Both in England and internationally (for example Australia and Ireland), there has been renewed policy emphasis on supporting early career teachers (ECTs) to develop teaching strategies that are adaptive to a diverse array of students. A critical but underexplored element of this process involves learning how to work with teaching assistants (TAs) – classroom-based practitioners who support teaching and learning. With TAs now employed in many educational workforces around the world, there comes increasing recognition that the ways in which teachers and TAs conduct their work together can have a direct and significant bearing on the inclusion of pupils within the classroom community (see for example Webster et al., 2010).

What we know (and what we don’t)

At first glance, existing research on the work of TAs in schools and classrooms appears to provide a strong foundation for how ECTs might be supported in this area (see O’Connor Bones, 2023). Yet, this growing body of work has not explored how the well-documented challenges faced by ECTs in their early professional lives might intersect with the classroom deployment of TAs. Most existing research on TA deployment has been with established teachers. This is problematic because there is an assumption that the training needs of ECTs will be similar to experienced teachers. Indeed, while deploying TAs effectively is an area where ECTs have historically lacked confidence (see Webster et al., 2020), there is still very little known as to why this might be.

Insights from the classroom

My study addresses this gap, aiming to understand how ECTs engage in the classroom deployment of TAs during their induction period. Building on a critical review of existing research (see Lewis, 2023), the study employed a multiple case study approach, drawing on interviews, observations and document collection to develop holistic insights into classroom practice. It focused on six ECTs who worked with TAs in mainstream primary schools in England, with each school visited over the course of a week.

There were three key takeaways:

• ECT classroom deployment of TAs was interwoven with their socialisation into Their decisions on TA deployment were shaped by the features of school context and the established and legitimised practices of a school’s community (such as the recognised purposes of TA support; the availability of TAs; the status of TAs in relation to teachers).
• TAs were an inextricable part of an ECTs induction, providing emotional, logistical and pedagogical support, particularly in the early months of an ECT’s transition. However, TAs also held normative and situated understandings on how classroom practice should be conducted. This meant that classroom pedagogy was often a contested practice, characterised by negotiation and, in some cases, conflict.
• ECT classroom deployment of TAs was further shaped by the performative landscape of the English schooling system. In mathematics and English lessons, ECTs consistently deployed TAs to work with pupils with prior lower attainment or with SEND. This was commonly justified in discourses that emphasised pupil performance on external assessments.

ECT decisions on how to deploy TAs in the classroom are bound up with the contexts and communities in which they work. While providing ECTs with a theoretical understanding of effective TA deployment remains an important element of their induction, just as important is supporting them in translating this into the challenging realities of the classroom.

‘While providing ECTs with a theoretical understanding of effective TA deployment remains an important element of their induction, just as important is supporting them in translating this into the challenging realities of the classroom.’

Research and practice

These findings speak to broader debates on the relationship between educational research and practice. They demonstrate how case studies can offer detailed insights into the contextual challenges experienced by practitioners as they seek to translate findings from research to classroom practice. Future research could seek to identify the domain-specific factors that affect the use of research evidence in relation to specific areas of teacher induction curriculums. This could exemplify how similarly positioned practitioners use research evidence to guide their practice and be integrated into teacher induction programmes to offer ECTs deeper insights into the challenges of translating specific types of research evidence into the classroom.

Codesign for impact

As a continuation of this work, I have been coordinating an ESRC-funded project that has explored how the findings of the study can be used to support ECTs during their induction. The project began by identifying the training needs and preferences of ECTs, then collaborated with them to codesign a three-session professional development programme. The programme was delivered in June 2025, with 92 per cent of participants reporting moderate to very significant changes in how they coordinate their work to better support the inclusion of all children. Currently, I am exploring possibilities for the continuation of this programme in the upcoming academic year and am seeking to develop further materials aimed at developing the professional behaviours of ECTs.

References

Lewis, G. (2023). The classroom deployment of teaching assistants in England: A critical review of literature from 2010 to 2020. Educational Review, 77(1), 303–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2184773

O’Connor Bones, U., Courtney, C., Montgomery, A., & Campbell, A. (2023). Classroom assistant roles and deployment models: An international scoping review. Educational Review, 77(4), 1298–1312. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2281229

Webster, R., Blatchford, P., Bassett, P., Brown, P., Martin, C., & Russell, A. (2010). Double standards and first principles: Framing teaching assistant support for pupils with special educational needs. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 25(4), 319–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2010.513533

Webster, R., Bosanquet, P., & Blatchford, P.  (2020). Preparing teaching assistants for including all learners. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1235