This article evaluates a partnership scheme between the public sector union UNISON and the London Borough of Tower Hamlet designed to address the learning needs of teaching assistants. Highlighting local and national pressures affecting the role of teaching assistants, it explores how this scheme sought to develop new skills and capabilities among this group of employees with limited experience of formal learning. The article assesses the outcomes of the scheme from the perspective of the three key stakeholders, the assistants, the borough, and the union, arguing that many but not all of the respective objectives were met.
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