PhD in Special Education

Overview

The Special Education Ph.D. Program at the Arab American University is distinctive for being the first and only in Palestine, and represents a pioneering and distinguished program that contributes to the preparation of researchers, innovative leaders, as well as qualified and specialized human staffs who are cognitively, professionally, and ethically proficient to meet the needs of society efficiently in the field of special education. Also this program prepares staffs capable of contributing to bringing about positive change at the local and international levels, and disseminating high-quality knowledge, practices and research based on the latest scientific findings. The program plan consists of 54 credit hours (including 24 hours of compulsory courses, 12 hours of elective courses, and 18 hours for the dissertation). The program’s main topics are based on: teaching people with special needs in regular school and discusses contemporary issues and problems in special education such as: disabilities, learning difficulties, behavioral disorders, autism spectrum disorder as well as related field applications.

Goals

1. Provide students with an understanding of contemporary approaches in the field of special education.
2. Enable students to incorporate best practices in child development theory including emotional, social, intellectual and language development.
3. Provide students with an appreciation of the role of the special education teacher and leader.
4. Enable the students to understand the process of formulating educational programs for students with disabilities.
5. Develop the student’s ability to lead planning, implementation and review of special education programs.
6. Instill within the students an appreciation of the legal, ethical and policy issues in special education.