Who is a special education teacher? A special education teacher is someone who is involved with teaching children with some disabilities varying from minor disabilities to major impairments. This job requires a lot of seriousness and background work.
But if you are here, then possibly you know all this already.
What you need to know is if you have what it takes to be a special education teacher. There are a few prerequisites for this job. It is expected that you have a strong sense of responsibility, are eager to help these children and are ready to sacrifice small problems for a bigger goal.
If you think you have it within you, then here is how you can continue to fulfill your dreams.
Get Experience.
When you decide to go for educational work with special children, start gaining experience. Working as an educator, working in the classroom next to the special education teacher as an assistant is a good idea.
Get a degree.
It is sad, but in reality there are several universities that offer courses in special education. Try and get into one of these if you want. If not, your only choice is to get a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. These subjects can vary from Mathematics, English to smarter choices such as Sociology, Psychology etc.
Select Specific Disabilities to focus on.
There are a number of disabilities. Do some research and find out which one you think you want to do, and more importantly you can work with it. Teaching work for special children can mean teaching people with emotional or physical disabilities. Disability may be very mild to moderate. Speech, hearing and visual impairments are also included as a disability which means that you need to teach yourself their language to communicate better.
Take praxis.
The Praxis II teaching exam for special education is something you need to be clear with flying colors. Different states will demand different grades for teaching work that they might offer you. So plan ahead and do well on the exam.
Do an internship.
Doing internships in other fields and doing one in special education are completely different ballgames. Doing an internship in special education means you have to work full time in several classrooms and are expected to take your class at the same time. This might sound overwhelming, but consider having 2 years work experience when you finish your course and that might be a good idea. Add a good salary package and there is no reason why you don’t need an internship.
Apply for job.
This will probably be the easiest step. Teaching work in special education is not difficult to obtain provided you have followed the instructions well. Less competition and many opportunities. You will definitely be employed, and will be happy to do it with a very valuable and noble profession.
