Effectively Utilising Teaching Assistants to Support Mathematics Learning: Some Insights from the Getting Reading in Numeracy (G.R.I.N.) Program

James Russo,Penelope Kalogeropoulos,Peter Sullivan,Toby Russo

doi:10.29333/iejme/8314

James Russo, Penelope Kalogeropoulos + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/8314

Copy DOI

Abstract

Teaching assistants are not always utilised effectively in mathematics classrooms. Moreover, there is limited research examining instructional models that might more meaningfully incorporate teaching assistants into the teaching and learning of mathematics. To address this gap in the literature, the current study explored three distinct teacher-tutor dyads involved in a particular intervention program, Getting Ready in Numeracy (G.R.I.N.), from a single Australian primary school. All three tutors currently operated as teaching assistants in the classrooms of their G.R.I.N. teacher counterparts. The professional working relationships between G.R.I.N. teachers and their respective tutors were investigated through interviews. We outline common themes between the different dyads’ approaches to G.R.I.N., and argue that all three dyads’ practices are consistent with principles outlined in the literature around the effective utilisation of teaching assistants. We conclude by synthesising our findings, and presenting an embedded tutor model for the G.R.I.N. program. This model is presented as a prototype of good practice in a context where G.R.I.N. has been implemented successfully, whilst also serving as a more general model for how teaching assistants can be meaningfully incorporated into mathematics intervention programs.

Highlights

There is a paucity of literature concerning how a teacher and teaching assistant might work together to support students who are underperforming in mathematics
We conclude by synthesising these findings to offer a potential model for G.R.I.N. that other primary schools taking on the G.R.I.N. program, or other similar intervention programs, might consider adopting
It may be that the model outlined here could inform both the inclusive education literature, and the mathematics intervention literature more generally, through providing an example of an approach that:

Summary

Introduction

There is a paucity of literature concerning how a teacher and teaching assistant might work together to support students who are underperforming in mathematics. This paper explores the value of a teacher working closely with a teaching assistant in an intervention context, the Getting Ready in Numeracy (G.R.I.N.) program. The purpose of the current design-based study was two-fold. We intended to examine whether the manner in which teaching assistants are utilised within G.R.I.N. reflects ‘good practice’ principles of utilising teaching assistants in classrooms more generally, as articulated in a number of review studies (e.g., Giangreco, 2013; Sharma & Salend, 2016). We wished to develop a prototypical ‘good practice’ model of how tutor and teacher dyads may work within G.R.I.N. to support future schools implementing the G.R.I.N. program.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion