How Do I Become a Special Needs Teacher?
Do you have a dream to become a special education teacher? Indeed, a great thought. Special education teachers need to have certain special skills that enable them to identify the special needs of growing children who have any sort of developmental issues. The kind of support they need varies among disabilities among students which may affect their abilities in learning, behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical. Being a special education teacher, you can get a job across the industries including schools, childcare homes, and also support an individual in their family settings.
Let’s look at the requirements and the role that you need to accomplish to become a certified special education teacher.
The Job Description of Special Education Teacher
Regardless of whether you become a school teacher, teach students in community homes, or in a one-on-one setting, your responsibility will involve ensuring that your students overcome their disability factors gradually while enabling them to become successful in the classroom and beyond.
As a special education teacher, you will have to work together with general education teachers, administrators of the school as well as parents, and therapists to prepare to develop Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for every student on the basis of their exact needs. While your role may vary depending on the level and type of setting for which you work, your overall responsibility will remain the same. And that includes:
- Determining the individual needs of every student under you.
- Formulating Individualized Education Plans for each student
- Assigning and administering different activity plans based on the abilities of every student
- Collaborating with teachers, administrators, parents, and therapists to monitor and evaluate the progress of every student and accordingly changing in plans
- Making students prepared for success in their higher education
- Requirements to become a special education teacher
Get a bachelor’s degree:
Your foremost need is passing a bachelor’s degree from any recognized institution that opens you the way to advance to a certified course for special education teachers. Remember that a bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement that you need to complete first.
Get teaching experience
Further to the completion of your bachelor’s degree, you are required to earn first-hand experience to become eligible for certification. Many undergraduate or graduate degrees include practical training for special needs teacher training education in the curriculum. Pursuing this type, of course, helps you gain the required number of hours of practical experience. Else, you have to complete a student teaching course or education internship followed by your graduation to gain the necessary classroom experience.
Get State Certification: Every state requires education licensure of the issues by the state if you want to work in any public school under the control of the state. For private institutions, however, whether you have licensure of that state or a different one differs from school to school. So be sure to get licensed in the state with a specialization in special needs education.
After completing the special needs teacher training course and getting licensure you are allowed to start applying for jobs as a certified special education teacher.
Continuing education
Even if you get a job as a special education teacher, make sure to pursue continuing education that helps you keep updated with the changing and advanced methods of theory and practical knowledge in special education.
