Relevant pedagogical studies have previously highlighted the need for and importance of providing training and support for new Graduate Teaching Assistants (Sharpe, 2000; Young and Bippus, 2008; Korinek et al, 1999; Park, 2004). GTAs are usually PhD students who take on some teaching responsibilities while completing their doctoral studies. This is a widespread practice in the UK and the US Higher Education contexts, as well as in many European and Australian Universities. Research has shown that even full-time postgraduates aiming to complete their PhD in 3-4 years, regularly teach for 4 or more hours per week (Sharpe, 2000). In the UK, the National Postgraduate Committee of the National Union of  Students put forward guidelines as early as in 1991 and 1993 on the use of postgraduates for teaching that include a requirement for proper professional training.

Regardless of this recognition by various national and international bodies that PhD students who teach are making a considerable contribution, both to the student learning experience and the smooth operation of Universities, the training provided for teaching assistants often appears to be insufficient or consisting of limited ‘training on the job’ for many. Indeed, the literature has emphasised the many challenges that part time GTAs face and the significant role training and mentoring can have for their future career development. For example, unlike established academic staff, GTAs are seen as both teachers and students (Winstone and Moore, 2017) which can sometimes compromise their authority in the classroom. GTA training and support varies in different Universities and different countries from minimal instruction to more subject-specific preparation and guidance (Young and Bippus, 2008).

Given this context, there is a great need to consider training programme frameworks for the development of Graduate Teaching Assistants in a similar way that junior members of staff are often offered professional development and training in the beginning of their academic careers. Furthermore, discipline specific teaching training is of paramount importance for enhancing both the professional development of GTAs and the learning experience of undergraduate students.

Given this background, the aim of this paper is to explore preliminary findings of the impact of a pilot GTA training scheme. The ‘Sociology GTA Academy’ was launched in the Department of Sociology at Surrey University in Spring 2022 with the aim to provide extended subject-specific training throughout the semester. In its first pilot run, this included three 3-hour long training sessions covering, among other things: engaging students in seminars; creating interactive activities; marking and feedforward; dealing with sensitive topics and managing disruptive behaviours. This new initiative was supported by Faculty funding and it has been further extended in the last two years, following extensive feedback from the GTAs who undertake the training.

A second phase of the project is currently under way and we are gathering information on the Affordances of Discipline specific teaching training for PhD students who teach during their doctoral studies. Based on narrative analysis of the GTAs’ feedback, the paper will consider the learning experience of the GTAs that took part in the training and will highlight recommendations for further subject-specific training and its potential impact for both GTAs as well the UG students who are taught by GTAs.

Adopting an interpretivist sociological perspective (Blumer, 1962; Rock, 1979; Prus, 1997) the current study analyses the intersubjective learning and teaching experiences of PhD students who work as Graduate Teaching Assistants during their doctoral studies. The focus here is on their shared understandings of the situation, the areas they find most challenging when teaching and the areas of the discipline specific training they find most valuable. Combining sociological and pedagogical theoretical understandings provides a more holistic and robust exploration of the ways and processes through which the GTAs in the study shared their experiences of teaching in higher education and receiving specific support and training. Fundamental to this experience was an active, ongoing negotiation of their own PhD (student/teacher) identities and their aspirations for their future academic careers. The project involves narrative analysis of GTA feedback given for this pilot training initiative. Subsequently, the second phase of the project which is currently under way, involves an online survey on aspects of the training that GTAs found most valuable and the ways in which these helped them in their teaching practice and development.

The paper emphasises the wider need to provide support and robust developmental-based training and further guidance on LT career pathways, while also enhancing the learning experience of UG students. The main outcome is to propose a coherent, developmental framework for discipline specific teaching training of doctoral students who contribute to the teaching activities of their Academic Schools and Departments.

Kim Korinek, Judith A. Howard and George S. Bridges (1999) "Train the Whole Scholar": A Developmentally Based Program for Teaching Assistant Training in Sociology, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 343-359 Chris Park (2004) The graduate teaching assistant (GTA): lessons from North American experience, Teaching in Higher Education, 9:3, 349-361, DOI: 10.1080/1356251042000216660 Rhona Sharpe (2000) A framework for training graduate teaching assistants, Teacher Development, 4:1, 131-143, DOI: 10.1080/13664530000200106 Stacy L. Young & Amy M. Bippus (2008) Assessment of Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Training: A Case Study of a Training Program and Its Impact on GTAs, Communication Teacher, 22:4, 116-129, DOI: 10.1080/1740462080238268 Naomi Winstone & Darren Moore (2017) Sometimes fish, sometimes fowl? Liminality, identity work and identity malleability in graduate teaching assistants, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 54:5, 494-502, DOI: 10.1080/14703297.2016.1194769