What is Special Education?
When you are trained to work with special education students, you may be dealing with blind, deaf, physically or emotionally challenged students. There are also those who may have particular language barriers. Special education teachers are trained in one specific area that they can specialize in a certain area.
In order to work with special children and gain special education teaching jobs, you must not only have your proper teaching education and specialized training credits; you must also have your teaching certification. You should also have compassion to help those students that need the extra attention and be patient by nature.
Special Education Teaching Jobs Growth
The Bureau of Labor Statistic predicts a 17 percent growth through the year 2018, which is faster than the average of all occupations. The increase in special education teaching work is due to the fact that more students have been placed in special education whereas twenty years ago, everyone went to school together, which was not very useful for special needs students at the time. Job growth will also in part be due to current special education students switching careers.
Earnings Averages
Those looking for special education teaching work should know that if you teach on the elementary level, average nationwide range from $40,480 to $63,500. Those that work in middle schools salaries average $41,720 to $63,480; and those that work in secondary schools average $41,810 to $65,680, according to the latest statistic given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Those looking for special education teaching careers certainly will have a larger pick of positions than in previous years. At the same time, a special education teacher's position can be more stressful than teacher’s not teaching special education. This of course, will depend on where your specialties are; obviously working with emotionally troubled kids is going to be more stressful than working with deaf students.
Skills Beyond Education and Licensing
When you are seeking special education teaching jobs, you should realize that these are more than just jobs; this is truly a commitment to helping a group of students that have a special need. You are there to get past those needs and instill an education.
Depending on the type of special education you are planning to enter, you will need a degree of creativity when dealing with children that have special needs. In other words, you have to find out what works for each student and this takes time to learn and can become emotionally draining for you.
One of the main reasons special education teachers move on to other teaching areas is because they did not have a good coping mechanism, they may have been overwhelmed with the day to day activities and how much their students need them. You must have a good outlet, which is why many special education teachers have groups where they can just get together and support one another. It is can be emotionally difficult if you are the type that wants to save the world.
As with any profession where you are dealing with people that have special needs, you will need to learn to have balance in your life and separate work from home. Otherwise, your life will become consumed with teaching and you will soon lose the connection to your family. Begin creating balance in your life before you begin to look for special education teaching jobs. Practice makes perfect and by continuing to separate work from home and not allowing yourself to become overly emotional in situations that deal with your students, you will be able to help them more.
Final Thoughts
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