Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten
People classed as Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten teach academic, social, and life skills to kindergarten students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. The skills rated most useful are speaking, reading comprehension, and learning strategies. You may also need 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. Its interest code is SIC. Social leads at 7.0 out of 7, so expect helping, teaching or caring for people, with Investigative next at 3.8. Getting in usually takes a bachelor’s degree plus a period of work experience, a level O*NET calls considerable preparation. It tends to suit people who want helping, teaching or caring for people, and it offers little for anyone seeking leading, persuading and making business decisions.
What they do
Teach academic, social, and life skills to kindergarten 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.
- Prepare objectives, outlines, or other materials for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or school or state requirements.
- Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
Skills
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Active Listening
- Writing
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 reading comprehension.
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 1.7 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 SIC 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.
Also called
- Deaf Teacher
- Emotional Disabilities Teacher
- Hearing Impaired Itinerant Teacher (HI Itinerant Teacher)
- K-1 SPED Teacher (Kindergarten through First Grade Special Education Teacher)
- Kindergarten SPED Teacher (Kindergarten Special Education 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.