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Career Exploration

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

Also called: Early Childhood Special Education Teacher (ECSE Teacher), Resource Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Teacher

What they do:

Teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.

On the job, you would:
  • Employ special educational strategies or techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, or memory.
  • Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
  • Communicate nonverbally with children to provide them with comfort, encouragement, or positive reinforcement.
On the job, you'll need:

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Math and Science

  • psychology
  • sociology and anthropology

Safety and Government

  • public safety and security

Basic Skills

  • talking to others
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Social

  • understanding people's reactions
  • looking for ways to help people

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted
  • do two or more things at the same time

Social

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Integrity
  • Self Control
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Cooperation
  • Dependability

Spreadsheet software

  • Microsoft Excel

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Device drivers or system software

  • Screen magnification software
  • Screen reader software

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Average.

New job opportunities are likely in the future.

Median Annual Salary: $62,240

Education

Bachelor's degree or certificate after college is usually needed.