Special Education Teachers, Elementary School
The occupation Special Education Teachers, Elementary School covers people who teach academic, social, and life skills to elementary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. The job can ask you to instruct students with disabilities in academic subjects, using a variety of techniques, such as phonetics, multisensory learning, or repetition to reinforce learning and meet students' varying needs. The strongest interest signal is Social (7.0 of 7), then Investigative (3.9) and Artistic, which gives it the code SIA. Plan on a bachelor’s degree plus a period of work experience; O*NET labels this considerable preparation. Strength in speaking, instructing, and active listening helps most here. People who want helping, teaching or caring for people usually fit better here than those who need leading, persuading and making business decisions.
What they do
Teach academic, social, and life skills to elementary 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.
Main tasks
- Instruct students with disabilities in academic subjects, using a variety of techniques, such as phonetics, multisensory learning, or repetition to reinforce learning and meet students' varying needs.
- Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
- Modify the general elementary education curriculum for students with disabilities.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
- Prepare classrooms with a variety of materials or resources for children to explore, manipulate, or use in learning activities or imaginative play.
Skills
- Speaking
- Instructing
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Learning Strategies
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You get energy from helping other people move forward.
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You are ready to spend around four years on a degree, then build experience.
- You are comfortable relying on speaking and instructing.
May not suit you if
- You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
- You want to lead people or run the business side. Enterprising rates 1.8 out of 7 here.
- You want to avoid a four-year degree or its equivalent.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SIA takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.
Preparation
Considerable preparation. Most jobs here ask for a bachelor’s degree, and employers usually expect a few years of related experience as well.
Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Bachelor's Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.
Also called
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher (DHH Teacher)
- Emotional Disabilities Teacher
- Hearing Impaired Itinerant Teacher (HI Itinerant Teacher)
- Learning Support Teacher
- Resource Program Teacher
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.