Special Еducation

Special Еducation is an interdisciplinary science, which finds application in different areas – pedagogical, social, therapeutic, consultative.

The aim of the specialty is to provide professional training for work with children, students and adults with special educational needs (SEN) – with hearing, visual, intellectual, neuro-somatic disorders, children with autism spectrum disorder, with multiple disabilities, etc.

The special education teacher provides diagnosis and training in collaboration with general education teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, rehabilitation therapists, etc., and with the families of individuals with SEN.

Special Education responds to the societal need for specialists who work for building a society without discrimination towards persons with special needs/disabilities, for their inclusion in all areas of societal life.

Professional competences

The requirements for the professional competences of the special education specialists are:

• to organize and implement specialized education of children with SEN in pre-school age;
• to teach general education subjects at primary school age to pupils with SEN in special education settings;
• to design, coordinate and implement special programmes for pupils with SEN in special education settings and in inclusive settings;
• to provide training based on individualised education plans and programmes for children and pupils with SEN in mainstream schools at all stages of education;
• to work in a multidisciplinary team for the education and development of persons with SEN, for their inclusion in the social environment;
• prepare educational documentation.

Professional realization

The special education teacher can work in the system of special educational institutions and rehabilitation centres, as well as in the system of inclusive education – in regional centres, centres for support of personal development, centres for special educational support and other organisations and institutions supporting children and students with special educational needs, day centres, vocational training centres, protected housing, etc.

Graduates on Bachelor level in Special Education can work as resource teachers, teachers of children with intellectual disability, teachers of children with hearing impairment, auditory-verbal rehabilitators, teachers of children with visual impairment, teachers of children with autism spectrum disorders, hospital teachers, educators of children with SEN, etc.

Educational degrees

Bachelor – eight semesters (four years) – full-time / part-time

Master – two semesters (one year) or three semesters (one and a half years) – full-time/part-time PhD – three years for full-time study, four years for part-time study and independent study.

Curriculum