The role of teaching assistants in managing behaviour in inclusive Catalan schools

Inclusive behaviour management and the roles of the various stakeholders involved continues to be of concern in education. As paraprofessionals within mainstream classrooms, many teaching assistants (TAs) assist with managing disruptive behaviour. This article explores how TA and teacher teams manage disruptive behaviour situations in 14 inclusive urban schools in Catalonia. Behaviour cases were reported by 17 TAs and 12 teachers through semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis produced three main categories under which results are organised: roles; coordination; and behaviour management procedures. The experiences reported reflect the importance of having more than one adult in a classroom to manage quality, reciprocity and to avoid excessive responsibility delegation. Limits must be consensual, coherent, contextualised and consistent between all stakeholders involved in education, including the students themselves. Finally, teachers and TAs share proactive strategies for prevention and anticipation, and reactive strategies for de-escalating behaviours.