Students with special needs are often overlooked in many countries, including Singapore.
Not only do special needs students require more attention and love, teaching them requires the educator to be physically and mentally strong.
Educators who are interested in teaching special needs students also have to go through additional programmes and training to prepare them for this career.
The additional programmes and training take up more time and money as compared to normal educators.
Which is why there aren’t enough special needs educators around the world.
So, if you’re an individual with a blazing passion to teach students with special needs, that’s awesome!
Read on to find out more about the benefits that come along with this unique career.
1. Increased Satisfaction
Students with special needs are often very wary and shy of their surroundings.
In order to teach them effectively, it’s imperative to first get them to be comfortable around you, so they won’t get stressed out when you’re near them.
After gaining their hard-earned acceptance, then comes another set of challenges.
Helping them to understand the concepts.
As mentioned just now, students with special needs require more attention and love.
They even require a whole new teaching style as they tend to have difficulty learning and the normal approach to teaching may not work for them.
Consider it a victory each time you successfully go through a productive lesson with a special needs student. Kudos to you!
Moreover, can you imagine the level of satisfaction you’ll get when your student comes up to you to thank you for teaching them and not leaving them out?
It’s something you can never replicate if you were to teach normal students.
2. You’re In Demand
If you didn’t know, there has been an increasing demand for special education teachers.
Just a quick search on Google and you’ll see an endless list of schools and learning centers hiring special education teachers.
This is partly due to the fact that not many teachers want to go into teaching students with special needs due to the added physical and emotional difficulty.
Hence, if you’re a certified special education teacher, you don’t have to fear unemployment and not being able to put rice on the table.
3. Other Job Options & Opportunities
Being a special education teacher requires a lot of mental strength as a tutor, such as patience and the ability to work under stress.
Furthermore, you’re required to go through courses and training to groom you into a special education teacher.
With all these skills and training added to your resume, many employers from different industries will be looking to hire you, as you can add value to their companies.
This means that if you find out that you’re not suited to teach special needs students after a while, fret not, as other jobs in different fields are looking for employees like you!
4. Short Working Days & Hours
Special education schools tend to have shorter school days as compared to mainstream schools due to a more flexible and less demanding curriculum.
This means that you’ll get to have more time to do the things you like after a tough but fruitful day of teaching your special needs students.
You can also use your free time after work to interact with your students and get to know them better.
If you spend more time with your students in an out-of-class environment, they might view you more as a friend than a teacher!
This can also make your job significantly easier.
Hence, being a special education teacher allows you to have more free time to balance your work and personal life.
5. Be A Voice for Good
If you’re someone with a strong passion for justice and want to stand up against the stigma labeled upon students with special needs, it’s your time to shine!
As someone with experience handling special needs students, you’re someone who’s able to resonate with them.
This means you’ll be able to explain to the general public why some special needs students behave in an unusual way.
Team up with other passionate advocates so that you can spread your voice and let people know that people with special needs should not be looked down on, instead we should integrate them into our society as they’re as human as we all are.
By being their voice, I’m sure the world will be a much better and inclusive place for people with special needs.
Conclusion
After reading this article, are you more inspired than ever to be a special education teacher/tutor?
If you are, then what are you waiting for?
Sign up with SmileTutor to be a Special Education tutor!
Click on this link to find out more!
Here are some related articles you might like to read:
6 Ways to Communicate to Your Students with Special Needs
Ten Reasons to Homeschool Your Child with Special Needs
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