Who is a teaching assistant?
In the Czech Republic, teaching assistants work in kindergartens, elementary (most often) and secondary schools.
The main task of a teaching assistant is to promote education for children with special educational needs, including multilingual children. A large portion of this involves being in direct contact with children, creating learning tools and materials, providing organizational and in-class support to teachers, and communicating with parents.
Who is a bilingual teaching assistant?
Bilingual teaching assistants help teachers with multilingual children, including newcomers from Ukraine. Ideally, they can communicate fluently in the same language as the child they are helping. For example, a Ukrainian bilingual teaching assistant provides support to Ukrainian children.
Bilingual teaching assistants fulfill the educational needs of multilingual children and help them reduce mental load imposed by the new school environment. They also build a closer relationship between the child and the school and help them cope with frustration resulting from the language barrier and feeling of loneliness.
How do (bilingual) teaching assistants support children and how can they help you?
- They help children, parents, teachers, and classmates overcome the language barrier.
- They help parents and children to get acquainted with the new environment, rules, and habitual practice.
- They support children on their way towards adaptation and integration into the new class.
- They create educational materials and tools tailored to children’s needs.
- They provide in-class support and help children understand the content.
- They motivate children and provide comprehensive support.
- They give feedback to parents and teachers on children’s progress and current needs.
Recommendations for parents
- The main person responsible for communication with parents is always the class teacher. Please discuss with them first whether you can approach the teaching assistant independently.
- Set rules for communication with all teaching staff (teachers as well as teaching assistants) – the means of communication (in person, by phone, e-mail, etc.) and the hours when you can contact them.
- Teaching assistants can attend parent teacher meetings.
- Examples of situations where you can contact the teaching assistant directly:
- preparing your child for classes
- organizing your child’s participation in school and extracurricular activities
- finding out information about how things work at school (canteen, after-school club, assessments, school regulations, school counselling office, etc.)
- finding out information about the child’s learning and/or behavior progress