Special education provides students with identified disabilities specialized instruction designed to meet their unique learning needs, giving them the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. French students with disabilities are normally included in their neighborhood school, although children may be placed in special schools if their personalized plan calls for it. 31 Each student’s personalized school plan describes teaching methods, psychological, medical and paramedical services that the school will provide to the student.

Graduates of the program will command content knowledge, develop skill-specific competencies and acquire relevant experiences prescribed by the BC Ministry of Education for Special Education specialist teachers, as well as, have the capacity to offer leadership in Special Education areas.

Responsive Teaching: Students demonstrate the ability to develop, implement, and evaluate an Individual Education Plan (IEP) in consultation with classroom teacher(s), parents, students, and district and community resource personnel for students with a variety of special needs.

So, apart from the above qualities, look for a SEN teacher (or bright teaching assistant who can be groomed into a good SEN teacher with the right training or in-service program) with a keen interest in analyzing schooling instructional methods, the child’s achievement records and behaviour patterns as well as IQ test results.

2. Good SEN teachers focus on assessing the social skills, learning behaviour and positive reinforcers that help a particular child with special learning needs pick up educationally relevant and individually needed functional skill-sets to become a well-adjusted, capable individual.