I write about paras probably more than any other teacher blogger because they are such an integral part of what I do. I’m supervising 3 right now, but have been in charge of supervising and training as many as 7 at one time. I’ve also done a fair amount of research on para issues, as well as have a background as a para at one time.
In our weekly department meeting, teachers were admonished that they needed to be using their paras more effectively. The department head said that they should not be sitting at their desks, reading books or doing some other personal work, but should be used to their full potential.
I began to wonder how that translated into the minds of most teachers. I have heard more than one teacher complain about the para being somewhat less than capable and some have even tried to get out of having paras in the first place because they think it is like simply having another student. Math and science teachers seem to complain the loudest, at least from the small experiences I’ve had with them.
There are two issues that come to mind when I think about using paras effectively. One is how the para is trained. I’ve commented before how I have met precious few (like NONE) that has bothered training their paras. They treat them as incompetent underlings and then wonder why they are not getting anything out of them. Or teachers fail to convey expectations, and then wonder why these other adults are not performing up to par.
The second issue is also about training, but I’m thinking about the training of the teacher. There are currently no classes that I’ve ever encountered at the university level that trains special educators on the training, supervision and evaluation of paraprofessionals. In fact, I’ve never met a teacher who was trained on what to do with those other adults in their classrooms. In contrast, our county offers a class twice a year every year entitled The Role of the Paraprofessional. This class is required for every person hired as a para in our district. Unfortunately, this class is taught by and for those in regular education, so the special ed. paras are often given material and content ill-suited to their needs. But I’m wondering about a class for teachers about the role of the para.
I’m thinking about possibly trying to teach an in-county workshop on the subject. I’m thinking it should include sections on training, supervision and evaluation. But what other specific things might be covered?