[senco-forum] Positive attitude

I have a problem with one of my teaching assistants. She has a very negative

I have a feeling that David's 'disciplinary' route may be fraught with pitfalls.  And, a good union representative would make mincemeat of the 'Shape up or ship out' school of management.

Points they could pick up on could be:

Was it made explicit that it was a requirement of the job to have a 'positive attitude' to the pupils (and I am often quite amazed that schools will employ people without trying to find this out). I don't think that a defence that this is implicit in the job requirements would be sufficient.

Was the TA given proper induction and training when she started the job?

Was any attempt made to provide training on the issue when it was discovered (so I don't think that you can bypass providing training before going down a disciplinary route)

Just telling her to 'shape up or ship out' could be interpreted as bullying and , should she leave under this 'directive' it could leave the school open to a claim of constructive dismissal in the future.

If, after training, she does not improve and a disciplinary procedure is initiated it has to be followed to the letter (time consuming...)

Don't want to depress you, but I think it would be very hard to dismiss her on these grounds, despite the fact that common sense (as David has outlined) says that people who work with vulnerable children should have a positive attitude towards them.

There was  correspondence on this list on this topic earlier this year, wasn't there?  

Maggie

David Bowles <bowles.d at gmail.com> wrote: Is she in the right job? If her attitude is bourne out of a life-long
engrained negativity towards children then you won't succeed in
changing this, at least not given the time and meagre training
resources available to the average Senco.

How do other TAs regard her? If they too are having difficulty with
her then perhaps you might delegate to them the task of trying to turn
her around ...but within a strict time limit beyond which you'll just
have to let her go.

As for doing some training for every trainee that's really targeted at
just her for the purpose of not letting her feel singled out, well how
are your other trainees going to feel about this? Plus 'Sods Law'
dictates she'll probably be off sick the day of the training or she'll
get offered a last-minute cancelled dental appointment!

Perhaps what she really needs IS to be singled out and given the clear
message "Shape up or ship out". After all she's meant to be there for
the benefit of your students isn't she? ...that's the purpose of
having TAs isn't it? So if her presence is proving to be
counter-productive then start rolling out your school's disciplinary
procedure without delay for the purpose of getting rid of her as soon
as you are legally able to.

I know the above might sound harsh, but be mindful of the fact schools
should ultimately be for the benefit of the students who attend them
and not principally for the benefit of paid staff who work in them.
For unlike school staff students have almost no choice whether or not
to attend school. Contrast this with school employees who are there by
choice and if they really don't fit in they are free to go work
elsewhere.

What's more students (16 and under) aren't paid to attend school
whereas TAs, teachers and other school employee receive a salary in
exchange for not only giving up their time but also for embracing the
ethos of the school and their chosen role within this. In other words
unlike students they receive compensation for putting attitudes that
are inappropriately negative to one side -- attitudes that
incidentally they are still free to express in their own time and in
the privacy of their own home. So why should you students suffer?

Hope this helps clarify your best course of action.

David Bowles

> I have a problem with one of my teaching assistants. She has a very negative
> attitude towards the children and tends to always look for fault in them.
> She moans and nags rather than praise and encourage. I would like to do  some
> training for the whole team so that this person does not feel singled out.  Can
> anyone suggest what I could do?

> Many thanks
>  
>  
> Janice Rolnick
> SENCO/AST

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