Help in the environment

When learning supports needs have been identified, you may find yourself working with a range of colleagues in the classroom including, for example:

  • assistant tutors (either voluntary or paid)
  • learning support assistants
  • sign language interpreters
  • bi-lingual interpreters; and
  • care workers.

It's important to plan carefully before a session to make team working effective. Consult your Subject Learning Coach and other professionals about inclusive ways of working with your classroom support worker.

Ways of getting it right for the learner

  • Discuss roles and responsibilities with your colleagues at the start of your joint working relationship - where other professionals such as sign language interpreters are involved, they will have their own code of conduct and will be able to brief you about this.
  • Decide who needs to know what and when, so that you maintain good communications with your colleagues.
  • Explain the plan for each session to learning assistants, sign language interpreters and bi-lingual interpreters so that they can explain the key points to learners; they may need guidance on this if they are not familiar with your subject.
  • Well before the session, show support workers any written or visual materials you will use so that they can brief learners effectively.
  • Make arrangements to have materials translated into the appropriate medium well before the session to accommodate learners with literacy and language needs or visual impairment.
  • Set out a clear code of conduct for support workers so that they support their learners without interfering with the progress of the session.
  • Make sure that all colleagues understand the principles of safe working and do not present any obstacles during the session.
  • Discuss where support workers will position themselves in the room during various activities not only to ensure that learners can participate fully and safely.

Some examples of tutors' experiences

Good practice

I'm a trainee tutor. I come along to the Thursday sessions to help Linda with her yoga class. It's a big group. My job is to help adjust learners in the poses they find difficult. I turn up about half an hour beforehand. Linda talks me through her session plan so I know what to expect. If there are any new people, she tells me what to look out for on the health front, but generally I know now who has arthritis, who has a knee problem and so on. I keep an eye on four or five learners in particular, making sure that they're working with the right equipment, and helping them to improve their pose by giving adjustments. We generally have a discussion over a cup of tea at the end about how things went.

Leo, trainee tutor, Yoga.

Improving practice

Peter comes to classes with his care worker. We sort of slid into doing things without really discussing them. I began to worry when I realised Susie was doing more of Peter's work than Peter was. She was enjoying herself so much, he barely got to put his brush to paper. Whenever I asked Peter how he was getting on, it would be Susie who answered. So we had to have a heart-to-heart. Fortunately, she saw the point and changed the way she went about things, but we really should have had that discussion in the first place.

Shami, tutor, Art.