Who's Teaching Our Children with Disabilities? Part 7

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National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

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What Do Special Education Teachers Like About Teaching?

Despite the many challenges facing special education teachers every day, most special education teachers love their jobs and are committed to the children they serve. For them, what makes special education such a special career? What do they see as the benefits unique to special education? The following comments are from several special education teachers who describe the reasons they love what they do and the rewards they receive.

Developing Close Relationships with Children and Families

Most special education teachers work closely with and develop relationships with the children and their families. These relationships bring special rewards to the teacher:

"What do I love about it? I love the kids. They are the most loving people in the world. They will help you when you are down. The parents are also great. When they see the teacher as an advocate, they will be on your side forever." -- Kathy Bulle, 6th-grade learning disabilities teacher

"What do I love about being a special education teacher? The students I work with. No two days are ever the same. I conduct many evaluations and like to work with parents to help them see their child's abilities as opposed to their disabilities." -- Linda Novak, Resource Teacher

Having an Impact

Many special education teachers also indicate their desire to have a positive impact on the lives of the children they work with, and they know that their input makes a difference in the current and future lives of these students:

"I love that look that appears on children's faces when they realize they can do something today that they could not do yesterday. Those moments make it all worthwhile!" -- Kathy Pongor, Special Education Teacher

"My greatest satisfaction is seeing the children in my class make real gains and knowing that I have helped them get to where they need to be, so that they are prepared to move to their next placement." -- Ibe Crawley, Preschool Special Educator

"I was a general education teacher for 10 years and seemed to always get the cluster of students with disabilities in my classroom. Because I didn't have any formal special education training, I questioned whether I was meeting their needs. After seeing the need for and receiving formal special education training, I felt better equipped to meet everyone's needs. The greatest challenge and joy I receive is in meeting the needs of both general education and special education students in a general education setting without identifying who has a disability and who does not." -- Elizabeth L. Wikfors, Secondary School Teacher

"I love my job. The kids I work with have a very hard time controlling themselves. It's great to see them gain confidence, learn to like themselves, and gain self-control. It's great to see them like school and want to come each morning. You get to see them participate in class more and more. You teach them to give themselves a chance." -- Laura Zappia, Middle School Special Educator

"The biggest challenge to me is working with so many different kids with such a variety of needs. I look on my job as a practice. We say doctors have a practice and lawyers have a practice. Well, teachers have a practice, too. We are constantly learning new techniques and new approaches." -- Ibe Crawley, Preschool Special Educator

"After 24 years I still love coming to work. My rewards come from watching these young adults [with disabilities] become as independent as each one possibly can. I recently had a reunion of my former students. It was wonderful touching base with 35-year-olds. Most are working in the community, and some are living independently, and some are still living at home." -- Barbara Jackson, High School Special Education Teacher

Liking the Variety

Special education teachers have opportunities to work in a variety of different settings, with various age groups, and with children with different kinds of disabilities. They also usually work as part of a team of education professionals whose goal is to provide the best education experience for each child:

"My job is very interesting. I'm always doing something different. Each of my days has some structure, yet always has suprises as well. I like working with kids with different ranges of abililities." -- Ellie White, Special Education Teacher

"I work with quite a diverse group, made up of professionals with different specialities. As the special educator of the team, I bring knowledge of assessment and alternate teaching techniques to the group. I also watch out for students who are falling behind, those identified as having disabilities as well as those who aren't identified." -- Corina Coronel, Special Education Resource Teacher, Elementary Level

Enjoying the Challenges

Special education teachers are also excited by the unique challenges posed by teaching students with disabilities:

"I chose special education because I needed the challenge of working with kids who don't follow traditional paths of learning. Teaching becomes an art form when your style of teaching changes [sometimes] daily, to meet the needs of the kids. What's my biggest challenge? Trying to teach visual communication skills [American Sign Language] to a child with an attention span of 15 seconds!" -- Kathy Pongor, Special Education Teacher

"Because I am an Hispanic and a bilingual special educator, I am also able to work with students and their parents whose native language is Spanish. I can differentiate between "true" learning difficulties and language or cultural difficulties." -- Corina Coronel, Special Education Resource Teacher, Elementary Level

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