ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses aspects of the scope and impact of the research on and involving teaching assistants (TAs). It discusses the research community’s preoccupation with a narrow and recurring set of interests. The absence of common agreement and clarity about the specific purpose of TAs means that teachers and school leaders not only often overlook and undervalue their contributions, but they do not know how to deploy TAs in potentially more effective ways. Schools could deliver some lessons in some curriculum areas to smaller classes of pupils with SEN, taught by highly skilled, specialised teachers, and blend this with mainstream mixed attainment teaching.
