Deciding to enter the teaching field is a strong indication of your caring and fostering nature. The further choice to commit to a career in special education, signals the depths of that compassionate nature. Special education teachers seek to educate those most in need of their skills: children with mental, physical, or emotional barriers that serve to stymie the learning process. Those armed with a special education masters degree are poised to make a dramatic change in the lives of students and their families. Enrollment in a special education master’s degree program will teach you the skills needed to reach out to this at-risk group. You will learn the teaching strategies that allow for modified delivery techniques designed to ensure equal access of all students to the educational process. For those students who are severely disadvantaged, special education teachers instruct in independent living skills, literacy, and basic math comprehension. Department of Labor statistics indicate that this is a growth area within the educational field. Nationally, special education positions are expected to rise 17%, as opposed to 13% for those outside the specialty, over the next decade. This growth will be fueled by the continuing need for special education teachers, and the services they provide, as more students are diagnosed with learning disabilities after enrollment in school. Additionally, once this group enters the educational system, they will serve as a continual source of challenges, and opportunities, for the staffs of special education departments, as those students wend their way through twelve years of formalized education. Utilizing the skills instilled through graduating with a special education masters degree, you will be well-equipped to help guide this vulnerable population through the learning process for years to come. If you have already made the commitment to teach kids, look at your options for helping the neediest kids in our society. Your work with them, while challenging, will provide a constant source of pride as you watch them grow, learn, and develop the skills they need to thrive in the world they find themselves in. Everyone deserves the best possible education they can receive, and special education teachers are on the front lines of delivering that education. Exploring your options puts you on the cutting edge of ensuring the delivery of a quality education to our nation's disabled children. Teachers are tasked with shepherding our youngest members of society to the precipice of knowledge, self-reliance, and independence. Special education teachers are tasked with making sure that every student reaches those lofty heights. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
