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... The character of new 'associate professional' roles, as well as subject to 'local negotiation' is influenced by the currency given to experiential learning as 'equivalent' to formal learning leading to judgements about the 'equivalence' of experience and formal learning in equipping individuals to take on associate professional roles. However, whist there is evidence to suggests that the quality of patient care is improved with lower rates of morbidity and mortality in hospitals which employ a high proportion of qualified nurses (Aiken and Patrician 2000) and Blatchford et al. (2006) have argued that the impact of TAs on the learning of children is dependent on their level of qualification and pedagogical knowledge, there is little data to enable us to compare performance of different routes to 'associate professional' status. Rather than seeing learning from experience and learning from formal learning as equivalent in terms of being substitutable alternative routes to professional performance, it is possible to view them as equivalent in the sense of being equally valuable to professional performance. ...
Recent years have seen the health and social care and education sectors subject to a range of policy initiatives which have been characterised by a concern for ‘modernisation’ and restructuring of the workforce which has resulted in a reappraisal and so-called ‘professionalisation’ of many existing previously lowskill roles. This has resulted in the development of new intermediate or ‘assistant practitioner’ roles such as ‘parent support advisors’ and higher level teaching assistants in schools. In Health contexts, these roles are evident in the inclusion of associate and assistant practitioner roles in health care in pay bands three and four to support the ‘professional’ workforce in bands five and above. The ‘professionalisation’ of roles in the public sector has been associated with enhanced qualification requirements and foundation degrees (FDs) have provided an appropriate work-based qualification. This paper explores notions of professional learning and professionalism in the current policy context and draws out points of commonality and divergence between the two sectors. In light of recent concern about broadening access to the professions we relate this discussion to a critique of the potential role of ‘assistant practitioner’ roles and associated intermediate level FD qualifications in widening access to the professions in these two sectors.
... Yet there is evidence that, in some circumstances, level of qualification does impact on performance and productivity. For example, quality of patient care is improved in hospitals which employ more highly qualified nurses (Aiken and Patrician 2000), the impact of Teaching Assistants on the learning of children is dependent on their level of qualification and pedagogical knowledge (Blatchford, Bassett et al. 2006), and children make more progress in Early Years settings that have staff with higher qualifications (Institute of Education 2004). More generally, recent research on the impact of higher education for part-time students (who are mostly employed and pursuing study for career progression) found evidence that part-time study often leads to more demanding tasks and responsibilities and to higher paying jobs for the individuals concerned (Callender and Wilkinson 2011). ...
... In respect of staff employed in support roles, DfES do not publish data. However, the DISS report (Blatchford et al, 2006) indicated that around a quarter of the schools surveyed had vacancies for support staff. These were most commonly for " other support staff (including mid-day supervisors, bilingual support officer, exam invigilator, etc), especially in secondary schools. ...
The Special Intergovernmental Conference on the Status of Teachers held in Paris on 5 October 1966 recognized: ...the essential role of teachers in educational advancement and the importance of their contribution to the development of...modern society. In the four decades since the joint ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the status of teachers was adopted, important changes that impacted on teachers have occurred. The locum of poverty has shifted from Asica to Africa where the HIV/Aids pandemic is at its most widespread. Expanding knowledge economies have provided a range of occupations for those who traditionally became teachers, a process affecting all parts of the world. The rapid pace of change in new communication technologies is impacting on economies and education systems alike. This overview looks at these factors and the implications for teachers in respect of: - teacher supply and retention; - teacher education reform; - innovations in the pre-service and continuing professional development (cpd) of teachers.
... The character of new 'associate professional' roles, as well as subject to 'local negotiation' is influenced by the currency given to experiential learning as 'equivalent' to formal learning leading to judgements about the 'equivalence' of experience and formal learning in equipping individuals to take on associate professional roles. However, whist there is evidence to suggests that the quality of patient care is improved with lower rates of morbidity and mortality in hospitals which employ a high proportion of qualified nurses (Aiken and Patrician 2000) and Blatchford et al. (2006) have argued that the impact of TAs on the learning of children is dependent on their level of qualification and pedagogical knowledge, there is little data to enable us to compare performance of different routes to 'associate professional' status. Rather than seeing learning from experience and learning from formal learning as equivalent in terms of being substitutable alternative routes to professional performance, it is possible to view them as equivalent in the sense of being equally valuable to professional performance. ...
Recent years have seen the Health and Social Care and Education sectors subject to a range of policy initiatives ( for example, Agenda for Change (Department of Health, 2004), Every Child Matters (Department for Education and Science, 2003a) the Leitch report which responded to the perceived 'skills gap' within the National Health Service (HM Treasury, 2006). These have been characterised by a concern for 'modernisation' and restructuring of the workforce which has resulted in a reappraisal and so-called 'professionalization' of many existing previously low-skill roles and the development of new intermediate or "assistant practitioner" roles such as "Parent Support Advisors" and Higher Level Teaching Assistants in schools and the inclusion of associate and assistant practitioner roles in health care in pay bands 3 and 4 to support the 'professional' workforce in bands 5 and above. The development of such 'assistant practitioner' roles can be seen as contributing to the growth in "highly skilled technicians and associate professionals" referred to in the Foundation Degree prospectus in 2000 (HEFCE, 2000) and reiterated in the additional 21,000 apprenticeships planned/announced this year, in the NHS, education and local government (DIUS 2009). The 'professionalization' of roles in the public sector and in Health and Social Care and Education in particular, has also been associated with enhanced qualification requirements and Foundation Degrees (FDs) have provided an appropriate work- based qualification. The HE sector has responded, providing places for 71,915 Foundation Degree students in 2007-2008 and in 2005-2006, 75% of Foundation Degree entrants were enrolling in courses in either, subjects allied to medicine, social work or education (HEFCE, 2008). It is also significant that in these sectors we find greater proportions of part-time, female, FD students and the Foundation Degree can be seen as providing continuing rather than initial professional development. This paper, a collaborative venture between colleagues in a School of Education and a School of Nursing and Midwifery, draws on empirical work conducted in the two schools to explore notions of professional learning and professionalism in the current policy context and draws out points of commonality and divergence between the two sectors. We see the development of 'assistant practitioner' roles and associated FD qualification as part of the debate around 'new professionalism' and critique the notion of 'associate professional'. We examine the discourse, in both policy and practice contexts, around professional formation, occupational competence and 'professionalism, exploring the extent to which professional formation can be seen as leading or following development in practice. We also examine the extent to which the discourses of 'modernisation' and 'new professionalisms' impact on, or are resisted by, workplaces and the professions, and the role of statutory, professional and/ or regulatory bodies in the shaping of 'new professionalisms' in these sectors identifying questions that this raises for the role of HE in professional development. In light of recent concern about broadening access to the professions we relate this discussion to a critique of the potential role of 'assistant practitioner' roles and associated intermediate level FD qualifications in widening access to the professions in these two sectors.
... En ce qui concerne le personnel auxiliaire d'éducation, le DfES ne publie aucune donnée. Cependant, le rapport sur les effectifs et l'importance de cette catégorie de personnel (Blatchford et al., 2006) montrait qu'environ un quart des écoles étudiées avaient des postes d'auxiliaires à pourvoir. Il s'agissait le plus fréquemment d'auxiliaires chargés de fonctions étrangères à l'enseignement (surveillants à l'heure du déjeuner, assistants bilingues, surveillants d'examens, etc.), en particulier dans les établissements secondaires, mais aussi, dans certains cas, de postes d'enseignants auxiliaires. ...
... The impact that these early reforms had upon primary teachers has been well documented in a number of research reports, for example impact upon teacher workload at Key Stage 1 (Campbell & Neill 1994a); impact upon primary teachers' work through the implementation of changes in curriculum and assessment (Campbell & Neill 1994b); teacher responses to escalating workloads and the new demands of their expanding roles (Webb & Vulliamy 1996); the changes that have taken place in teacher practice and links to professional ideology and personal practice in terms of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (Pollard et al 1994; Alexander et al 1996, Osborne et al 2000, Galton et al 1999, Moyles et al 2003). More recently, research by Thomas et al (2004) on transforming the school workforce (TSW project); Blatchford et al (2006; 2007) on the deployment and impact of support staff in schools (DISS project); Webb and Vulliamy (2006) on the impact of policies on primary school teachers' work; Woodward and Peart (2005) on the role of the higher level teaching assistant; and Wilson et al (2007) on the impact of support staff who have achieved HLTA status is of particular relevance for this review as the research draws attention to the impact of the remodelling initiative in primary schools. ...
This is one of a series of 32 interim reports from the Primary Review, an independent enquiry into the condition and future of primary education in England. The report provides an overview of the government’s workforce reform strategy and the impact it has had upon primary teachers, heads and schools. It focuses on developments during a relatively short period of time, from 1998 to the present day, and includes those policy documents and research studies that have the most relevance for practice in schools. There is also some reference to earlier research, because the present government’s workforce reform initiatives cannot be viewed in isolation from a larger process of systemic reform which goes back to the Education Reform Act of 1988 and which put in place the National Curriculum, the Key Stage tests, the reduction in local authority control and changes to teacher training and school inspection, on all of which New Labour has been able to build. Further, there are important lessons from the period 1988-97 for those involved in the current reforms. The full report lists all sources consulted and is available at www.primaryreview.org.uk.
With the increasing number of teaching and classroom assistants across the UK there is now much debate about what their role should be. In particular concerns have arisen about the extent to which they overstep the boundary from supporting teaching and learning into teaching pupils. This study assesses this issue within Scotland. It draws on a national survey of 2000 head teachers, teachers and classroom assistants and interviews with directors of education in nearly half of all Scottish local authorities. Findings from the research suggest a small number of classroom assistants in Scotland are overstepping the boundary into teaching. The paper concludes with an explanation as to why this is happening taking into account aspects such as local authority policy, school size and the individual characteristics of the classroom assistants.
Despite an unprecedented increase in classroom‐based support staff, there are confusing messages about their appropriate deployment and a lack of systematic evidence on their impact. This article addresses the deployment and impact on pupil engagement and individual attention of support staff, commonly known as teaching assistants (TAs), in terms of: (1) a comparison between TAs and teachers; (2) differences between pupils with and without special educational needs (SEN); and (3) differences between primary and secondary schools. Systematic observations of pupil behaviour in 49 primary and secondary schools showed that support staff presence resulted in increased individualisation of attention and overall teaching, easier classroom control, and that pupils showed more engagement and a more active role in interaction with adults. This supports teachers’ positive view of support staff, but their presence also meant pupils’ contact with teachers declined and at secondary level there was less individual and active interactions between teachers and pupils.
In a climate of financial constraint there is increasing pressure on HE to justify its draw on the public purse. Viewing HE as investment in raising the skill level of the workforce raises the question of the effectiveness of that investment and understanding effective skill utilisation is therefore critical. In this paper, the authors argue that the relationship between experience, education and skill utilisation is more complex than notions of skill acquisition suggest and skill utilisation depends not on the ‘possession’ of skills but on the dynamic interaction through social practices between individual factors and the social context. Drawing on empirical work in the context of part‐time Foundation Degrees the authors report on how HE can be instrumental in shaping and transforming identities at work and argue for the need to research the role of HE in mediating social practices in the workplace to support skill utilisation.
