Teaching Assistant Review

I enjoyed the insight a lot because eventhough it was not directly related to Sociology, I got to work alongside others and help them in caring for people (i.e. the children). It was also nice to help in teaching them and helping their knowledge grow and flourish. It was particularly pleasing to see all the theories I had previously learnt about education coming into play within the classroom.

I did feel very valued during my insight because I was given many tasks and was trusted by the teacher to carry them out. The kids even respected me, treating me as a sort of Teaching Assistant and this made me feel particularly valued as it made me understand that the work I was doing was having an actual and tangible effect on the children, and thus teaching overall has this same effect.

I received a lot of guidance and support during my insight. The teacher was very friendly and approachable so I knew I could ask her questions if I needed help. She initially taught me quite a lot of things about teaching and added to this knowledge throughout the experience there such that I would be able to manage and even teach the class.

I think that the skills I developed will certainly help me in the future. The teaching skills and communication skills will be very useful if I do decide to become a teacher but they are also, equally, transferable. The information I received about controlling the classroom taught me about social order in teaching and, in the future, will perhaps help me in my leadership qualities.

The insight was about as structured as I would expect in the chaotic environment of a classroom. However, I think this was good as it was representative of a real school and encouraged me to think about dealing with many problems and tasks at the same time. Every day, I was faced with new problems and this was very essential for me in understanding all the different demands asked for when teaching.

Generally, the atmosphere during my insight was really fun. The children were quite friendly, as well as the staff teaching there. I got to spend my spare time with the staff and we were able to have a lot of fun and I did not at all feel like a stranger.

I think that they did invest quite a lot in me as they allowed me to experience 15 days in the school while being guided by an amazing teacher. She gave me lots of opportunities in the classroom to take a leading role and apply what I had learnt to teaching these kids.

This insight did help me to understand what it would be like to have a full time role as a teacher as I was given many opportunities to teach the class and lead it so I got many opportunities to essentially act as the teacher. I even got the chance to plan my own lesson to deliver to the class.

The insight was extremely helpful in understanding the staff culture as I saw how the teachers truly cared about the kids and I saw the how the teachers genuinely desired for the kids to learn and increase in knowledge about the world around them as well as the subject content taught in lessons.

It was quite valuable to me as when studying Sociology, I was naturally attracted to teaching as a profession but this insight allowed me to explore teaching and see whether it was right for me. Therefore, in the future, I will definitely consider teaching as a potential career path for me.

I was paid for my time there which was particularly pleasing as it further showed my efforts were valued. I lived quite close to the school so did not have any travel expenses though I am sure that if you lived quite far from the school you were working at, reimbursements for travel could potentially be arranged.

There were many opportunities for meeting the other staff members at lunch times and even after schools in the staff room. The highlight of this for me was attending staff meetings, in which I could meet the staff members in a professional manner which showed me how they could be both fun and devoted to their work.

The networking opportunities at lunch were very fun as we got to relax and mainly talk about stuff other than work. I also got to meet a wide range of staff. During meetings, I got to voice my opinion as well as hear the opinions of other staff members, which allowed me to listen to a wide variety of views and form a greater opinion than my previous stance.

I did find out about a few activities that employees can get involved in outside work. There were many meetings at other schools to import the positive aspects of other schools into their own. There were also many social activities that I found out about. It was nice to see a great sense of friendship between the staff.

I would definitely recommend this insight as it provides you with a wide range of skills applicable for many different career choices such as leadership skills alongside teamwork and cohesion. If you are considering a career in teaching, this should be almost essential for you as it will provide you with much-needed experience.