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Page 169+ of this STL handbook explore professional development

From page 178

Identify sources of support for planning and reviewing your development
To help you to review your practice, you will need to use different sources of support on an ongoing basis. This means that, as well as having your appraisal, you should use other opportunities arounf you. These may incluide:

• formal support disscussions
• informal support discussions
• one-to-one supervision
• appraisal
• within the organisation
• beyond the organisation

Formal support
This will be through your college tutor, or through your line manager or mentor in your school or college. Formal support will be given through meetings, either with these individuals or in a larger group, so that you can discuss your practice. This is likely to be recorded in some way so that you have paperwork to refer to.

Informal support
This will be the support you gain from talking to colleagues as well as teaching assisstants in your own and other schools or colleges about what they do. and also gathering advice from them about how they might deal with particular issues.

One-to-one supervision
These are meetings that you may have with your mentor or line support manager at work if you need to have extra support more regularly. They are a way of discussing any issues that arise at work, as well as personal ones that may have an impact on your practice - for example, relationships within the team, morale within the teaching ans learning environment, work issues or any other concerns you may have.

Appraisal
The appraisal process will help you to discuss, evaluate, plan and review your development in a structured way. Remember that appraisial should be an ongoing working cycle rather than just looking at it as an annual meeting.

Within the organisation
Your school or college will have procedures in place for planning and reviewing personal developmen, and you should be able to speak to others about the process to gather ideas.

Beyond the organisation
You many have opportunities or networks outside your school or college to help you plan and review your development. These mat be other teaching assistants you meet as part of your course, or those with whom you share a professioanl or curriculum area - for example, if you work mainly in a speech and language unit, or have a subject specialism in secondary school.

Best wishes with your study xx