What it Takes to be a Great Teaching Assistant

Written by Lizzie Learn On 14th Dec 2021

Understanding what it takes to be a great teaching assistant is going to help you to perform better in the job. A teaching assistant can be of huge benefit to both pupils and teachers alike.

You are going to be involved in helping the teacher to educate the pupils and maintain discipline. You will also be able to remove a lot of the stress from the teacher.

To become a good teaching assistant, you will obviously need to have an interest in education, but, more importantly, you will need to have certain personal attributes.

The Personal Attributes that Make a Difference

A desire to work with children

You need to have a desire to work with and educate children. You will be helping them through various problems that they may be having with their lessons. This helpful attitude is key because a lot of your work is going to involve answering questions.

Patience

When working with children, it is important to have patience. Some children will do what they can to push your buttons, but as a teaching assistant, it is key that you do not rise to the bait. A good teaching assistant knows when to raise their voice or to involve the teacher, who can then seek to discipline the child.

Able to follow instructions

You will want to make a difference to the children’s school lives. As well as having a willingness to be as helpful as possible, you must also understand your role and how to follow instructions from the teacher. The teacher is the one that advises on every aspect, and they are, in effect, your boss. Working closely with the teacher and knowing what your role entails will help to bring the best possible experience for the children, yourself and the teacher.

Be career-minded

It is important to be ambitious and develop your skills. There are various certificates available in education/teaching that can help you to obtain extra skills whereby you can further your own understanding of the job and, in turn, contribute more to the classroom. This will also look good on your CV and will help you to progress in your career.

Good at communicating

It is essential to be able to communicate well with both children and adults. You will regularly be liaising with the teacher to prepare for the classes. Preparation is something that can separate a good teaching assistant from a great one because not only will it make your job easier, but it will also help you to deal with the pupils and remove some of the stress placed on the teacher.

When it comes to communicating with the pupils, you will need to have an ability to understand what issues they may be struggling with and how you can help them. This is certainly an attribute that you can develop through time, but if you do try to enhance your skills by gaining certificates, then you will see that you will improve those skills in a short period of time.

Communicating with the children should also lead to you building a warm relationship with them, and a great teaching assistant is always going to be someone that the children feel they can talk to. Learn their names, learn their individual traits or issues, and then make sure that you continue to work with them to show that you value each pupil as an equal. Treating everybody the same will always help you to become a better teaching assistant. However, you need to bear in mind that each pupil will have different needs, and some children may need to have more support.

Respect

A great teaching assistant will never do anything to undermine the authority of the teacher. This not only shows a great deal of respect to the teacher, but it also shows a firm understanding of the limits of your roles. If you want to do more, you can look at the different ways to become a qualified teacher. However, before that moment, make sure that you stay in your role as assistant and respect the teacher’s decisions.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there are a number of important factors that can make you a good teaching assistant and it is entirely up to you how much of an influence you wish to have in your career. There is no doubt that this can be a rewarding career, especially for those who want to help children and wish to see them getting a good start in life. As long as you have the attributes mentioned above, then you will be well on your way to becoming a great Teaching Assistant!

To view our Teaching Assistant course or any of our other 800+ courses, visit our New Skills Academy website today!