Special educational needs teacher to primary school teacher
A special educational needs teacher already meets 70% of what the primary school teacher role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
42.3/ 100
1 How much of what a primary school teacher is expected to do is already part of a special educational needs teacher’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the primary school teacher role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A primary school teacher role treats 24 of its required skills as things a special educational needs teacher already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adapt teaching to student's capabilities
- apply intercultural teaching strategies
- apply teaching strategies
- assess students
- assessment processes
- assist students in their learning
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 43 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A primary school teacher role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a special educational needs teacher background worth leading with.
- already held teach primary education class content communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held organise creative performance management skills
- already held common children's diseases health and welfare
- already held social development health and welfare
- already held implement care programmes for children assisting and caring
- already held assist children in developing personal skills assisting and caring
All 43 carried skills, including the 24 the primary school teacher role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 28 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn use pedagogic strategies for creativity required
- still to learn prepare youths for adulthood required
- optional, not held create craft prototypes optional
- optional, not held define creative components optional
- optional, not held improvise music optional
- optional, not held play musical instruments optional
- optional, not held select artistic materials to create artworks optional
- optional, not held teach music principles optional
- optional, not held arrange parent teacher meeting optional
- optional, not held support gifted students optional
- optional, not held teach arts principles optional
- still to learn assign homework required
- still to learn facilitate teamwork between students required
- optional, not held bring out performers’ artistic potential optional
- optional, not held assist in the organisation of school events optional
- optional, not held develop course outline optional
- optional, not held oversee extra-curricular activities optional
- optional, not held recognise indicators of gifted student optional
- still to learn teamwork principles required
- optional, not held musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical theory optional
- optional, not held musical genres optional
- optional, not held musical notation optional
- optional, not held maintain musical instruments optional
- optional, not held supervise craft production optional
- optional, not held provide after school care optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a primary school teacher role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 assign homework practise this
- 02 facilitate teamwork between students practise this
- 03 use pedagogic strategies for creativity practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 43 skills that carry over
- already held adapt teaching to student's capabilities skill
- already held apply intercultural teaching strategies skill
- already held apply teaching strategies skill
- already held assess students skill
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held assist students in their learning skill
- already held assist students with equipment skill
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held demonstrate when teaching skill
- already held encourage students to acknowledge their achievements skill
- already held give constructive feedback skill
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held handle children's problems skill
- already held implement care programmes for children skill
- already held instructional strategies knowledge
- already held learning difficulties knowledge
- already held maintain relations with children's parents skill
- already held maintain students' discipline skill
- already held manage student relationships skill
- already held perform classroom management skill
- already held prepare lesson content skill
- already held primary school procedures knowledge
- already held support the positiveness of youths skill
- already held teach primary education class content skill
- already held advise on lesson plans skill
- already held assess the development of youth skill
- already held assist children in developing personal skills skill
- already held attend to children's basic physical needs skill
- already held behavioural disorders knowledge
- already held common children's diseases knowledge
- already held consult students on learning content skill
- already held disability types knowledge
- already held escort students on a field trip skill
- already held liaise with educational support staff skill
- already held manage resources for educational purposes skill
- already held monitor children's physical development skill
- already held organise creative performance skill
- already held perform playground surveillance skill
- already held provide lesson materials skill
- already held social development knowledge
- already held special needs education knowledge
- already held work with virtual learning environments skill
- already held workplace sanitation knowledge
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held keep records of attendance optional
- optional, not held developmental psychology optional
23 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held bring out performers’ artistic potential optional
- optional, not held create craft prototypes optional
- optional, not held define creative components optional
- optional, not held improvise music optional
- optional, not held maintain musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical theory optional
- optional, not held play musical instruments optional
- optional, not held provide after school care optional
- optional, not held select artistic materials to create artworks optional
- optional, not held supervise craft production optional
- optional, not held teach music principles optional
- optional, not held arrange parent teacher meeting optional
- optional, not held assist in the organisation of school events optional
- optional, not held develop course outline optional
- optional, not held developmental psychology optional
- optional, not held keep records of attendance optional
- optional, not held musical genres optional
- optional, not held musical notation optional
- optional, not held oversee extra-curricular activities optional
- optional, not held recognise indicators of gifted student optional
- optional, not held support gifted students optional
- optional, not held teach arts principles optional
26 held skills the primary school teacher role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assist children with special needs in education settings skill
- not needed by the target role communication disorders knowledge
- not needed by the target role communication related to hearing impairment knowledge
- not needed by the target role development delays knowledge
- not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
- not needed by the target role facilitate motor skill activities skill
- not needed by the target role hearing disability knowledge
- not needed by the target role kindergarten school procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role learning needs analysis knowledge
- not needed by the target role liaise with educational staff skill
- not needed by the target role mobility disability knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote the safeguarding of young people skill
- not needed by the target role provide learning support skill
- not needed by the target role provide specialised instruction for special needs students skill
- not needed by the target role secondary school procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role special needs learning equipment knowledge
- not needed by the target role stimulate students' independence skill
- not needed by the target role support children's wellbeing skill
- not needed by the target role support people with hearing impairment skill
- not needed by the target role teach braille skill
- not needed by the target role teach digital literacy skill
- not needed by the target role teach kindergarten class content skill
- not needed by the target role teach secondary education class content skill
- not needed by the target role teach sign language skill
- not needed by the target role use learning strategies skill
- not needed by the target role visual disability knowledge
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn teamwork principles required
- optional, not held musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical theory optional
- optional, not held developmental psychology optional
- optional, not held musical genres optional
- optional, not held musical notation optional
Other moves recorded from special educational needs teacher
- sign language teacher 81% covered · adjacent
- Freinet school teacher 81% covered · adjacent
- special educational needs teacher secondary school 80% covered · adjacent
- Montessori school teacher 79% covered · moderate
- secondary school teaching assistant 75% covered · adjacent
- Steiner school teacher 74% covered · moderate
- teacher of talented and gifted students 73% covered · moderate
- special educational needs itinerant teacher 71% covered · moderate
Common questions about this move
Can a special educational needs teacher become a primary school teacher?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A special educational needs teacher already covers 70% of what a primary school teacher is expected to do: 43 skills carry over, 24 of which the primary school teacher role treats as required.
What skills does a special educational needs teacher need to become a primary school teacher?
5 required skills are missing, plus 23 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is assign homework.
How hard is the move from special educational needs teacher to primary school teacher?
Its learning distance is 42.3 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.