Learning and support assistants in inclusive education: a transnational analysis of assistance services in Europe

Abstract

This paper presents results of a comparative study about assistance services for supporting students with disabilities in regular schools in five European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovakia and the UK). Besides the analysis of relevant documents on assistance services, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with learning and support assistants (LSAs), teachers and stakeholders from the Ministries of Education were conducted. The context of the study was the Erasmus+ project ‘Improving Assistance in Inclusive Education Settings’ (IMAS). The aim of the study was to reveal good-practices, strengths and weaknesses of this service in the five countries. One of the most interesting findings is that Slovakia is the only country with formal and domain-specific qualification requirements for working as an LSA. In line with previous research, further results showed that in all investigated countries, LSAs legally defined roles and responsibilities often do not correspond to their activities performed in practice. Based on these findings, recommendations for improving assistance services have also been provided. These recommendations could support relevant decision-makers in further developing assistance services to ensure adequate support for students with disabilities in regular schools.