ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the continuing evolution of teaching assistants' (TAs') role in school and how the changes have intentionally and unintentionally influenced what they do and how they are able to do it. Sharples J. Webster and Blatchford P. Webster called for schools to 'rigorously define' the TA role, with Graves in England, and Giangreco in the US, asserting that a parallel redefinition of the teacher role was essential. Thomas suggested that when considering classroom teams, it could be ‘downright impossible to discover how roles were formulated’. He argued that regardless of their vague definition, TA roles did exist but were often implicit and assumed rather than defined. The chapter discusses a theme the author returns to the challenges in defining TAs' role and the reasons for this. It considers one of the key tensions, which is a clear and unambiguous definition of TAs' role in schools.
