Special Education Teacher

Teaching remains a popular and rewarding career choice. Jobs as a special education teacher are especially challenging, but also particularly rewarding for many people.

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What is a Special Education Teacher?
If you are considering teaching, especially working as a special education teacher, you should know more about the job itself. A special education teacher works with students with a variety of disabilities. These can range from minor learning disabilities to severe mental retardation. Most special education teachers will work with mildly to moderately disabled students, modifying the school's curriculum to meet their educational needs.

Which students qualify for special education services? Students with significant vision or hearing impediment may use the services of a special education teacher. Speech and language difficulties, emotional difficulties, multiple disabilities, orthopedic challenges and brain injury may all qualify a child for special education services. A special education teacher may also work with severely disabled students, teaching basic life skills. You will also make certain that children receive the services to which they are legally entitled, working closely with both parents and school administrators.

As a special education teacher, you will provide individualized instruction, teach problem solving skills, work with children on emotional and social skills and more. Special education teachers can make a big difference in each child's life, providing them with the tools that they need to succeed in school and in life. Working as a special education teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs in education today, and one of the fastest growing.

Becoming a Special Education Teacher
All states require that special education teachers be appropriately licensed. Licensing requires a Bachelor's degree in special education from an approved university program in special education. Some states require a Master's degree in special education, or offer additional incentives to the special education teacher who pursues further education in his or her field.

Each state has its own rules regarding teacher certification, and some may even offer an alternate path to becoming a special education teacher. Typically, a special education teacher spends somewhat longer on coursework than a teacher with a different specialty; however, this is not always true. Some states license special education teachers in regard to certain disabilities, so a teacher may have qualifications for working with autistic children, or for managing the special education needs of very young children.

During your training to become a special education teacher, you will learn about educational psychology, legal issues associated with special education, child development, and special strategies for teaching disabled students. Following your coursework, you will spend a year working in a classroom setting student teaching under an experienced teacher. This real world experience will help to prepare you for your career as a special education teacher.

What You Need to Know about Special Education
If you are considering a career as a special education teacher, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Working as a teacher, whether you are teaching children with disabilities or not, is often a time consuming and emotionally draining job. It is, however, just as rewarding as it is challenging. As a special education teacher, you may find that your job involves some issues that are not typical within the mainstream classroom.

Some students will simply require individualized attention and curriculum development. For these students, you may work with their regular classroom teacher on appropriate accommodations for their disabilities, as defined in the child's Individualized Education Plan or IEP. Other students may work exclusively with a special education teacher; however, many schools opt to integrate students with disabilities into the mainstream classrooms in the school as much as possible.

As a special education teacher, you may work with students on social and emotional issues more than a teacher with a different specialty. You will likely be part of a special education team at your school, integrating a variety of therapies for the children you teach, and you will, of course, work closely with each parent to ensure that you are meeting their child's individual needs.

Would You Be a Good Special Education Teacher?
In order to be a good special education teacher you must be both passionate and compassionate. You must be conscientious and observant. Most of all, you must be dedicated to your work and your students. As a special education teacher, you may find yourself teaching students with severe disabilities, and in some cases, teaching life skills rather than the standard curriculum. You will need to be flexible and able to think about a variety of learning styles to individualize teaching for the children in your class.

A special education teacher may also need a near limitless supply of patience, as they may find themselves not only handling the typical stresses of classroom management, but doing so with children of varying abilities. Communication and cooperation are essential skills for any teacher, but especially for a special education teacher.

Special education teachers do bear the burden of additional paperwork documenting the progress of their students and making certain that each student is receiving the education that he or she is legally entitled to. As a special education teacher, you may find yourself caught in the middle of legal issues regarding special education, and these can be quite stressful.

Services Provided by Special Education Teachers
Special education teachers provide a wide variety of services, depending upon the school district and their own specialties. In large school districts, you may find more specialized special education teachers, whereas in a small one, a single special education teacher may serve students with a wide variety of disabilities. The services you provide will depend upon the ages of children you teach, the severity of their disabilities, your school district, and the individual needs of each child.

Special education teachers may provide speech services, work with students with hearing impairments, assist students in need of technological aids, and work with classroom teachers to meet their students needs. They may have a classroom of students with special needs, or work with students in small groups outside of their regular class.

With very young children, special education teachers may work to coordinate a wide variety of therapies. As children move into elementary school, the special education teacher can work with them to provide learning assistance where needed, with the goal of allowing them the same successes as a child without disabilities. Finally, in the later years of education, the special education teacher can assist the child and family in making plans for the future.

What You Will Do as a Special Education Teacher
Your day as a special education teacher may vary depending upon the district you teach in and the children you teach. You may work with many children for periods of time each day or week in a school resource room or you may have a full time class of children with special needs. You will spend significant amounts of time making certain that all legalities with regard to special education are met, that each child's IEP is being followed, and staying in close and regular contact with parents and other members of the child's educational team. You may find yourself in regular close contact with the school administration to make certain that the child's legal rights are respected.

While individualized attention is critical for every child, it is especially critical for children with special needs. You may assist classroom teachers in modifying curriculum or instruction for an individual student, or help provide training about disabilities to teachers and staff. Some of the children you teach may have individual aids assisting them in your classroom or their regular classroom and you should work not only with the child, but with their aids to help them meet their full potential. Children with learning disabilities may need material presented in different ways, and your training as a special education teacher can equip you to assist these children.

Special education teachers are a vital part of the school team for many children, ranging from those with severe disabilities to those who simply need a little additional help for a few years during their school career.

Specialties within Special Education
There are a number of specialties within special education. You may choose a specialty during your initial teacher training, or while working toward a Master's degree, depending upon your state's licensing laws. Some special education teachers focus on working with severely disabled children, while others may specialize in working with deaf or hard of hearing children. In some districts, even if you have specialized training, you may work with children with a wide variety of disabilities.

There is a growing demand for special education teachers, particularly those with additional training in helping children with autism, learning disabilities or emotional challenges. While programs specializing in autism are still rare, many universities and teaching programs do offer specialties in assisting children with particular difficulties or disabilities. Most special education teachers work within the public school system; however, some work for private schools or organizations.

If you are passionate about a particular issue, or have been touched by it, you may find yourself driven to become a special education teacher for children with a particular disability. More and more parents are advocating for their children's educational needs and seeking out the specialized knowledge of well trained special education teachers. This sort of passion can be a great basis for a rewarding career.

Special Education for Very Young Children
As more and more states strive to recognize children with special needs at a young age, there is a growing need for special education teachers who work with very young students. Early intervention has been shown to be very successful for children with disabilities, and both parents and school districts are working with special education teachers to meet the needs of these young children. If you work with very young children, you may find yourself working alongside speech therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists to provide the care this child needs in order to eventually succeed in an educational setting.

In your work as a special education teacher working with young children, you may find yourself working in a preschool setting, as most districts now provide publicly funded preschool for children with disabilities. You could also find yourself working with a publicly funded early intervention program that provides a variety of therapies and services for children in their own homes.

Recognizing the needs of children with disabilities at an early age can dramatically change their eventual outcome, so this branch of special education may be particularly rewarding. If you enjoy working with very young children, becoming a special education teacher focused on early childhood education may be the right choice for you.

Special Education as a Career
As a career, special education can be very rewarding. While most of us are aware that the salary range for teachers is not as high as it could be, many special education teachers do have master's degrees. In many states, higher levels of education receive a higher salary. While some special education teachers will work year round, many do work a 10 month year. There is, however, no denying that the rewards of jobs in special education are personal, as opposed to financial.

The special education teacher should work with parents to advocate for their child's needs and help that child do the best they are able and learn as much as they are able. Depending upon your specialty, you may work with young children or older children. You will prepare each child you work with for their future, whether that is the next year of school or leaving school and moving onto adulthood. The rewards of helping each child achieve their potential can be great.

While being a special education teacher is not a low stress career, it is a rewarding one. You will work hard, but you can make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities and their families. The difference you make in each child's life may be felt for years to come.


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