Classroom assistant qualifications often include previous experience working with children and skill in teaching reading and math. Special needs schools or disability specific classrooms may require some additional educational certifications that prepare employees to work with handicapped children. Individuals interested in a career in this field can benefit by consulting with local employers to discover their specific qualification standards prior to taking further educational courses.
Many schools typically employ a classroom assistant to help facilitate learning in the classroom. This may be accomplished by assisting the primary teacher in a wide variety of responsibilities, helping students with questions and assignment instructions, and serving the school in some extra-curricular activities. Every school tends to post their own classroom assistant qualifications for this type of position, as the responsibilities and requirements may be unique to the classroom in which the employee is working.
Special education classrooms may require certain health and educational certifications of assistants that are not needed for traditional primary or secondary education. These certifications often train individuals in the different methods used to handle specific types of disabilities, both physical and mental. Teaching aids working with students with multiple physical impairments are often required to know different life saving techniques and safe carrying maneuvers. Assistants may also need to be trained to perform gentle but restraining body holds that may need to be used on some older, mentally handicapped students who may be in danger of harming themselves or their fellow classmates.
Experience is often a vital component among other classroom assistant qualifications. Those interested in becoming a teaching assistant can gain experience by working in nursery and primary schools with young children. These entry level type positions may require that employees care for babies, help small children during meal times and recess, and encourage children to participate in structured play which encourages different types of learning. Applicants for such roles are usually required to have completed secondary school. Post-secondary education, while not necessary, is often looked upon favorably, and students can benefit from focusing their class studies on education and childhood development.
Skill in teaching reading and math is also necessary for those hoping to becoming teaching assistants. Students who begin to struggle early in life with these skills often fail to progress past particular grade levels in these areas, though they continue to physically advance with their classmates. By requiring these skills in the classroom assistant qualifications, schools help students who struggle with math and reading comprehension receive the one on one attention that can help them progress to the next level. Assistants may also be able to identify those students early who may be showing signs of a learning disability that impairs their ability to read or do math on the same level as their peers.
