Interview Questions To Ask While Hiring A Special Education Teacher

13th March 2023

As a special education teacher, you need to work with children who encounter emotional, mental, physical, and learning disabilities. You will guide and support students to achieve essential learning milestones by using various teaching methods. Additionally, you will also have to personalize and tailor your teaching methods to the specific needs of every student.
 

The best candidate for this position will be the one who holds a special education degree and has relevant work experience. If you have this, then you already are at an added advantage. Moreover, if you can present a sample of your previous lesson plan to demonstrate your teaching methods, you will also have an edge over other competitors.
 

Here is a sneak peek of the special education teacher interview questions that will enable you to identify all the must-have requirements for this position.
 

Most Explored Question Categories Of A Special Education Teacher
 

Typical special education teacher interview questions explore the following:
 

1. Situational And Operational Questions
 

Here are some of the operational and situational questions that you might get asked during an interview:
 

• Explain a lesson plan that you developed and implemented recently. Was it successful? If yes how.
• What are your most preferable teaching strategies and why?
• Did you ever prepare an individualized or personalized lesson plan? If yes how was the experience?
• What would be your techniques to integrate a student in a classroom with learning disabilities?
• How would you maintain discipline in your classroom if your class is full of disruptive students?
• Narrate a time when you encountered a major challenge at your workplace and what did you do to overcome it.
• Explain how you would include support staff and parents in the educational process.
• Describe who you consider being your most difficult student and why. How did you help them succeed?

2. Communication Questions
 

Communication is the most sought-after skill for every special education teacher, on that note; here are some of the most asked communication-related questions:
 

• Explain your experience in fostering teamwork and collaboration among students.
• How would you successfully communicate with students, especially non-verbal students?
• Explain how you would maintain a positive relationship between parents and students.
• What would be your strategy to report your progress and classroom status to administration, parents, student services, and supervisors?

3. Progression Questions
 

For having a fair idea of how you would monitor student progress and form reports, here are some most commonly asked questions:
 

• Explain how would you identify and support the strengths of your students.
• How would you keep a record of student data and progress?
• What are the most essential benefits of monitoring student progress?
• How would you recognize student achievements?
• What is the educational strategy or approach you support that will help your students succeed?

4. Discipline And Conflict Management Questions
 

Working with special needs students requires you to be more mindful of the issues that may arise. Therefore here are some questions related to that:
 

• Explain how you would improve student boundaries and hygiene.
• What steps would you take to resolve an issue among your students?
• How would you calm down a distressed student?
• How would you respond to the issue f a student is getting bullied for their disability?
• How proficient are you with de-escalating harmful situations?
• How would you handle a parent who is upset or angry?

Tips To Nail Your Special Education Teacher Interview
 

Apart from the questions that you will definitely prepare, here are some of the most common tips to succeed in your job interview:
 

• Go through a teacher interview guide to get help and advice on teacher interviews.
• Make sure you satisfy all the requirements and have the relevant credentials for the job position.
• Prepare the most commonly asked interview questions and use teaching examples to grab the attention of your interviewer better.
• Find a comprehensive list of responsibilities, tasks, competency, and skills requirements for the job and be aligned with them.
   

Land Your Dream Job
 

As special education teachers you might have to deal with unique challenges every day and thus in your job interview you would need to demonstrate that you are a specialist in your field. As stated above, you will be asked various general and specific teaching-related questions to gauge whether or not you are fit for the role. If you are still confused about your candidature, consider pursuing an Online Diploma course in Special Education, to begin with, and slowly align yourself with the market demand as per research.