Self-esteem is known to be the way that a person values and perceives him/herself. It is affected by many factors and impacts on the person’s life. The main objective of this study was to investigate possible differences on self-esteem between typical students and those who have been diagnosed with special educational needs. In addition, the study explores teachers’ awareness on the importance of self-esteem on children’s life and their recommendations for improving their students’ self-esteem in UAE schools. The study used a mixed methods design and was conducted in two phases. During the first phase a sample of 40 students was divided into 2 groups, one with typical students (N=20) and another with students with an official diagnosis (N=20) and Rosenberg self-esteem rating scale (Rosenberg, 1965) was used to evaluate the self-esteem levels of the participants. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews with two teachers were conducted. An Independent T-test was performed to assess differences on scores between the two groups and findings from this study indicated that there was a statistically significant difference on self-esteem scores between students with and without special education needs, t = 7.03, p = 0.05. In addition, analyzing the data from teachers’ interviews the study provides important recommendations on improving the self-esteem of students with determination in UAE schools which may result to significant improvement in students’ behavior and academic performance
