Specialized Educator

"A specialized educator is there to guide the child who is having troubles that do not even need to be necessarily troubles at school, reach success."

Not all children are the same, some kids have difficulties in school, some have difficulties at home and some even have difficulties within themselves. They are unable to deal with their emotions like their friends are or the anger they have built up inside of themselves is just too much for them to handle. Sometimes the thing that can make the biggest change in these kids is having a specialized educator. A specialized educator is someone who educates children while taking into account their individual needs and differences.

I never really knew what I wanted to do as an adult up until about the middle of secondary 5. It was kind of embarrassing really. It felt like no matter where I went or what I was doing, people were always asking me what I wanted to do as my career and I never really had an answer. However, I always knew that I wanted to work with people who are not really like the others. With college inscriptions coming up, I knew that I finally had to make up my mind which is when I met a lady who I could have not met at a better time. She explained to me that she studied to get a college degree in specialized education to work at a youth center. It’s like I instantly knew that this was exactly what I wanted to do. I knew that I always wanted to work with people who were different and I have always had a lot of love for children so it just seemed like the perfect fit. I knew that this was the job for me.

So basically, a specialized educator is someone who educates children while addressing their needs and differences. Specialized educators analyze each child's situations to assure that they can help these kids go through whatever obstacles they are faced with. Whether it be mental disabilities, physical disabilities, diagnosed or non-diagnosed disabilities, specialized educators are there for these children. Let's take a classroom environment for example,  just because a specialized educator educates does not necessarily mean that they do similar work to a teacher. A teacher is in the class to teach material that the kids have to know. A teacher grades work, makes lesson plans and assures that what they are teaching is being well-absorbed by the kids. A specialized educator on the other hand, is going to sit with a child in the classroom that has special needs and find ways that they can understand the concepts that are being taught easier. A specialized educator is there to guide the child who is having troubles that do not even need to be necessarily troubles at school, reach success. A child with severe autism and a child who is abused at home both have the right to a specialized educator to make sure that they succeed. 

Obviously like any job, no one can become a specialized educator overnight. You can get a college attestation in specialized education to become a specialized educator, you can choose to get a degree in this to become an educator as well or people interested in this job can also get a masters degree in neurology or psychology. Personally, I am aiming towards getting a college degree in specialized education and starting my career right away. As of right now, my plan is to do 2 years of social science to then move to a town that offers this program, and do 2 years of studies in specialized education to get my degree. I have chosen to do it this way because I am someone who funnily enough doesn’t really like school so doing it this way means that I have to do four years of school instead of doing seven years to obtain a masters degree. Of course though, I am only seventeen and I cannot predict the future so who knows, maybe I will end up with a masters.

A specialized educator doesn’t necessarily always have to work in a classroom setting. Although it’s true that a lot of specialized educators choose to work in schools, they can also be found in other places. Specialized educators can be found in youth centers working with kids who may have mental disabilities but who more than likely have behavioural issues or family issues. Specialized educators can also work in hospitals with children who have hearing impairments or speech and language problems.  What I would like to do with a Bachelor’s degree in specialized education is work with children in the youth homes who are there because of their issues whether they are behavioural, psychological or family-related. As a specialized educator in a youth home, I would work hand in hand with the youth workers who are there to not only provide counselling and give tricks to the children on how to deal with their problems, but also to re-integrate them into society once they get released from the youth centre.  Specialized educators in youth homes don’t only have positive effects on the specific kids that they are working with but they can also choose to work with the families whose kids are in a youth home or with the foster families getting ready to take in a child from a youth home. The educators work closely with the families of these kids to assure that when the child is released or is fostered, that they do not go back and do the things that they did to get themselves in a youth centre in the first place. Also once a child is released or fostered, the specialized educator can continue to meet with the family altogether or one on one with the child just to make sure that the future remains bright for the kid in question. Overall specialized educators don’t only have positive effects on the children they work with but also with their families.

To conclude, specialized educators can have a great impact on the children who need them. No matter what difficulties the child is dealing with, an educator who is there to help them is destined to lead them to success. I am extremely excited for what my future in this career holds for me and I could not be more ready.

Kim