Educating the educators: developing those who support learning for students with additional learning needs BENITA MCLACHLAN and GERALDINE DAVIS This article reports findings from a research project which developed and introduced the Enhanced Learn- ing Support Assistant Programme (ELSAP) as a source of professional development for learning support assis- tants who were supporting students with additional learning needs in a college of further education in England. The purpose of this article is to share findings from the project and to highlight the benefits experi- enced when learning support assistants can participate in professional development activity. The research project was a mixed methods study with participants drawn from learning support assistants within one college of further education in England. Data were collected throughout the 14-week intervention. Find- ings indicate that the programme had a positive effect on participants’ confidence, sense of professional iden- tify and of being valued, as well as improving their ability to perform their role. Key words: learning support assistants, learning diffi- culties and disabilities, professional development, inclusive education. Introduction and background Social inclusion is a multidimensional concept explained by Bronfenbrenner (2005) as an ecosystem which interlinks theoretical stances with real-life situations or conditions, in this case educational theory and practice with adult disabil- ity education. The aim of social inclusion is to increase opportunities for young people with disabilities to gain employment, for example through vocational education and training (Nilsson, 2010). Further education has a positive role to play in social inclusion in the UK, including working with young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) to increase their prospects of finding employment and participating meaningfully in society, for example by becoming economically active. Thus inclusion can be understood as social justice, in that the exclusion and oppression of certain individuals are hopefully removed, and difference is embraced (Daniels and Garner, 1999). Part of the initiative towards inclusion is the employment of learning support assistants (LSAs) working alongside lec- turers to support learners with LDD accessing the vocational curriculum. It is this element of the role of LSAs within the vocational curriculum that is the focus of this research. The role of these LSAs can be complex (Morgan, 2000), with aspects of education and care mixed into their work. The role of the LSA within a large college can be one of ‘emotional labour’ (Robson and Bailey, 2008, p. 1) with ‘burdensome workloads’ and ‘unrealistic expectations that they will address all of their students’ needs’ (Robson and Bailey, 2008, p. 16). However, our experience in working with LSAs in a partner college to our university was that the LSAs were often poorly equipped to deal with their roles in inclusive educational settings and this finding is supported elsewhere (Bailey and Robson, 2004; Robson and Bailey, 2008). The LSAs expressed that they felt the need for pro- fessional development but they considered there was a lack of appropriate training to prepare them for their roles sup- porting learners. The LSAs specifically described some of the stressful situations they found themselves in while undertaking their roles. These experiences identified the need for LSAs to be empowered to work with learners with LDD, and it was this that triggered the research project reported here. Two examples from researcher field notes illustrate the emotional stress that LSAs experience: ‘A was in tears today, she thought she misread the trig- gers of her learner with Asperger’s Syndrome and failed to keep him safe’. ‘B became visibly upset during our discussion tonight when we were discussing strategies for supporting learn- ers who are on the profound spectrum with regards to their disability. She was explaining to others how the suddenness of a learner who suffered an epileptic seizure impacted on her personally and which in the future may impact on her ability to make quick professional SUPPORT IN FURTHER EDUCATION © 2013 NASEN DOI: 10.1111/1467-9604.12035