A frontline job from a ‘behind the scenes’ position: A case of teacher aides’ learning support work with middle school readers in Queensland

Being ‘behind the scenes’ refers to teacher aides’ perceptions of their positioning in a schooling system under pressure for improved performance and achievement in reading literacy. This thesis reports on a case study that investigated the field of schooling surrounding the work of nine teacher aides from three schools in Queensland, Australia from 2012 to 2013. The study details the structures, routines, practices and relational workings of the social field that influenced the practices, expectations and dispositions of these teacher aides as they carried out learning support work with middle school readers who performed below minimum national benchmarks on NAPLAN reading tests.