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Career Exploration

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

Also called: High School Special Education Teacher, Special Education Resource Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Teacher

What they do:

Teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school 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:
  • Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
  • Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
  • Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
On the job, you'll need:

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Engineering and Technology

  • computers and electronics

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Basic Skills

  • using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

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

Social

  • looking for ways to help people
  • teaching people how to do something

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • come up with lots of ideas

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Social

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

  • Dependability
  • Concern for Others
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Cooperation
  • Integrity
  • Adaptability/Flexibility

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Graphics or photo imaging software

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop

Electronic mail software

  • Email software
  • Microsoft Outlook

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Below Average.

New job opportunities are less likely in the future.

Median Annual Salary: $63,560

Education

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