Becoming a Teacher’s Aide: Everything You Need to Know

Working with children as a teacher’s aide is an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s a career where you have the opportunity to support the development of children during their education journey. You’ll be making a significant difference to your students as you help them through their school experience. And the teacher’s you work with will also find your support invaluable as you relieve some of their stress.

If you have the passion and dedication to light up the minds of the next generation of Australians, you’re already on your way to becoming a teacher’s aide. 

Ready to discover the steps you can take to get qualified and start your career?

Becoming a teacher’s aide will lead to an incredibly fulfilling career. Getting your foot in the door is a fairly straightforward process of four steps:

There are different types of teacher’s aides that vary slightly in their focus or specialisation.

Choosing a qualification can be tricky, because there are a few education pathways available to become a teacher’s aide and each will qualify you to provide different levels of care. At a minimum you’ll need a Certificate III in Education Support to get your foot in the door, but there are a couple of other qualifications that can lead you down even more rewarding avenues.

When browsing courses, make sure you choose one that will qualify you in the state you want to work in.

It’s also a good idea to jump into some free online teacher’s aide courses to bulk up your resume and give yourself a wide berth of expertise. While you likely won’t get support in these free short courses like you will in a Certificate III or IV, they’re a great way to keep learning while you’re job hunting (even once you’re in the job).

It’s important to note that all education qualifications require a minimum amount of hours of Work Placement.

Work placement is hands-on practical experience at a formally recognised education provider. It’s essential everyone receives this experience because it allows you to put your theoretical knowledge into practice in a safe environment.

As a teacher’s aide, you’ll have a variety of broad, overarching responsibilities as part of your role. You’ll begin to learn about these in your teacher’s aide course, and will be able to put them into practice when you undertake your work placement. 

Your responsibilities as a teacher’s aide include:

• Supporting students’ learning
• Assisting with student behaviour management 
• Providing care and support to special needs students (if you have the necessary qualifications and skills)
• Helping with various admin, organisational and preparation tasks necessary for the smooth running of the classroom.

To fulfil these overarching responsibilities, you’ll likely be performing duties such as:

• Implementing teaching strategies like gamification and problem-based learning
• Building rapport with students
• Circulating the classroom to assist small groups or individual students
• Assisting students to develop social skills
• Distributing and collecting class-work
• Preparing work spaces for students (indoors and outdoors)
• Teaching students how to learn
• Developing a positive and harmonious relationship with the classroom teacher

As a teacher’s aide, it’s also important to know what not to do. While you’ll want to foster a fun, supportive learning environment, it’s crucial for your students that you avoid:

The future industry growth for education aides is projected to be very strong, with an estimated 17,000 job openings per year until 2023.

This is incredibly strong job growth, which is great news for when you start applying for jobs. You can be quite confident that the demand for teacher’s aides means it won’t be too hard to get accepted for job interviews. And once you’re in the interview, the only thing you need to focus on is impressing your prospective employer.

Some ways to prepare for the interview are by:

Some schools may also require you to perform a teaching demonstration as part of your application. While it might get your nerves going, take this opportunity to really demonstrate the strengths you spoke about in your interview. This is your best chance to leave a lasting impression on your interviewer.

Demand for education aides is highest in Queensland (27.3%), Victoria (22.2%) and New South Wales (21.7%).

A teacher’s aide often works part-time due to most schools hiring extra help on an ‘as needed-basis.’ Hence, many receive an hourly wage rather than a salary. The average hourly rate for a teacher’s aide is $29.97.

This industry is female-dominated with 90% of current workers being female.

This career path is an excellent choice for those who are looking to return to the workforce or change career paths, as the majority of workers fall into the 45-54 years age bracket (34.1%), with a close 25.6% falling in the 35-44 age bracket.

34.3% of teaching assistants acquire a Certificate III or IV in Education, while another 15.9% will progress to complete a Diploma or Advanced Diploma. Only 11.6% of teacher’s aides hold Bachelor’s Degrees.

Many aides who proceed to complete a Bachelor’s degree tend to specialise in working with children with disabilities or wish to become a fully qualified teacher.

Teacher’s aides are critical to the Australian education system. It’s these individuals who support our teachers and children who may need extra attention throughout their education journey.

If you’re good with kids, have excellent social skills and are patient, becoming a teaching assistant is the right career move for you!