Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Overview
SaveJob Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Experience
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Examples
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.
Yearly Salary
| High: | $58K |
| Median: | $31K |
| Low: | $21K |
Demand
Core Tasks
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
- Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
- Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
- Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
- Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
- Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.
- Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
- Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children.
- Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety.
- Demonstrate activities to children.
- Teach proper eating habits and personal hygiene.
- Enforce all administration policies and rules governing students.
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
- Prepare and implement remedial programs for students requiring extra help.
- Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.
- Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.
- Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their ages and perceptual skills.
- Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
- Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.
- Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of preschool programs.
- Perform administrative duties, such as hall and cafeteria monitoring and bus loading and unloading.
- Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guests, or other experiential activities and guide students in learning from those activities.
- Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
- Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
- Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers.
- Administer tests to help determine children's developmental levels, needs, and potential.
- Attend staff meetings and serve on committees as required.
Technology Skills
Technology
Example
Hot Technology
Tools Used
Tool
Example
Top 10 Knowledge Required
Education and Training
80%
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language
76%
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Public Safety and Security
66%
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Customer and Personal Service
64%
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology
62%
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Administration and Management
54%
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Administrative
52%
Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sociology and Anthropology
49%
Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Therapy and Counseling
48%
Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Mathematics
47%
Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Top 10 Skills
Instructing
80%
Teaching others how to do something.
Speaking
80%
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening
78%
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Learning Strategies
78%
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Coordination
75%
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking
75%
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring
75%
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading Comprehension
75%
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Social Perceptiveness
75%
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Service Orientation
73%
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Top 10 Abilities
Oral Comprehension
80%
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression
80%
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity
80%
The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Problem Sensitivity
78%
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Originality
75%
The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Fluency of Ideas
73%
The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Speech Recognition
73%
The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Comprehension
73%
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Deductive Reasoning
70%
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Information Ordering
65%
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Top 10 Work Activities
Assisting and Caring for Others
85%
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
81%
Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Getting Information
81%
Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Training and Teaching Others
76%
Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Thinking Creatively
74%
Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
Developing and Building Teams
73%
Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
71%
Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
69%
Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
69%
Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others
68%
Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Detailed Work Activities
- Teach life skills.
- Establish rules or policies governing student behavior.
- Modify teaching methods or materials to accommodate student needs.
- Set up classroom materials or equipment.
- Provide for basic needs of children.
- Discuss student progress with parents or guardians.
- Plan educational activities.
- Monitor student behavior, social development, or health.
- Discuss problems or issues with supervisors.
- Maintain student records.
- Monitor student performance.
- Evaluate student work.
- Read to students.
- Develop instructional objectives.
- Arrange childcare or educational settings to ensure physical safety of children.
- Apply multiple teaching methods.
- Enforce rules or policies governing student behavior.
- Develop strategies or programs for students with special needs.
- Collaborate with other teaching professionals to develop educational programs.
- Attend training sessions or professional meetings to develop or maintain professional knowledge.
- Display student work.
- Prepare reports detailing student activities or performance.
- Plan experiential learning activities.
- Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
- Distribute instructional or library materials.
- Order instructional or library materials or equipment.
- Evaluate performance of educational staff.
- Supervise student research or internship work.
- Administer tests to assess educational needs or progress.
- Serve on institutional or departmental committees.
- Assist students with special educational needs.
- Supervise school or student activities.
Education
Interests
Social
100%
Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.
Artistic
58%
Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.
Conventional
52%
Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.
Investigative
40%
Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.
Realistic
39%
Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.
Enterprising
38%
Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.
Work Values
Relationships
91%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Achievement
67%
Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Independence
62%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Support
53%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Working Conditions
53%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Recognition
43%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.