Special education is an in-demand and rewarding career pathway. Pursuing a degree in special education can make you eligible for several roles in the education sector. A special education degree can equip you with diverse skills that can significantly help you in your teaching career as a special education teacher or a general education teacher.
You can work as a teacher or become an administrator or a leader in special education based on your qualifications and work experience. Special education teachers mentor differently-abled students. They effectively use their verbal and non-verbal communication skills to connect with their students and teach them while factoring in individual differences. Leaders in special education develop efficient teaching methods and techniques to meet the needs of children with special needs.
Sometimes traditional teachers decide to switch to special needs education during their general teaching career because of the various benefits this field offers. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree in early childhood education, inclusive education, educational psychology, special education, and other related fields can make you eligible to work in different roles in special education. In this article, we will discuss some reasons why you should pursue a degree in special education.
1. It is a meaningful career pathway
Special education is a rewarding career in which you get paid to help individuals with disabilities to become valuable members of society. Completing a master’s degree in special education or a related field is the first step toward this rewarding career pathway.
It is an emotionally fulfilling career pathway that provides you with a chance to connect with and understand differently-abled children. It is also a personally meaningful career pathway because it provides you with an opportunity to help children with special needs overcome their physical and cognitive challenges to lead a normal life..
2. It equips you with valuable skills
Even if you don’t plan to become a special education teacher, a degree in special education can equip you with several valuable skills that will also help you in your traditional teaching career. A degree in special education instills patience and devotion in teachers because both these skills are crucial in dealing with children with special needs.
Other than those skills, you will also learn excellent communication skills, and you will also be motivated to improve the lives of your students. All these valuable skills will help you become an effective special education teacher. A degree in special education will also teach you various strategies that you can employ to teach your students efficiently. Some of these strategies include;
- Thematic studying, which means using a scientific concept as a theme and incorporating it into all other subjects
- Mixing simple instruction with specialized instructions
- Forming smaller groups in the class consisting of students at a similar level. For example, in mathematics class, one group can work on basics while an advanced group may work on their algebra.
3. It provides plenty of job opportunities, a competitive salary package, and other benefits
Special education teachers are in demand in the US. Most of the teaching-related job opportunities in the US are available in special education. According to the US Bureau of labor statistics, the jobs in special education are expected to grow by 8% in the coming decade. There will be almost 38,600 job openings each year. Many of the job openings are expected to result from people leaving the job force to pursue other professions or from the retirement of previous teachers.
Special education teachers earn thousands of dollars annually in the US. More precisely, they are expected to receive a median salary of around $61,500 per year. Apart from monetary benefits and plenty of job opportunities, special education teachers are respected and held in high regard by the members of their community.
4. It offers a variety of career pathways
A degree in special education enables you to work as a teacher at different grade levels. You can work as an early childhood special education teacher, a special education elementary school teacher, and a special education high school teacher. Moreover, you can also serve as a learning support teacher to special children of different age groups.
Apart from teaching, a degree in special education also enables you to work as an administrator. Being a special education administrator empowers you to research and implement effective teaching methods for children with different physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities. Moreover, you can also develop and introduce efficient reporting systems to share a student’s progress with their parents and other teachers.
5. It provides life-long learning opportunities
Special education is a rapidly evolving career pathway. New research about the learning styles and behaviors of differently-abled children is published every other day. For example, recent research on autism reveals that autistic children learn better through visual learning.
Therefore, special education workers are expected to learn and implement new teaching techniques to educate their students efficiently. Hence, special education teachers become life-long learners and use evolving teaching methods that work on an individual level.
6. It is an engaging career pathway
Special education teachers don’t work alone. They often collaborate with other teachers to understand the learning needs of their differently-abled students in different settings. Moreover, special education teachers also work with the parents or other family members of their students to understand the behavior of their students at home.
Furthermore, they also work with doctors, behavioral scientists, advocates, and other professionals to better understand the medical condition of their students and the rights of their students. Overall, special education is an engaging field that provides you with an opportunity to connect with professionals from diverse fields.
The Bottom Line
Special education is a personally fulfilling field of work. Pursuing a master’s degree in special education can make you eligible for several job roles in this field. There are various benefits of pursuing a degree in special education. It offers plenty of career pathways, job stability, several job opportunities, and a competitive salary. Moreover, it enables you to network with various professionals from diverse backgrounds and provides life-long learning opportunities. This degree will also teach you several valuable skills. Above all, it is a meaningful career pathway that enables you to help differently-abled children.