ABSTRACT

As other chapters in this book indicate, it is not unusual, from time to time, to find more than one adult in a classroom full of children. Some of these people are fully qualified professionals, such as NNEBs (certificated by the Nursery Nurse Examination Board) or special needs care assistants to help disabled children. Some are there by virtue of experience and personal qualities, such as parents, voluntary workers, secondary school pupils on work experience. Some are students in training, whether for teaching itself or for child care or social services. The point here is that, while all could be regarded as classroom assistants, they each have different skills and abilities and needs and, above all, backgrounds. It is this background, whether of educational qualification or practical expertise, which needs to be taken into account during negotiations to determine the nature of the work undertaken. A newly qualified teacher may find herself working alongside an older, more mature, assistant colleague, and may need to adjust to such teamwork.