Responsibilities:
The Life Centered Education (LCE) Teachers' primary responsibility is to work within an inclusive school to develop and implement highly individualized programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team. Student programs focus on academic, social and life skills, with the goal of helping students fulfill their personal and academic potential and attain as much independence as possible.
The MS/HS LCE teacher is part of the Middle School (MS) and High School (HS) divisions and the schoolwide Student Support Services (SSS) Team. This individual is supervised by the Divisional Principals and works under the programmatic direction of the Head of Student Support Services.
Every educator's primary responsibility is to ensure student-learning success and provide for the individual learning needs of each student. Some specific responsibilities for the LCE include:
Plan and implement individualized learning programs addressing academic, social and daily living/life skills, including modifying curriculum and assessments.
Use a case manager model for leading the development and instruction of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including writing Individual Education Plans and progress reports, creating behavior support plans and transition plans, and coordinating
with related services such as occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, counseling, and psychology.
Promote a positive learning environment.
Engage in ongoing professional learning around inclusive education and best practices.
Differentiate and personalize for diverse learners. Implement our Strategic Focus Areas (Learning Design, Inclusion, Wellbeing).
Be an engaged community member, including mentoring/coaching extracurricular learning outside the school day.
Fulfill supervision duties as assigned, including some evening and weekend events (as well as off-campus trips).
Maintain strong relationships and communication with classroom teachers and specialists, collaborating about student needs as appropriate and providing support to facilitate the inclusion of students with their typically developing peers.
Maintain close communication and collaboration with parents to build strong home-school relationships and facilitate continuity of care.
Provide training, leadership, and coaching for teaching assistants to maximize their effectiveness in supporting students within small group and inclusion settings.
Be an advocate for inclusive education and promote a positive learning and teaching environment to meet the needs of all students.
Work collaboratively with and provide professional learning to ISK divisional staff and whole school SSS teams to foster greater inclusion of students.
Protect the safety and wellbeing of children.
Perform other duties that may be reasonably assigned by administration.
Education/Experience
Master's Degree in Special Education, with emphasis on developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Current teaching certificate from an accredited university/college.
At least 4 years experience teaching students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in an inclusive setting (ideally international experience).
Demonstrated ability to facilitate the integration of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities into a general education setting.
Solid understanding of pedagogy and instructional approaches, curriculum design, and assessment:
Cultural proficiency
Understanding by Design model
Social Emotional Learning
Integration
Communication skills
Student-centered approach
Conceptual inquiry