Jason Warehouse always wanted to be a teacher – he just had no idea it was in elementary special education. He started as a substitute, which he tells us, “Is a great way to help you learn what ages and subjects you enjoy teaching the most. I thought I would eventually teach high school history, but the longer I was a sub, the more I liked working with younger kids and kids in special education.” After a year of subbing he taught a summer school class, and then the district offered to help him get an internship. After that, he started his credential classes and two weeks later was teaching in his own classroom. We asked Jason about his path, the challenges he faces, and his advice for future teachers.

I wanted to be a teacher for a long time, at first because I thought it was part of a job I wanted – doing research at a university – but also because I genuinely like showing people how to be better at things. Before teaching in schools, I'd already taught capoeira to adults and kids for years. What led me to working in public schools was realizing that I didn't want to be a researcher, and working in special ed was from subbing for a year and being offered a job.

I really like working with unique students and the challenge of getting to know each of them and what works and motivates them. I also enjoy that I get to know each of my students really well since I only have 10 or less students at a time, and that I have a lot of freedom in how I run my classroom since each of my students has an individualized program. 

First Thing’s First: I come in and do some administrative things, like checking my emails and taking attendance. Then we have free choice activities for the students, which lets me have extra time to write emails, and lets them slowly adjust to being at school, and also gives students arriving late a little more time to get to the room. Next, I do a large group activity where we work on counting and saying the days of the week to do the calendar, work on social skills and greeting others, and look at the weather. After that I split them into three groups, and we do some small group academic sessions. I usually run one group, and have an aide run each of the other groups. After two work sessions, I give the kids some free time, and then they head to recess and I get a break. 

Our Late Mornings: When they get back, I put on a few songs for them to dance to and get their wiggles out, and then we do story time, which gives me a chance to ask them questions and work on their speaking and vocabulary. Then it's time for lunch and I get another break.

After Lunch: After that we have another wiggle session with some songs, then another story, then we do an independent work session with activities that each child can do with minimal help since the rest of my aides now have their lunch breaks. This part of the day is less formal, and if a child finishes their work early they can choose a preferred activity to do in the classroom. Then we have PE, and we finish the day off with a fun activity, like playing a group game or watching a science video. For the last 15 minutes they have free choice and then go home. Once a week or so I'll have a meeting after the kids leave that will keep me on campus for an extra hour or two, but usually I can have everything I need to do done within 30 minutes, which lets me leave by 3:15 (my contracted time). If you plan your day well you can definitely do everything during your contracted hours (8:00-3:15 in my district).

The first is that everyone who does this work is some kind of angel, when we're all just people doing a job. It's not uncommon for people to say things like, "Bless you, that work must be so fulfilling," and they're not wrong, it is, but the money is nice too. Instead of saying I'm doing some kind of miraculous work, I'd rather they vote for increasing teacher pay. The second, which goes along with the first, is the idea that students in special education can't really do anything. Since most people haven't been exposed to kids with disabilities, they usually imagine only the most extreme cases. In fact, most of my students are very capable and very able to be independent during a lot of activities. Some of my students could be in a gen ed classroom and you might never even know they were disabled. 

Another challenge for me as a special educator is getting gen ed teachers on board with letting my students briefly join their classes – what we call mainstreaming – to get exposure to children without disabilities. This is great for my students' social skills, helps them make friends outside of their classroom, and makes them members of the campus community.  Not to mention, many of them have a certain number of required mainstreaming minutes in their education plans. Acceptance of my students and willingness to let them participate in gen ed classrooms has gotten much better over my career, but we still have work to do with some teachers and administrators.

For recruiting more teachers, there's really nothing better than paying them more money. A lot of districts give signing bonuses for special ed teachers, but they could be bigger for sure. Also a lot of people just don't consider it as a viable career option when they could be making more money in other fields with less schooling. Intern programs help by letting people work and get paid while going to school, and I've seen that a lot of districts and county offices of education have their own intern programs now, so you don't even need to apply to a college to get your special education credential, you just do your classes through your job. 

I think it's a longer process of increased representation until men start to see teaching as a "male" job. Right now there are lots of male high school teachers, a few less in middle school, and then they're almost nonexistent in elementary school. Taking care of little kids is still largely seen as a female pursuit, and a lot of women also get into teaching or being an aide because it puts them on their kids' school schedule. As more equal co-parenting expectations become more normal, I wouldn't be surprised to see more male elementary school teachers.

The pay is better than it's ever been. Also it's a very stable job. It's nice knowing exactly how much you'll make in a year, that you have your health insurance covered, have strong union support if you have a disagreement with administrators, and that you have a good pension plan, all things that can be pretty rare in other fields. Also, there is basically always a shortage of special ed teachers, so you're likely to get a job right away. I was hired by three different districts after the 2007 financial crisis, even while other professions and teachers were struggling. No matter what, there's always a demand for special ed teachers. 

Teaching special ed is a career with the best benefits. It benefits the teacher, the students and the community. We salute Jason and join him in looking ahead to the bright future for everyone teaching special education everywhere.