ABSTRACT
The effective delivery of support is crucial for successful inclusion, yet surprisingly little attention has been paid to the ways in which support works in classrooms. There is widespread acceptance of the central role which support assistants and support teachers play in meeting children’s special needs yet few commentators have given thought to the changes which might occur when these extra people move into the domain of the teacher and how their potential contribution might be maximised. There seems to have been the assumption that support personnel will effortlessly and seamlessly slide into the classroom to work alongside the classteacher in inclusive arrangements; that simply to provide ‘help’ for the teacher will automatically be a Good Thing. Unfortunately, the evidence shows that it isn’t: often it can be a burden rather than a help if the people involved are not able to work as teams (see Thomas, 1992).
