The Quality of Teacher and Teaching Assistant Collaboration from a Teacher and Teaching Assistant Perspective

Sa？etak For the class to be a supportive community in the learning process, it requires a high level of co-operation between teachers and teaching assistants. It is particularly emphasized that those teachers who are supported by teaching assistants feel greater satisfaction in everyday work than those in whom such support is lacking. The presented research is based on research questions seeking to gain insight into the perception of teachers and teaching assistants on the ways of their cooperation as well as which factors contribute to the quality of cooperation. The conducted research included classroom and subject teachers (N = 40) and teaching assistants (N = 29) from 7 elementary schools in Croatia. The data was collected by focus group interviews and analyzed and processed by qualitative data analysis. The results point to specific areas of cooperation between teachers and teaching assistants. Since the teaching assistants are the ones who spend the most time in direct work with the student, the teachers see them as an associate who knows the pupil well, his abilities and characteristics. Therefore, we can conclude that the teaching assistant has an indispensable role in inclusion of students with special educational needs