do secretarial type work and requires just a high school diploma or equivalent. However, those who actually work in classrooms with students may be required to take targeted college level courses as well as attend on going training in other areas. Also, there may be a probationary period of on the job training before the assistant is hired permanently.
In larger school districts the schools may pay for the costs of teaching assistant courses that are required by the district for classroom aide employment. New teachers aides all participate in some type of training at the school where the new teacher’s aide learns about how the school operates, the education methods used, how to keep records, operate requisite equipment, and other activities required to effectively operate in teaching assistant jobs.
Some schools prefer to hire teaching assistants who have a residence within the school district and most prefer some definable experience working with children. A written exam and physical exam may be required and a teacher’s aide should be able to work effectively with both children and adults, as well as have good verbal communication skills.
In addition to the various teaching assistant courses available and required by any particular school district, teacher’s aides should obviously enjoy working with children. Teaching Assistant Courses UK taken to train the person for the position of teaching assistant should provide the new teacher’s aide with the knowledge to help handle the demands, problems and questions that children may need or have.
In summary, teaching assistant courses should be geared toward what the requirements are of the district and school that the new teacher’s aide will work in. They should prepare the assistant for the specific job duties that will be required of them, and provide knowledge of children to supplement the skills possessed by the teacher’s aide.
