Jennifer Horgan: Two adults in a classroom makes sense in this day and age

A classroom works seamlessly when there is another adult in the room. It could be a team teacher, something increasingly common in countries like Austria, Denmark, and Italy, with positive results

Future classrooms should have a minimum of two adults. File picture: Danny Lawson/PA

Now that our government has pressed pause on its disastrous SNA reconfiguration, I’d like to press fast forward. Future classrooms should look different to the past in one fundamental respect — they should have a minimum of two adults.

Whether that second adult is another teacher, or an SNA, (recognised for the work they do beyond their brief), or a teaching assistant, they are needed. Two adults should be our baseline approach.

I understand that even teachers will need time to consider this, along with support and training.

My job as a teacher involves far more shock absorption than in the past. It is my job to stay calm and predictable. 

One child might be kicking off, banging their fist on the desk because they’re upset about a school rule. Another might be filling me in on why they believe armed revolution is always worth it in the end. A third child might be doing his best to entertain a friend across the room by swinging on their chair while balancing a bottle on one finger. 

Meanwhile, there’s a curriculum to teach. In these moments, my job is to absorb what is happening in the room; all the emotions, from excitement to fury, are mine to take and hold.

Up to 86% of teachers in a survey last year reported some level of burnout. I’m sure it’s similar among nurses, social workers, and other caregivers.

Now that classrooms are populated by children on individual devices, there is even more to manage. Technology can be an effective educational tool, vital for certain learners, but we have allowed it take centre stage. 

For many young people school is the only time they’re away from a screen. Now we’ve decided to hand them another one.

Technology companies court school leaders, taking them off for nights in the K club to “connect, reflect, and reimagine”. As a teacher, I need a colleague not an app, and I’d rather human supports for students. 

A hand on the shoulder beats any offering on screen. But that doesn’t make profit for companies. It doesn’t get school leaders out on the golf course.

A teacher's typical day

Beyond technology, many students will have additional needs, and then you have all the undiagnosed, interpersonal, socio-emotional factors at play. Children are simply not capable of moving as one block. 

Thankfully, they are no longer conditioned to follow instruction in order to avoid the cane. 

But the fact that teachers are now dealing with up to 30 individuals rather than one unified student ‘body’ introduces new challenges.

It comes down to basics. As a secondary teacher I am in and out of different classrooms and groups every hour. 

I need to set up my presentation quickly on the white board. 

Health and safety are my priority so I must take a register quickly and keep a close eye on lateness, toilet breaks or absences. 

I must ensure that everyone is on task, not flicking onto Pinterest on their iPad, but I’m also supposed to provide the stimulus, hooking them in to learn, and assessing them as I go. 

There is a chance, if I have two classes in a row, that I might need the toilet, or to pick up a forgotten resource.

Team teaching

A classroom works seamlessly when there is another adult in the room. It could be a team teacher, an approach I’m lucky to experience in my school. 

Team teaching is increasingly common in countries like Austria, Denmark, and Italy, with positive results. 

A large-scale cross-sectional survey of 458 Flemish teachers engaged in team teaching found that appropriate team teaching models enhance teachers’ self-efficacy.

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To a lot of people, particularly those who haven’t been inside a classroom since their own school days, a minimum of two adults in every classroom will seem like a ridiculous idea.

For example, Shane Coleman and Matt Cooper discussed SNAs a couple of weeks ago on Cooper’s podcast Path to Power. 

Coleman decided it was "bonkers" that no school would ever lose an SNA, while Matt Cooper worried about the individual SNA who might work with a child with profound needs for six years and then find there is nothing to do.

There is never nothing to do.

Yes, there may be the exceptional case of a school having too many SNAs based on the current redistribution model, whereby schools are assigned a few SNAs and told to deploy them as they see fit. But what we most need is a change to that system.

Principal and education commentator Simon Lewis believes we must get back to the model wherein the SNA follows the child, so that “if a child requires SNA support, they get SNA support, and that is not happening no matter what the NCSE or the Department of Education is saying”. 

Natalie Murphy and her daughter Lily from Dublin join special needs assistants in a demonstration outside Leinster House in Dublin last month.

Lewis cites a survey of schools several years ago — 90% of schools reported not having enough SNAs. He imagines the situation has worsened.

Schools often find themselves scrambling to cover the basics and teachers often find themselves in a room with three or four students in need of extra care, all wielding iPads, and only one SNA, who might need to ‘float’ between classes to cover movement breaks.

If it’s about saving pennies, early intervention is cheaper than dealing with the ‘problem’ later down the line. 

People with additional learning needs are disproportionately represented in our prisons, to give only one example. With support, the same people can thrive. 

If we give a little early on, we get a lot back later down the line. We also avoid staff burnout.

Public trust

Team teachers, teaching assistants, and/or SNAs with expanded duties, are always worth their wage, but governments are poor at long-term investment. They want immediate gains even when their approach erodes public trust.

The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, shared this week, reveals the grievance mindset is prevalent here, with two-thirds of the public believing that business and government serve a select few, and is “biased in favour of the rich and powerful”. 

As a teacher, I understand where this absence of trust is coming from.

The source of it was evident in the conversation between Shane Coleman and Matt Cooper. They chose to focus on the possible waste of government spending, with Coleman saying we need to have a ‘grown-up’ conversation about SNAs. 

For many young people school is the only time they’re away from a screen. Now we’ve decided to hand them another one. File picture: Danny Lawson/PA

We also need to have a ‘grown-up’ conversation about neutrality, Coleman said. This framing happens all the time. 

When people (mostly women) defend peace, or a system that cares for the vulnerable, they are accused of being infantile and a little bit dim. Investing in care is depicted as a waste of money because you can’t put a price or a value on people’s overall health, education, and life satisfaction.

To give Coleman credit he did admit that he is “by no means an expert” on the topic.

My teaching career turns 21 this summer. Take my word for it or don’t — we need a minimum of two adults in every classroom. 

We also need fewer contributions about classrooms from people who have no idea what they’re talking about.