Part 1: Rights and Responsibilities

Becoming a Teaching Assistant

Congratulations on your appointment as a teaching or marking assistant. There are many benefits to be derived from your new position. Although teaching assistantships often provide graduate students with their primary financial resource, they also give invaluable teaching experience to prospective professors. Graduate work, particularly research and writing, can also be an isolating experience. Fortunately, becoming a teaching assistant will bring you into closer contact with the larger community of teachers and students that makes up every university. As a TA, you will have the opportunity to help students understand the origins of those cultures, norms, and relationships that they encounter in their day-to-day lives. Being a teaching assistant, however, also requires accepting an increased work load and the higher stress levels that result from having less time to work on your own research. Despite this reality, most teaching assistants do a remarkable job. Hopefully, this resource guide will prepare you for the task that lies ahead and save you valuable time in the process.