What is special education?
In the special education minor,you will engage in a critical examination of disability and study fundamental issues of values, purposes and practices in education systems. The concept of disability has a dual nature. It is an object of protection that recruits efforts and resources to develop all individuals’ abilities, and to ensure their meaningful, full participation in society. Disability has also been a conduit for exclusion and inequity, withlong-standing intersections with race, language, class and gender, among others. The minor can be combined with other majors, and provides a pathway to the Education Department's professional graduate preparation programs.
Why study special education at UNH?
We believe that students identified with disabilities, like all students, are entitled to a meaningful and full education. In this minor, you will have opportunities to examine and work within justice-oriented and coalition-building activities that seek to transform the marginalization mechanisms that exist within formal and informal educational settings. Community engagement is central to the mission of the Education Department, and you’ll have an array of opportunities as a result of our strong collaborative relationships with schools and community agencies, regionally and internationally. In addition, the department offers several options for continuing studies in special education through graduate and post-graduate studies.
Potential career areas
- Disability law
- Early childhood teaching
- Educational advocacy
- Guidance counselingLobbying/advocacy
- Pediatric hospital/clinical education
- Post-secondary teaching
- Program administration
- School board service
- Social work
- Special education teaching
