Introduction
In the 1990s, new school laws began to change, and increasingly more students with disabilities were included in regular schools through integrated education. As a result, teachers at regular primary schools often could not manage the educational process alone and needed support both for themselves and for children with disabilities during lessons. Thus, over time many schools gradually began creating teaching assistant positions. The teaching assistant is a relatively young profession, which means it is in constant development and undergoing various changes.1
Personality of the assistant
It is a person with added value: an empathic and sensitive person who, besides showing the student how to use something, explaining, and simplifying a task, is able to ask at the right moment, "How do you feel?"
An empathetic assistant sees that a student who received an unpleasant grade likely feels that way as well: "I observe what the child is experiencing in those moments, or I listen to what they say in the course of all that." Based on what I can evaluate from their reaction, I respond as follows: 1. If the child is emotional (is angry, makes faces, bangs, cries), I ask, "How do you feel?" 2. If the child expresses themselves verbally, I ask, "What do you think about the assessment you received?"2
The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic has so far invested eighty-three million euros in assistants in schools within the project Helping Professions in Children's Education, Phase II. "At present, thanks to the national project, there are 1,947 assistants and 778 members of inclusive teams in schools." The ministry will release eight million euros so that financial support can be given to an additional 205 schools that have not yet received support. This should make available on schools a total of 2,296 assistants and 909 support team members for children and students.3
Similar research carried out
In 2019, a survey was conducted titled The number of pedagogical assistants in regular and special schools is not sufficient. In this survey it is also mentioned that, besides the small amount of resources reassigned by the ministry that can satisfy roughly only about half of submitted applications, lack of transparency in the process and discontinuity of funding are also problems, as an assistant’s salary is guaranteed to schools for only one year.4
Methodology and research questions
The main goal of the research article was to determine whether children with disabilities have sufficient conditions with a teaching assistant in primary school, or what difficulties with the created conditions they must overcome.
A questionnaire with fifteen questions was prepared for parents with children with disabilities and for teaching assistants in primary schools. Five parents of children with disabilities and thirty-seven teaching assistants in primary schools participated in this research. The questions were structured with one type of answer but also with the option of a text response.
Demographic data of parents of children with disabilities
Table 1: Parents of children with disabilities
| Gender | Region | |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | Woman | Žilina |
| No. 2 | Woman | Žilina |
| No. 3 | Woman | Trnava |
| No. 4 | Woman | Banská Bystrica |
| No. 5 | Woman | Košice |
Demographic data of teaching assistants in primary schools
Graph 1: Gender of respondents
The study for this professional article was participated in by thirty-seven assistants in primary schools. One man and thirty-six women, which is 2.7% men and 97.3% women.
Graph 2: Region of respondents
The second graph is more colorful. It shows that most assistants come from the Žilina Region, followed by the Trenčín Region. The Nitriansky and Prešov regions have the same percentage. 10.8% of assistants participated from the Banská Bystrica Region. The fewest assistants participated, with the same percentage, from the Bratislava and Trnava regions.
Graph 3: Years worked as a teaching assistant
Up to 89.2% of the participating assistants have been working for one to five years. Only 10.8% have worked as an assistant for six to ten years. Intellectual disability, Autism, Dyslexia, and Dysgraphia are mostly the types of disability with which the assistants in primary schools who filled in the questionnaire work.
Results
The answers of parents of children with disabilities together with assistants in primary schools are presented in the following tables.
Table 2: Main goal
| Parent - Sufficient conditions during lessons |
|---|
| Only one parent confirmed that their child has insufficient conditions during lessons with the teaching assistant. |
| Assistant - Sufficient conditions during lessons |
| --- |
| 68% of teaching assistants answered unequivocally that they have sufficient conditions, and 5% answered that they do not have sufficient conditions with the student during lessons. The remaining assistants answered with broader responses. |
| Yes, but sometimes it bothers me when I explain the material to the child in a "simplified" form. The teacher reminds me to speak quietly, and in that case the child does not understand anything and does not complete it according to my instructions. And when I wear a mask, my voice is much weaker. |
| I have a dedicated room with a whiteboard at my disposal. In lessons I sit next to the student. |
| No, we do not have sufficiently prepared conditions for education. Very often, I am with students in the hallway. We would need a room that is specifically for us assistants, where we could work with students. Unfortunately, we do not have such a room at the school. However, our special educator offers us an office to work with students. |
| Yes, but I really miss the possibility of individual access. |
| Yes, absolutely excellent conditions. |
| No, I work better with children during distance education, because they have fewer hours at school and I can have individual online lessons with them. |
| I do not. Since many teachers think that I am there to keep an eye on them while they work. |
| Sometimes. |
| It depends on the teacher I assist. |
| It is gradually improving. |
Table 3: Motivation of assistants
| Teaching assistant | Motivation to become a teaching assistant in primary schools |
|---|---|
| No. 1 | Because previously I worked as a caregiver in Centers for Children and Families (former Children's Homes) with children with disabilities and behavioral disorders. I really enjoyed educational work with children, which motivated me to become an assistant. |
| No. 2 | Personal experience. |
| No. 3 | I was motivated because I wanted to gain more practice, because at university we had very little practical work. I wanted to start as a teaching assistant and later as a special educator - my qualification. |
| No. 4 | I want to work with children with disabilities and help them. |
| No. 5 | It is a calling, beautiful work, helping those who need it. |
| No. 6 | I like working with children. |
| No. 7 | Desire to help children, a return to education. |
| No. 8 | Supplementary employment. |
| No. 9 | Lack of jobs in the teaching profession. When I wanted to stay in the school environment, I also took this offer. |
| No. 10 | Helping to achieve better results in teaching. |
| No. 11 | Desire to help someone. |
| No. 12 | Children, empathy. |
| No. 13 | Opportunity to work in education. |
| No. 14 | My own child. |
| No. 15 | Help. |
| No. 16 | Meaningfulness of this profession. |
| No. 17 | Working with children, the challenge of continuously working on oneself and thus helping children who need it, as well as their spontaneous joy in success and progress. |
| No. 18 | Pedagogical education, vacant PA position. |
| No. 19 | The child’s health situation. |
| No. 20 | Chance. |
| No. 21 | Experience in education, preparation for work as a regular teacher, working hours. |
| No. 22 | I love working with children. |
| No. 23 | Working with children. |
| No. 24 | The honesty of children, helping children integrate. |
| No. 25 | Principles of inclusive education. |
| No. 26 | Our family has children with special needs, so I feel close to them. |
| No. 27 | Love of children. |
| No. 28 | Help children. |
| No. 29 | I really enjoy working with children, and that motivates me to move forward and gain experience. |
| No. 30 | My environment, I personally know children with special educational needs. |
| No. 31 | Available job vacancy plus my education. |
| No. 32 | A challenge. |
| No. 33 | Help those who need it. |
| No. 34 | The possibility of helping both the teacher and the child. |
| No. 35 | I want to make it easier for them in the educational process, and it is also my stopgap while I complete my studies in special pedagogy. |
| No. 36 | These children can be much more grateful than a healthy child. |
| No. 37 | I think I can help based on personal experience. |
Graph 4: Changes in approach for better work of assistants in primary schools
In the response "Other," nine assistants expressed an opinion. One assistant stated very clearly that it is often necessary to change the approach of all three components (schools, parents, as well as teachers).
Table 4: Proposals of specific changes
| Parents’ proposals for specific changes to improve conditions for assistants and students: |
|---|
| Better financial remuneration. |
| Placement in a higher pay grade within the salary table and stricter conditions. |
| Increase the number of assistants in schools. |
| Definitely have more. |
| Possibility to be with the children also during break time, since the child then has behavior problems. |
| Proposals of teaching assistants for specific changes to improve conditions for assistants and students: |
| --- |
| 24% of teaching assistants do not propose any specific change. |
| It would be good if I could work with the child outside the classroom, because other students disturb them. At the moment this is not possible because school inspection has not allowed this. |
| Possibility to evaluate a student’s work - to have the ability to enter a grade in EduPage. |
| Definitely, they should have their own space - a room where they can work with students. Also, they should have greater support from school leadership, the special educator, the school principal, etc. |
| Better approach, respect. |
| Improve the overall climate of the school and communication. |
| Assurance of permanent employment rather than project-based contracts. |
| Trainings. |
| Create some kind of "class hour" - for talks, analyses, conversations with teachers. |
| Have reserved individual hours with students. |
| Free rooms/classrooms. |
| Missing aids and space for individual work. |
| First and foremost, rights. |
| Working hours comparable to a teacher’s. |
| Conditions are good at our school. |
| More materials and tools, collaboration of staff with assistants. |
| Equal status with the teacher. |
| More tools and materials. |
| That assistants also have the opportunity to work professionally with children. |
| Above all, there should be more of them. That is, long-term job positions for assistants, contracts for at least 2–3 years. Wages. |
| Mutual trust with the teacher; individual activity. |
| Joint search for solutions to problems. |
| First and foremost, they should be regarded as equal partners of teachers and used less as substitutes, because then they are missing where they need to be. |
| That assistants have the same remuneration as teachers. |
| More space for implementation. |
| For example, compensatory tools should be purchased so that teachers involve assistants more in preparing worksheets and tests. |
| It would also help greatly if society finally viewed education as it deserves. |
| More learning opportunities in the school setting. |
Conclusion
The goal of the professional article is whether teaching assistants in primary schools have sufficient conditions during lessons to work with children with disabilities.
When examining the main goal of whether teaching assistants in primary schools have created sufficient conditions to work with children in primary school, the results show that although conditions have been created at schools for assistants, assistants still encounter exceptions where the assistant has to fight for conditions suitable for working with a child with a disability.
Parents of children with disabilities and teaching assistants in primary schools also answered similar questions. For parents, this was for example the question of whether they are satisfied with the assistant assigned to their child with a disability. All parents in this research answered yes. For teaching assistants in primary schools, this was, for example, the question of whether they speak with teachers about collaborative work during lessons. Out of thirty-seven assistants, only two answered that they do not discuss their cooperation during lessons with teachers.
Regarding specific proposed changes for teaching assistants in primary schools, there were the most responses concerning equal conditions to what a regular teacher has in primary school.
Author: Mgr. Michaela Lorková The author is a graduate of mission and charitable work at VŠZSP sv. Alžbety in Bratislava. During the entire study period, she was involved in volunteering in the organization ZPMP. After completing her studies, she worked in the non-profit organization Prima n.o.. She is currently on parental leave. The author has a physical disability. Even despite this, she has a healthy son and manages parenting despite the disability. In addition to parenting, she does not want to leave her work commitment, so she began to engage in research directly focused on disability issues.
List of used literature
- Belková, V. et al., 2020. The pedagogical assistant in practice. p. 90. Banská Bystrica: Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. ISBN: 978-80-557-1793-7
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Available online at: https://asistentiucitelov.sk/blog/osobnos%C5%A5-asistenta-u%C4%8Dite%C4%BEa
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Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic. 2021. We are investing another 8 million euros for teaching assistants. Available online at: https://www.minedu.sk/b-groehling-investujeme-dalsich-8-milionov-eur-na-asistentov-ucitela/
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Hall, R., Dráľ, P., Fridrichová, P., Hapalová, M., Lukáč, S., Miškolci, J., Vančíková, K. Analysis of findings on the state of education in Slovakia: To dá rozum. Bratislava: MESA10, 2019. Available at: https://analyza.todarozum.sk/docs/346831004ej0a/
1 Belková, V., and colleagues, 2020. The pedagogical assistant in practice. p. 8 2 Stehlíková, M., 2020. Personality of the assistant. Available online at: https://asistentiucitelov.sk/blog/osobnos%C5%A5-asistenta-u%C4%8Dite%C4%BEa 3 Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic. 2021. We are investing another 8 million euros for teaching assistants. Available online at: https://www.minedu.sk/b-groehling-investujeme-dalsich-8-milionov-eur-na-asistentov-ucitela/ 4 Hall, R., Dráľ, P., Fridrichová, P., Hapalová, M., Lukáč, S., Miškolci, J., Vančíková, K. Analysis of findings on the state of education in Slovakia: To dá rozum. Bratislava: MESA10, 2019. Available at: https://analyza.todarozum.sk/docs/346831004ej0a/