Interview Questions

Special Education Teacher Interview Questions

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Special Education Teachers facilitate lessons with students who have physical, intellectual, emotional and/or learning disabilities. A special educational needs (SEN) teacher is specifically employed to work with children and young adults who need extra support or require an advanced programme of education in order to complete their learning successfully.

Special Education Teachers may work with individuals who are physically disabled, sensory impaired (i.e. deaf/blind), have speech and language difficulties such as dyslexia, have a mental disability such as autism, are emotionally vulnerable, have behavioural difficulties or have a combination of these disabilities. A Special Education Teachers may also work with gifted and talented individuals. A key aspect of working in this field is identifying individual needs and being responsible for creating a safe, stimulating and supportive learning environment.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Special Education Teacher or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Special Education Teacher position, these Special Education Teacher interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Special Education Teacher Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Special Education Teacher interview questions.

1. In your work as a special education teacher, what are the most common disabilities you have worked with?
2. What grade levels have you taught as a special education teacher?
3. What is your process for identifying a student’s needs and developing a plan to meet them?
4. Can you tell me about a time when you needed to change your approach to help a student learn? How did you maximize their learning experience?
5. If a student has a physical disability that prevents them from being able to write, what is your process for collecting their thoughts and ideas?
6. How would you assess the students’ learning and behavior progress?
7. What is your experience with Individualized Education Plans (IEP)?
8. As a special education teacher, why do you feel that IEP meetings with your students’ parents are so crucial?
9. How would you deal with a parent who is in denial and refuses to address behavioral issues in their child?
10. A student failed his/her class assignments and examinations. You have to inform his/her parents. How would you communicate this message?
11. As a special education teacher, why do you feel that smaller classes give students a better chance to achieve their academic goals?
12. Do you have experience working with multiple special education students at the same time?
13. When working with students who have autism, how do you maintain your patience?
14. How do you encourage introverted students to participate in group activities?
15. What strategies do you use to calm an upset student? Can you provide me with an example from your previous experiences?
16. Tell me about a lesson plan you designed that didn’t work out. Why didn’t it work and how did you correct the situation?
17. What drew you to working with special needs students?
18. Describe your experience with special education software and tools.
19. A parent believes their child should be working on a more advanced subject level. What do you do to resolve the situation?
20. One of your students refuses to work on an assignment or school subject. How do you respond?
21. How do you help limit distractions for children with attention deficit disorder?
22. What are some creative activities you’ve planned that your students have loved?
23. Are you willing to work with your students during lunch hours and after school to help them with challenging subjects?
24. Describe a lesson plan that you put together and implemented recently. Was it successful and how?
25. Which teaching strategies do you prefer and why?
26. What would you do to integrate a student with learning disabilities in the classroom?
27. What methods do you use to maintain discipline in your classroom?
28. Describe a time you encountered a major challenge at work, and what you did to overcome that.
29. Describe the most difficult student you’ve ever worked with and why. How did you work with them to succeed?
30. What do you enjoy most about teaching?
31. Why did you choose to work with students with disabilities?
32. What do you hope to contribute to the special education field?
33. What’s the biggest challenge/reward in working with students who require special education?
34. How would you build or maintain a positive relationship with a frustrated or angry parent?
35. Imagine you have a student with a moderate mental disability. You notice they’re being bullied by a classmate because of their condition, but they can’t defend themselves. What do you do?
36. What do you think is the most important thing that special education teachers can do for their students?

Special Education Teacher Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Special Education Teacher interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. Why Do You Want This Job?
2. What is Your Greatest Weakness?
3. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
4. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
5. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
6. What is Your Salary Expectation?
7. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
8. What is Your Greatest Strength?
9. Tell Me About Yourself
10. Why Should We Hire You?

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