Counseling skills for teachers

Special Education teachers are required to perform many different roles in a given day. It is well documented that students with disabilities often have social and emotional challenges which make it more difficult for them to learn. These challenges can come in many forms such as self-esteem, peer relations, home life, mental illness, social competency, and various other types of inter/intrapersonal difficulties, making teaching especially demanding for Special Education teachers. Effective social skills programs, whole school unifying approaches, mediation, and counseling type interventions have proven to aid in student success. However, in California it is not required for Special Education teachers to complete a counseling or mediation course. This study asks Special Education teachers through an online survey, with both qualitative and quantitative questions, what types of trainings they had, how often they were required to mediate non-academic issues, what those issues commonly were, what techniques they used, what supports they had, and if they felt that they were in need of further training. Specific challenges that teachers commonly faced and were required to deal with in order for students to learn are also explored. Special Education teachers have very diverse responsibilities that require them to be knowledgeable and skilled in many different areas. This study focuses on the supports necessary for teachers to learn how to effectively deal with students' social and emotional challenges so they are able to learn.