Secondary School Teacher Training in Special Education

The program Teaching Special Education for Primary Schools and Secondary Schools (minor, major) prepares teachers for teaching pupils with special educational needs in primary and secondary schools (for both – mainstream and special schools). The program is implemented in the forms of full time attendance and combined studies.

The content of the study is a course of field didactics with the additional complementary disciplines. The program Teaching Special Education for Primary and Secondary Schools is internally divided into compulsory subjects in variable disciplines of special needs pedagogy (Teaching pupils with special educational needs I – Education of pupils with disordered communication abilities and specific learning difficulties; Teaching pupils with special educational needs II – Education of pupils with behavioural problems and Intellectual Disability; Teaching pupils with special educational needs II – Education of pupils with Hearing Physical and Visual Disability.

The program is directly related to the bachelor's study program Special Education Focused on the Education (containing major and minor).

An equal part of the study are the pedagogical and psychological subjects that give the theoretical basis of the didactics of the subject with interconnection with the teacher's professional practice at the primary and secondary schools.

Through studying for the Master’s degree graduates gain the necessary competences that allow them to critically apply the use of their pedagogical, special educational and psychological knowledge in practice as a teacher at a primary or secondary school. Graduates are fully qualified to pursue the profession of a teacher in mainstream and special schools. They are ready to base their professional conduct on well-structured knowledge and skills from their fields of approbation (content knowledge) and special educational competencies. The effectiveness of their professional conduct is conditioned by their subject-didactic (pedagogical content knowledge) and broader pedagogical and psychological knowledge and special pedagogy knowledge and skills (knowledge of the broader background of education, knowledge of educational practices, knowledge about people involved in education, etc.).

The degree develops students’ analytical and comparative skills, which enable them to understand the diverse pedagogical reality and to use subject-specific, pedagogical, and psychological publications in their work for planning, implementing and reflecting on educational activities. They develop communication skills important for communication and collaboration with pupils/clients, colleagues in the workplace, with parents of pupils/clients and with practitioners. An important benefit of the degree is the development of self-reflective skills that provide space for the development of attitudes towards one another, to educated individuals and to the profession: perception of the responsibility of the teaching profession, the acceptance of the moral obligations of a helping profession and its ethics.

The studies emphasise the principle of interdisciplinarity (interconnection of some pedagogical and psychological subjects) and the principle of sequence and gradation of themes and courses, from the more general to the more specific. The concept is also characterized by the interdependence of theory and practice. An important part of the concept is the reflective teaching practice. The principles of reflection on teaching practice and self-reflection are related both to practice and to other experience-oriented subjects. An important part of the concept is also the promotion of inclusion, which is perceived as a cross-curricular theme (also supported by a separate course).

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• use extensive knowledge and skills in the field of special education within teaching children with special education needs in inclusive settings;
• apply knowledge and skills in the field, apply special needs assessment and the methods of intervention, he will be oriented in the intervention and therapeutic approaches;
• the ability to apply approaches towards the education and training of students with SEN in their teaching (an individual approach and the group work), student is able to explain and define various levels of supportive measurement of pupils with SEN;
• the ability to know strategies to work with pupils and students with SEN the skills to work with students with SEN at the level as a special needs teacher (special educational diagnostics, individual plan, intervention, individual and group work);
• the ability to design and process research on the education of students with SEN and argue towards the chosen procedures;
• plan, implement and reflect on their own teaching at the appropriate level of established professional competences;
• use basic professional terminology and information sources of pedagogical and school psychology in describing, analysing, interpreting and evaluating typical teaching situations, as well as describing the educational environment of the school;
• use basic methods and tools of pedagogical diagnostics in teaching and gain data which is available for the support of an individual pupil/client. The results can be communicated appropriately to pupils, teachers, parents and professionals;
• to explain and to reflect on the principles of inclusive education at the level of culture, politics and practice of the school in their educational activities;
• to create an inclusive environment in the classroom, to apply at strategies of individualization and differentiation in teaching;
• describe and individually explain specific learning processes with a specific example from their portfolio;
• to reflect on the experience of their own teaching practice in the professional community and to use reflection and self-reflection as a tool of professional learning: to critically evaluate their own attitudes towards education.

Readiness for the Profession and the Professional Adaptability to the Conditions and Requirements of the Practice:

- The students obtain the competences for teaching students with SEN at secondary schools according to the requirements of the Act No. 563/2004 Coll., On Teaching Staff and its Amendment No. 379/2015 Coll.

- knowledge and skills within the field special education, the educational and communication knowledge, skills and techniques,

- adaptability and retraining ability for professions in the field - special education, in educational activities, in state administration and management.

Possible Professions and Institutions after Studies

Teachers - special needs teachers in mainstream and special schools in primary and secondary schools. Due to the generality and combination of the wide range of fields, the students have the prerequisites for working in a number of professions, e.g. in state administration, corporate management etc.

• Teacher of the second level of primary school
• Secondary school teacher

The obligatory part of this master's study program is a teaching practice (1, 2, 3) for 7 credits.

The department provides students with the workplaces it has been cooperating with for a long time. The students can obtain the practice there.

The aim of the practice is special educational work within the chosen specialization under the supervision of the teacher in schools and school facilities. The students will master his/her theoretical knowledge in practice. Student teach 15 lessons and learn to create the individual educational plan. Student records his/her special educational activities and will create the portfolio.

The teaching practice is conceived as a coherent and gradated system with an emphasis on interconnection with theory and reflection and self-reflection of the student as a teacher – teacher working with pupils with SEN.

The aim of the teaching practice is to acquire the professional competences necessary in the daily work of the teacher – special needs teacher, to become acquainted with the roles which the teacher enters into in their work, to realize their own professional needs and to gradually take responsibility for the planning, implementation and evaluation of lessons. Throughout the teaching practice, students get a real idea of what a teacher's everyday work involves.

The teaching practice forms a coherent system of consecutive subjects. In the follow-up master's programmes, these are the subjects Teaching Practice 1 (1st semester), Teaching Practice 2 (2nd semester) and Teaching Practice 3 (3rd semester). In total, this makes up 280 hours (double-subject programme), followed by Seminar on Teaching Practice. Students enrol in the Seminar on Teaching Practice 1 twice during their studies (in the first and second semesters). The aim of the reflection is to provide students with a space for sharing and reflecting on experiences from their own teaching practice and helping them to deepen their reflective and self-reflective skills.

The system of teaching practice is regularly evaluated both through open and closed questions, both by students and the mentor teachers. The reflective seminars are also evaluated.

Students must be aware of the current issues in the field of special education for teachers in primary and secondary schools, be able to define the topic of their theses (research) clearly, describe the initial state of knowledge and propose adequate methods of solution, clearly and logically create the title of the thesis.

The student is able to work with the adequate primary and secondary study sources, to quote them according to the valid standards and in accordance with the ethics of scientific work. He/she is able to lead discussions and argue with the authors, to draw own conclusions and recommendations.

The student can design his/her own quantitative or qualitative research, including a clear definition of objectives and the choice of adequate research methods in relation to the nature of the phenomenon under investigation, work with the appropriate method, including the ability to analyse quantitative and qualitative data and interpret and draw conclusions in an appropriate way.

The student will demonstrate the stylistic competencies by the creation of his/her own text. The student is able to create the scientific work, maintain the logical line of the work composition without grammatical errors.

The student will demonstrate the ability to ask questions and solve problems in an unconventional way, to formulate new ideas and conclusions of the thesis that would bring at least partially new knowledge about the phenomenon being studied or enrich the (new) methodological (in the area of research) or methodical procedures (in the field of education), in relation to clearly defined and selected target groups (elementary school pupils, secondary school students, groups with special educational needs, etc.).

The standards of the final theses within special education are prepared according to the Dean's Decree No. 1/2015, For the completion of the final theses (bachelor's, master's, rigorous and final theses of the life-long learning courses).

The final work of the student demonstrates the ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the course of study in working on a specific professional-pedagogical problem. The type of final thesis corresponds to the content and level of the given degree of study. The student chooses from the following types of works: a) theoretical-applied, b) theoretical-empirical (research), c) theoretical. The types of work and recommendations for their implementation are further guided by the APA manual. The length of the final thesis ranges from 117,000 to 200,000 characters, including gaps, i.e. 65-80 standard pages.

The standards for the implementation of the final theses at different departments are in accordance with the Dean's Instructions No. 1/2015 on implementation of the final work (Bachelor's, Master’s, post-graduate non-PhD and final works for Life-long Education) in the version effective from 1.11.2015.

The thesis follows the following goals based on the profile of the graduate of the Faculty of Education of MU Students:

- demonstrate an awareness of the current issues of their field of study, they can clearly and comprehensibly define the topic of the final thesis and its objectives, describe the initial state of knowledge and propose appropriate methods of achieving their stated goals;

- work with appropriate primary and secondary sources of information, cite them according to a valid standard (APA) and in accordance with the ethics of academic work;

- through the creation of their own text they demonstrate stylistic competence, and the ability to create an academic text;

- demonstrate the ability to ask questions and solve problems, to formulate new ideas and conclusions that bring at least some new knowledge about the phenomenon being studied, or enrich the methodological (in the area of research) or methodical (in the area of education) procedures in relation to clearly defined target groups.

Follow-up master's study program Special Education

4-year doctoral study program Special Education