Investigating the role of the HLTA in supporting learning in English schools

The development of support staff was a key aspect of the Labour government’s reform of the school workforce in England. As part of this strategy approximately 25,000 Teaching Assistants (TAs) gained Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status and were deployed in schools in a variety of roles, often operating in a quasi-teaching role. The research re-visits individuals who had acquired HLTA status between 2006 and 2009 and had participated in a questionnaire survey regarding their role at that time. A duplicate questionnaire was distributed in 2013 to 305 of these HLTAs and was followed up in 2014 by focus groups with self-selecting individuals from the original sample. To date there has been little research relating to the development of the HLTA role and the implications this has for both teachers and pupils, particularly in terms of provision for the most vulnerable learners.     

高校辅导员队伍建设探析

辅导员是高等学校大学生思想政治教育的骨干力量,加强高校辅导员队伍建设是做好大学生思想政治工作的重要保证,辅导员队伍建设的好坏直接关系到人才培养的质量和学校的发展。本文在对高校辅导员队伍现状进行分析的基础上,提出了加强辅导员队伍建设的建议。     

“边山穷”地区研究生培养模式的初步实践——以吉首大学生态学研究生培养为例

基于对吉首大学生态学硕士点建设和研究生培养体系构建的实践,提出了＂四助—四育—五能推进式＂研究生综合素质与能力培养模式,即通过助研、助教、助管、助宣的一系列工作,加强研究生的政治思想教育、专业教育、创新教育和管理教育,以推进研究生五能（能忍、能想、能说、能写、能做）综合素质的发展。这一模式可为我国其他＂边山穷＂地区生态学及其相关专业硕士点的建设和研究生培养提供参考。     

It is changed beyond all recognition: exploring the evolving habitus of assistants in special schools

The assistant workforce is a constituent presence in all schools. Progressive reconfiguration of the role has resulted in a hybrid position, with assistants customarily navigating power relationships in the hierarchy of the school. This paper employs Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, in particular, his system of relations, as a means to consider the intersection of habitus and capital amongst assistants in special schools in Northern Ireland. Using this analytic approach, focus group interviews with Classroom Assistants and Health Assistants explored their current deployment, their interaction with each other and with teachers. Data was collected from 47 participants across 7 special schools, with interviews transcribed and thematically analysed. Findings revealed assistants as a workforce in transition, whose conventional habitus has been steadily disrupted by a supply and demand culture often at variance with the origins of the post. Whilst such divergence has the potential to create a site of struggle, the burgeoning social and cultural capital held by assistants has, instead, re-configured their perceived position within the special school environment, creating more porous professional boundaries and an increasingly fluid professional identity. These explanatory insights offer a fresh perspective for further research into this pivotal yet under-researched group in Northern Ireland.     

Developing inclusive schools: the pivotal role of teaching assistants in promoting inclusion in special and mainstream schools in Northern Ireland

This paper focuses on the vital part played by teaching assistants in developing inclusive practices in Northern Ireland schools. In the case of mainstream schools, this means assisting with the integration of pupils with learning difficulties in regular classrooms. In the case of special schools, teaching assistants are required to have the knowledge and skills both to cope with children and young people who have a broad range of intellectual, physical and emotional difficulties, and to promote inclusion and participation beyond the school environment. However, the teaching assistant's position with respect to qualifications, professional development, conditions of employment and career structure, considering the greatly increased and varied demands placed upon them, has not been satisfactorily resolved at national level over some 30 years. By obtaining the views of practitioners in special and mainstream schools in Northern Ireland, the paper shows that the twin needs remain of improving teacher training and in-service training in the management of other adults in the classroom, and of enabling teachers to clarify fully the roles and responsibilities of the teaching assistant to promote an inclusive learning environment.     

高校辅导员能力结构探析——斯腾伯格智力理论的视角

在高等教育不断大众化的今天,高校辅导员已成为学生工作的核心力量,其能力直接关系着高校人才培养目标的实现,关系着学校的繁荣与发展。对此,从斯腾伯格智力理论的视角,即智力的三元理论和成功智力理论,分析高校辅导员的能力结构,以期不断促进高校辅导员队伍的建设,提高辅导员工作的实效性和针对性。     

基于PDA的保险营销应用系统

为满足保险代理人随时随地进行保险展业和处理客户信息的需要，采用嵌入式掌上电脑技术开发PDA保险营销应用软件和PC桌面软件，文章详细介绍了系统的功能以及各关键技术的实现方法。该保险PDA能为保险代理人提供全面的保险展业支持和客户、保单管理通过PDA数据线与计算机连接完成险种更新和客户、保单的同步和PDA软件的升级。     

Effects of graduate teaching assistant attire on student learning,misbehaviors, and ratings of instruction

This study examined the influence of teaching assistant attire in the university classroom. Significant relationships were found between instructor attire and student cognitive learning, affective learning, and ratings of instruction. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences in these variables by levels of teaching assistant dress. Significant negative relationship was found between instructor attire and student likelihood of misbehavior. Analysis of variance revealed that student misbehaviors were less likely for teaching assistants with high professional dress.     

‘Peacekeepers’ and ‘machine factories’: tracing Graduate Teaching Assistant subjectivity in a neoliberalised university

Guided by a Foucauldian theorisation, this article explores Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) experiences of their work and subjectivity in a neoliberalised higher education environment. By drawing on a research project with GTAs from one UK university, the article argues that GTA work is increasingly shaped by neoliberal reforms. The GTAs interviewed are critical of internationalisation, marketisation and client culture, and see these processes as acting on their subjectivity. The GTAs position themselves as mediators between demanding students and overworked academics: they have turned into much-needed ‘peacekeepers’ and ‘machine factories’. The findings also demonstrate that the subjectivity enforced by a dominant market ideology is further negotiated in the GTA experience. The discourses reveal that a lack of institutional control and coordination of graduate teaching provides the means for, and indeed enables, the GTAs to express some, but often limited, discontent with neoliberalism.