Report details violence towards Teaching Assistants within mainstream schools
A new report by Dr Amanda Holt and Dr Jenn Birchall of the University of Roehampton is the first academic research project in the UK to explore the level of aggression, violent and abusive behaviour from students towards teaching assistants working in mainstream schools. The project consisted of 16 in-depth interviews with teaching assistants (TAs) recruited through social media and via Unison. They met the criteria of having experience physical aggression or violence from students on two or more occasions within a mainstream school.
Some of the factors that participants stated facilitated the aggression included:
- Poor management and leadership
- Financial constraints and a reduction in support staff
- Policy changes reducing nurture groups and replacing with strict behaviour policies and restraint
- Learning environments that did not adequately support children with SEND or additional needs
The impact of the encounters was far-reaching and resulted in impacted physical and emotional health and damaged their professional confidence. They also expressed concern for the distressing and potentially trauma-inducing situations for the students themselves. The authors express concern that “a lot more work needs to be done with students to prevent such violence, including a serious consideration of whether the support needs of children with SEND and those facing adverse childhood experiences are being adequately met in school environments.” The report ends with a series of recommendations for good practice following incidents and recommendations for wider institutional change.
