Is Special Education Teaching For You?
When I first applied for a job at the local school district, I had no idea that special education even existed. The certified personnel representative who interviewed me advised me to go into special education after taking a look at my major in psychology. I had some experience teaching English to Mexican college students, but high school was a completely different ball game.
After trekking to several schools that had posted a vacancy, I finally received approval from the principal to become one of its special education teachers. One of the main attributes that you may want to consider when going to a job interview as a potential teacher is to show that you did your homework. The Alternative Teaching Certificate Program that trained me did an excellent job to prepare me for that interview, and I was quite confident that I had the necessary knowledge and skills to become a teacher in that specialized area. As a bonus, I discovered that my college classes in psychology were exactly what was needed to pass the certification state test.
It is highly recommendable to pay close attention when sitting in your ATCP classes to everything that Jean Piaget has written about the development of intelligence in children and adolescents. So are the discoveries made by Erik Erikson, an eminent psychoanalyst, who focused on the various stages of development that we all go through during our life. These two authors are prominently involved in what the Texas Education Agency expects from its teachers. If you haven’t studied these areas in your college courses, your ATCP will supply you with all the necessary information.
There are of course other famous writers and scientists who have had a great impact on the present educational philosophy. One of them is Abraham Maslow who described the hierarchy of needs, a very famous pyramid that you will certainly meet several times when attending in-service training as a teacher. All these theories will help you if you decide to focus on special education, where you will find challenged students with diverse disabilities. It takes a special kind of person to work with them, but if you have the dedication and the patience, there is no greater reward than to watch a disabled student smile when understanding arrives.
The most commonly diagnosed disability is LD, or Learning Disability, a broad category that includes speech, concept forming, reading (perceptual problems), writing, and organizing information. LD students are not necessarily endowed with a low level of intelligence; they “simply” have problems deciphering words and their meaning. A typical example is dyslexia (reading) or dysgraphia (writing), disabilities that, as we know, have affected very famous people.
There are of course other types of disabilities going from MR (mentally retarded) to ED (emotional disorder), and within these areas there are all kinds of variations. I have the honor to teach a young lady who is both MR and hearing impaired; she is so positive and happy-go-lucky that I feel much better after talking to her. How can I complain about my minor physical problems after seeing how she embraces life with such abandon?
You must know by now that becoming a teacher is a unique experience that can change a life, yours and your students’. So what are you waiting for?
Tags: Teaching Certification