Troops to Teaching: lessons from English teaching assistants’ experiences of foundation degree study

Abstract

This article explores the suggestion that the UK should follow the lead of the United States and establish Troops to Teaching programmes. In particular, it examines the worth of the suggestion that non-graduate qualifications similar to those that have been designed for teaching assistants might be usefully employed to achieve this. In England, foundation degree study has typically been the route followed by teaching assistants who have decided that they would like to become qualified teachers. The value of adopting such an approach, in relation to the UK coalition government’s desire to establish a viable Troops to Teaching programme, is specifically explored. Research which has investigated English school-based teaching assistants’ experiences of participating in foundation degree study is drawn upon to interrogate this theme.