Survey For Educational Assistants

I handed out a survey which consisted of 7 questions to all the educational assistants in Renfrew collegiate institute. There were 10 surveys handed out and returned and the results were basically all the same answers.

First question of the survey was if the EA’s enjoyed working with the kids everyday. 10 out of 10 stated that yes, they loved coming to the school everyday knowing they can work with the kids!

The second question was the level of stress the career gave the teachers. It ranged from 3-8 throughout all the assistants. Therefore depending on what you do everyday and the kid’s behavior this job can be very stressful for some.

Question number 3 asks if college or university prepared them for this career. 7 out of 10 say that college prepared them for this career and 3 out of 10 says it did not. The reason why it didn’t prepare them for this course was because the placement taught them more then the books. The assistants stated that experience is the best schooling for this career option.

The fourth question asked the educational assistants what elements of their day they brought home with them. I think all the educational assistants agreed and said the successes that the student have made throughout the day and what they can do the next day to make the students learn faster.

Question number five asks what some of the main responsibilities are. These were the results from all of the EA’s answers:

-implementing students goals

-personal care

-keeping students focused

-assisting the teachers

-academic marks

-physio therapy

-assisting life skills

The 6^th question I asked all the educational assistants in RCI was what they were not prepared for in this profession. Some of the answers consisted of how attached they get to the students, the wide range of disabilities that require different techniques, behavior of the students how busy and how demanding the job is and how emotionally involved you get with the kids.

The last question I asked them is what their favorite this is about their jobs. The answers varied but on the most part a lot of them talked about how the accomplishment of the students because it makes themselves and the students very happy each day and it is never a dull moment!