What Do Special Education Teachers Do
A high school special education
teacher who is co-teaching a class with a general
education teacher, a special education teacher in a
self-contained middle school classroom for children with
emotional and behavior disorders, and an elementary
special education teacher in a resource room who has
children coming in and out of the classroom all day will
all have very different activities and responsibilities.
Direct Teaching
Most special education teachers spend close to the majority of their classroom time actually teaching their students (Allinder, 1994). It has been said that in general education the school system dictates the curriculum, but in special education, the child's individual needs dictate the curriculum (Lieberman, 1985). The special education teacher must meet the needs of all of these students.
Paperwork
Special education teachers have a great deal of paperwork to complete. Writing up these reports usually falls on the special education teachers. Special education teachers never work completely alone. Depending on a child's disability and the school setting, special education teachers need to work with speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists, school social workers, general education teachers, and community workers to plan and implement the best education strategies for each child. Special education teachers who work in inclusive settings or who co-teach or team-teach with general education teachers must spend enough time to adequately plan, develop, and implement an educational environment that is challenging and appropriate for all the students in the class, those with disabilities and those without.
Special education teachers usually serve as a resource on special education issues to other staff in the school--teachers, administrators, speech-language pathologists, parents, and others. To do all of this effectively, special education teachers need to maintain positive relationships with the principal, other teachers, and other personnel.
