Module 3 Supporting the Students Teacher Aide Project Module 3 Supporting the Students

Supporting the Students Some of our young ones just need someone to listen to them. I know all the families so I can give good advice to the teachers. I see the parents and children in the community and they give me respect. Every child is special and they have special needs. I like to think they are all individuals. Every child has some special talent and we need to find it and encourage it. I work closely with the teachers. We are one big team. If I notice something, I can always talk to the Principal. I sometimes talk to the families if there is a problem. Attendance is really important. We need to look into the reasons why children are absent.

How Important is the Indigenous TA? Higher expectations Higher aspirations Better results Acts as role model Builds self-esteem of students The answer is: “very important”. Research in the USA shows that Native American teachers have higher expectations of their students than non-Native American teachers and that their students perform better (Reed, 2007). Indigenous Teachers and TAs can be examples of achievement and consequently have a positive impact on aspirations. By doing this they are supporting their students. The TA has a vital role to play in boosting children’s self-esteem. Students who have high self-esteem are less likely to get into trouble. They will also do better at their studies, and they are more likely to attend school. You can boost the student’s self-esteem by being a sympathetic and caring person. You are a role model and everyone should see you care. Every day, you will get a chance to be a caring person. Take advantage of every opportunity.

Promoting positive behaviour learn and use pupils names use effective communication skills and encourage the use of these in pupils identify pupils needs and interests to help develop effective learning activities help to organise a stimulating working environment to encourage learning have well prepared learning materials encourage pupils to take appropriate responsibilities help to encourage parental involvement (Teaching Personnel, 2013, p.26)

Phrase it positively Avoid Never Say & do not use Labelling People like you are hopeless. Comparison You will never be as smart as your brother Distancing You make me sick. I don’t want to listen to you any more. Put Down A baby could do this Sarcasm Were you born in a pig sty? Escalators Loud voice tone; angry facial expression; insults Avoid Never say Labelling People like you are hopeless. Comparison You will never be as smart as your brother. Distancing You make me sick. I don’t want to listen to you anymore. Put down A baby could do this. Sarcasm Were you born in a pig sty? Adapted from (Bentham, 2005)

Frame it positively Situation A positive frame Everyone else in the group has finished their work except Sam. It is now break-time “What do you mean, you haven’t finished? How much time do you need? Everybody else has got it done! “I see you have tried really hard on this worksheet. You really want to get it done. You still have three more questions to go, though. Don’t worry. We will tackle them next time. Well done. A put-down

Praising How to use praise Bentham calls this “catching them when they are good”. It is also known as “leveraging the exception”. When a child who is normally difficult is not being difficult, this represents an opportunity for praise. In any case it is important for students to realise that the way to get attention and praise is to do their work. Bentham (2005) emphasises that the praise must be sincere. You have to mean it. Secondly it should be targeted and not generally. The person being praised should know you mean them. You should also be quite specific. Praise a particular behaviour, so it will be repeated. For example you could say, “John, I like the way you are sitting quietly and reading. You are obviously enjoying the book.”

Dealing with the really difficult case The Plan in Action Ford (1997) points out that for any discipline plan to succeed the child must be convinced that the teacher and the TA care. They must also believe that the teacher and the TA have confidence in the child’s ability to work out what is the right thing to do. In addition the child must have experienced respect from the teacher and the TA. With these fundamentals in place when inappropriate behaviour takes place the teacher and or the TA asks in a calm tone “What are you doing?” This question begins the process of distancing the child from its behaviour. It initiates the cooling down process. Ford calls his program the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP). In terms of dual process cognitive theory it is an attempt to set in place a rule of thumb, which will result in appropriate behaviour. In other words RTP tries to get fast thinking to work for the teacher and the TA. “What are the rules?” This again accelerates the distancing process. It is not about the pupil versus the teacher or the TA. The rules apply to everyone. “What happens when you break the rules?” This brings home the point that our actions have consequences; not punishment but consequences. “Is that what you want to happen?” This question brings home to the child that the consequences will be applied to them. “Where do you want to be?” or “What do you want to do now?” These questions bring an end to the episode and complete the distancing of the child from the behaviour. It also cues them into thinking about what they want to happen and so they have control once more. “What will happen if you disrupt again?” This asks the child to think ahead and of the future consequences for inappropriate behaviour. If the child has a problem with anger, she or he should be helped to think of positive ways to behave that will cope with the problem (Ford, 1997, pp.43-45).

Responsible Thinking Process “What are you doing?” “What are the rules?” What happens when you break the rules?” “Is that what you want to happen?” “Where do you want to be?” or “What do you want to do now?” “What will happen if you disrupt again?” The Plan in Action Ford (1997) points out that for any discipline plan to succeed the child must be convinced that the teacher and the TA care. They must also believe that the teacher and the TA have confidence in the child’s ability to work out what is the right thing to do. In addition the child must have experienced respect from the teacher and the TA. With these fundamentals in place when inappropriate behaviour takes place the teacher and or the TA asks in a calm tone “What are you doing?” This question begins the process of distancing the child from its behaviour. It initiates the cooling down process. Ford calls his program the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP). In terms of dual process cognitive theory it is an attempt to set in place a rule of thumb, which will result in appropriate behaviour. In other words RTP tries to get fast thinking to work for the teacher and the TA. “What are the rules?” This again accelerates the distancing process. It is not about the pupil versus the teacher or the TA. The rules apply to everyone. “What happens when you break the rules?” This brings home the point that our actions have consequences; not punishment but consequences. “Is that what you want to happen?” This question brings home to the child that the consequences will be applied to them. “Where do you want to be?” or “What do you want to do now?” These questions bring an end to the episode and complete the distancing of the child from the behaviour. It also cues them into thinking about what they want to happen and so they have control once more. “What will happen if you disrupt again?” This asks the child to think ahead and of the future consequences for inappropriate behaviour. If the child has a problem with anger, she or he should be helped to think of positive ways to behave that will cope with the problem (Ford, 1997, pp.43-45).

Personal Qualities of TA Resilience, Patience, Optimism Indestructability Dependability The McManus Story In 1985 I left my post in a school for secondary aged students with moderate learning difficulties and behavioural problems and began a three year secondment to research behavioural problems and exclusion from school. I had worked in the school for five years, and although the students were extremely difficult, I seldom found myself under pressure. I put it down to experience… expertise… [and] understanding. The secondment came to an end but not before the manuscript of my book on how to deal with troublesome students had been delivered to the publisher... Returning to school, full of ideas, I found I couldn’t control my classes. All my skills and expertise had no effect. The students I had known had all left and none of these in the school remembered me. Although I had written a book about surviving in these situations, I couldn’t survive myself. I began to consider throwing in the job altogether. My book lists 50 classroom management skills, but they couldn’t have seemed more irrelevant. What had happened? In taking a detached approach to the problems of teaching difficult children, I had forgotten about the need for the personal qualities of resilience, patience, optimism and indestructability. I had been successful before not just because of my skills, but because I have convinced students I was dependable, that no matter what happened or however they behaved, I would still be there working with them in the morning. Establishing that level of trust takes time. Things improved a little after the first term and by the end of the year I was more or less back on the stable footing I had enjoyed before I left. Photo: Gordon Kennedy (Aboriginal Teacher Assistant) Clontarf Aboriginal College WA http://web.clontarf.wa.edu.au/the-college/key-personnel/

The TA and Attendance Importance of Attendance Everyone agrees that attendance at school is important. There is evidence that not only is regular attendance vital to school success and classroom management (Freiberg & Lamb, 2009), but also that it is has an effect on levels of delinquency (Beresford, 2003; Weissman, 2008), the incidence of at risk behaviours such as violence, substance abuse, initiation of sexual activity at an early age (McNeely, Nonnemaker, & Blum, 2002; Resnick et al., 1997), and emotional well-being and mental health (Shochet, Dadds, Ham, & Montague, 2006). The Department of Education and Training’s slogan of ‘Every Day Counts’ is intended to reflect the consensus that school attendance is of great importance. How the Teacher Aide can get students to attend If the school and schooling become important in the life of the community then parents and children will tackle the attendance problem. If the child feels that the school cares and truly wants them to attend that will be a powerful incentive. The teacher aide has a vital role to play here. She or he can act as a bridge between the community and the school. She can connect the school to the community by bringing care into the classroom. How does the school and the TA show they care about attendance? When a child turns up regularly there should be a consistent policy of praise and continued incentives. For the child, who is a less regular attender, there should be the greeting of “Good to see you at school, X. We all missed you”. This is the exception, which should be seized upon, and made a fuss off. Ways should be found to make the return to school memorable and profitable in terms of learning. However for the irregular attender, it is the emotional element of being in school that is most important. It will be easier to make the student feel good than to achieve a learning objective. When the student realises that the TA and the teacher care and want himor her to succeed, the basis is being laid for school connectedness. The intent is to turn the exception of going to school into the norm, and when that happens the teaching and learning plan for the child can be put into action..