Learning support teachers assist students who have general learning difficulties. Learning support teachers focus on basic skills such as numeracy and literacy and thus teach basic subjects such as writing, reading, math, and languages, and they work for an educational institution such as a primary or secondary school. They support students in their school work, plan learning strategies, identify their learning needs and progress, and act accordingly. They can work in various educational set-ups and act as support for other teachers or manage their own classes.
The following job titles also refer to learning support teacher:
learning support practitioner learning support educator teacher in learning support compensatory teacher early intervention specialist developmental teacher development support teacher practitioner of learning support teaching basic skills teacher
Learning Support Teachers work in schools, often dividing their time between classrooms, resource rooms, and designated support areas. They may work with students across multiple grade levels and subjects, requiring flexibility and adaptability. While regular school hours are typical, additional time may be needed for meetings, lesson planning, and student assessments. The role can be emotionally demanding, as Learning Support Teachers often work with students facing significant learning and behavioral challenges. Strong communication skills, patience, and empathy are essential qualities for success in this position.
Learning Support Teachers typically hold a bachelor’s degree in special education, education, or a related field, with specialized training in learning disabilities, behavioral challenges, or specific intervention techniques. Many states or regions require certification in special education or a related area. Practical experience through internships, student teaching, or previous roles in education is valuable. Continuing education and professional development in areas such as differentiated instruction, IEP development, and learning disabilities are important for career advancement and effective practice.
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Learning support teacher is a Skill level 4 occupation.
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of learning support teacher.
Assessment processes: Various evaluation techniques, theories, and tools applicable in the assessment of students, participants in a programme, and employees. Different assessment strategies such as initial, formative, summative and self-assessment are used for varying purposes.
Learning difficulties: The learning disorders some students face in an academic context, especially Specific Learning Difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and concentration deficit disorders.
Curriculum objectives: The goals identified in curricula and defined learning outcomes.
These skills are necessary for the role of learning support teacher.
Guarantee students’ safety: Ensure all students falling under an instructor or other person’s supervision are safe and accounted for. Follow safety precautions in the learning situation.
Prepare lesson content: Prepare content to be taught in class in accordance with curriculum objectives by drafting exercises, researching up-to-date examples etc.
Observe student’s progress: Follow up on students’ learning progress and assess their achievements and needs.
Liaise with educational support staff: Communicate with education management, such as the school principal and board members, and with the education support team such as the teaching assistant, school counsellor or academic advisor on issues relating the students’ well-being.
Adapt teaching to student’s capabilities: Identify the learning struggles and successes of students. Select teaching and learning strategies that support students’ individual learning needs and goals.
Apply teaching strategies: Employ various approaches, learning styles, and channels to instruct students, such as communicating content in terms they can understand, organising talking points for clarity, and repeating arguments when necessary. Use a wide range of teaching devices and methodologies appropriate to the class content, the learners’ level, goals, and priorities.
Provide learning support: Provide the necessary support to students with general learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy to facilitate learning by assessing the learner’s development needs and preferences. Design formal and informal outcomes of learning and deliver materials that facilitate learning and development.
Tutor students: Provide private, supplementary instruction to students individually to enhance their learning. Support and mentor students who struggle with a certain subject or who have learning difficulties.
Assess students: Evaluate the students’ (academic) progress, achievements, course knowledge and skills through assignments, tests, and examinations. Diagnose their needs and track their progress, strengths, and weaknesses. Formulate a summative statement of the goals the student achieved.
Identify education needs: Identify the needs of students, organisations and companies in terms of provision of education in order to aid in the development of curricula and education policies.
Adapt teaching to target group: Instruct students in the most fitting manner in regards to the teaching context or the age group, such as a formal versus an informal teaching context, and teaching peers as opposed to children.
Demonstrate when teaching: Present to others examples of your experience, skills, and competences that are appropriate to specific learning content to help students in their learning.
Communicate with youth: Use verbal and non-verbal communication and communicate through writing, electronic means, or drawing. Adapt your communication to children and young people`s age, needs, characteristics, abilities, preferences, and culture.
Give constructive feedback: Provide founded feedback through both criticism and praise in a respectful, clear, and consistent manner. Highlight achievements as well as mistakes and set up methods of formative assessment to evaluate work.
Provide lesson materials: Ensure that the necessary materials for teaching a class, such as visual aids, are prepared, up-to-date, and present in the instruction space.
Apply intercultural teaching strategies: Ensure that the content, methods, materials and the general learning experience is inclusive for all students and takes into account the expectations and experiences of learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. Explore individual and social stereotypes and develop cross-cultural teaching strategies.
Liaise with educational staff: Communicate with the school staff such as teachers, teaching assistants, academic advisors, and the principal on issues relating to students’ well-being. In the context of a university, liaise with the technical and research staff to discuss research projects and courses-related matters.
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of learning support teacher. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Learning needs analysis: The process of analysing a student’s learning needs through observation and testing, potentially followed by the diagnosis of a learning disorder and a plan for additional support.
Mathematics: Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. It involves the identification of patterns and formulating new conjectures based on them. Mathematicians strive to prove the truth or falsity of these conjectures. There are many fields of mathematics, some of which are widely used for practical applications.
School psychology: The study of human behaviour and performance with respect to various school processes, the learning needs of young individuals, and the psychological tests accompanying this field of study.
Primary school procedures: The inner workings of a primary school, such as the structure of the relevant education support and management, the policies, and the regulations.
Language teaching methods: The techniques used to teach students a foreign language, such as audio-lingual, communicative language teaching (CLT), and immersion.
Behavioural disorders: The often emotionally disruptive types of behaviour a child or adult can show, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).
Teamwork principles: The cooperation between people characterised by a unified commitment to achieving a given goal, participating equally, maintaining open communication, facilitating effective usage of ideas etc.
Spelling: The rules concerning the way words are spelled.
Grammar: The set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language.
Special needs education: The teaching methods, equipment and settings used to support students with special needs in achieving succes in school or community.
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of learning support teacher. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Assist in the organisation of school events: Provide assistance in the planning and organisation of school events, such as the school’s open house day, a sports game or a talent show.
Identify learning disorders: Observe and detect symptoms of Specific Learning Difficulties such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in children or adult learners. Refer the student to the correct specialised educational expert if necessary.
Teach writing: Teach basic or advanced writing principles to varying age groups in a fixed eduction organisation setting or by running private writing workshops.
Facilitate teamwork between students: Encourage students to cooperate with others in their learning by working in teams, for example through group activities.
Construct individual learning plans: Set up, in collaboration with the student, an individual learning plan (ILP), tailored to the student’s specific learning needs, taking into account the student’s weaknesses and strengths.
Teach reading strategies: Instruct students in the practice of discerning and understanding written communication. Use different materials and contexts when teaching. Assist in the development of reading strategies suitable for learners’ needs and goals, including: skimming and scanning or for the general comprehension of texts, signs, symbols, prose, tables, and graphics.
Recognise indicators of gifted student: Observe students during instruction and identify signs of exceptionally high intelligence in a student, such as showing remarkable intellectual curiosity or showing restlessness due to boredom and or feelings of not being challenged.
Escort students on a field trip: Accompany students on an educational trip outside the school environment and ensure their safety and cooperation.
Apply pre-teaching methods: Teach the content of an upcoming lesson in advance to an individual or a small group of students with learning difficulties, explaining the core issues and using repetition with the goal of improving their learning.
Support gifted students: Assist students showing great academic promise or with an unusually high IQ with their learning processes and challenges. Set up an individual learning plan catered to their needs.
Arrange parent teacher conference: Set up joined and individual meetings with students’ parents to discuss their child’s academic progress and general well-being.
Teach mathematics: Instruct students in the theory and practice of quantities, structures, shapes, patterns, and geometry.
Assist students with equipment: Provide assistance to students when working with (technical) equipment used in practice-based lessons and solve operational problems when necessary.
Manage resources for educational purposes: Identify the necessary resources needed for learning purposes, such as materials in class or arranged transportation for a field trip. Apply for the corresponding budget and follow up on the orders.
Provide teacher support: Assist teachers in classroom instruction by providing and preparing lesson materials, monitoring the students during their work and helping them in their learning where necessary.
Keep records of attendance: Keep track of the pupils who are absent by recording their names on a list of absentees.
Teach languages: Instruct students in the theory and practice of a language. Use a wide range of teaching and learning techniques to promote proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in that language.
Perform playground surveillance: Observe students’ recreational activities to ensure student safety and well-being and intervene when necessary.
Secondary school procedures: The inner workings of a secondary school, such as the structure of the relevant education support and management, the policies, and the regulations.
Oversee extra-curricular activities: Supervise and potentially organise educational or recreational activities for the students outside of mandatory classes.
Counsel students: Provide assistance to students with educational, career-related or personal issues such as course selection, school adjustment en social integration, career exploration and planning, and family problems.
