The Special Education program at UBC concerns the education of students with exceptionalities, such as students with visual impairments, developmental disabilities, emotional or behavioural disorders, learning disabilities, gifts and talents, and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Faculty are committed to promoting practices that facilitate inclusion, empowerment, and self-determination of individuals with disabilities and other special needs in home, school, and community settings.
The Master's programs in Special Education focus on both research and practice. Topics addressed in the Master's programs include cognitive, language and social development, learning and instructional design, cultural and individual differences in relation to exceptional students.
In British Columbia, educators are certified to teach all students in grades K to 12; no separate special education certification is available. UBC's Faculty of Education offers a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree in elementary and secondary education. For information about UBC's BEd program, visit the Teacher Education Office website.
UBC offers a wide variety of undergraduate (300- and 400-level) special education courses (some on campus and some online) that are available to certified teachers and others who have completed a Bachelor degree in a related field. Teachers who wish to upgrade their Teacher Qualification Service (TQS) category may enroll in these courses as "unclassified students" who do not seek a particular degree or diploma. Unclassified students who complete 30 credits of course work according to the guidelines for an "integrated program," as defined by the BC Teacher Qualification Service, will be eligible to upgrade to Category 5 or 5+. Teachers wishing to pursue such an upgrade should complete the TQS “Categories Five, Five Plus & Six Information and Course Approval Form” prior to enrolling in courses as an unclassified student.
For information regarding enrolling in undergraduate courses for professional development, please consult the following webpage: http://teach.educ.ubc.ca/programs/diplomas-certificates/specializations.html
UBC is committed to supporting teachers in the area of special education. We believe that the “integrated program” option described above provides more flexibility and choice than a formal diploma program, for individuals who do not wish to pursue a graduate degree.
Instructions for applying to be an unclassified student at UBC are available through the Teacher Education Office
