Working as a Teacher’s Aide
Did you know there are a variety of ways to work in schools? Teacher’s aides play a key role in helping teachers to deliver meaningful learning outcomes and pastoral care to students.
Large class sizes can sometimes mean teachers are unable to provide the one-on-one learning required by students with additional needs, including disabilities and English as a second language. Teacher’s aides work closely with these students to ensure their learning needs are met.
This work can be a positive and rewarding experience for both students and aides. Improving learning and social outcomes for students with additional needs is an essential component of all children feeling included at school and maximising their education.
Teacher’s aides utilise active listening and creative thinking skills to engage these students and develop meaningful relationships. People well suited to working as teacher’s aides possess strong emotional intelligence and the ability to communicate and empathise with students requiring additional support in the classroom.
Aides also assist teachers in an administrative capacity, printing and photocopying tasks and ensuring student work is submitted and returned correctly. Both the variety of tasks performed by a teacher’s aide and their specialist work with students means they can also play a role in developing learning tasks and resources provided to students.
A Growing Industry
The variety of tasks performed by teacher’s aides and their support for students with additional needs means they are becoming increasingly sought after in schools. The number of teacher’s aides working in Australian schools increased by 60 per cent between 2009 and 2019.
The number of employed teacher’s aides grew from 68,300 in 2009 to 110,300 in 2019. DATA SOURCE: Job Outlook
The Australian Government’s Job Outlook initiative rated the occupation’s growth as “very strong” over this period, its highest rating for fields of work.
How You Can Become a Teacher’s Aide
A Certificate III in Education Support is required as a minimum qualification in order to work as a teacher’s aide. The Certificate trains aides to work in a range of education settings, including public and independent schools and community education settings. Once completed, the Certificate also provides the necessary qualifications for other educational occupations such as a tutor, learning support officer and language and literacy worker.
The Certificate III in Education Support has recently been introduced as a course at MSA Training and Professional Development, with further information available here.