Preschool Teacher

Description of job: Preschool teachers educate and care for children younger than age 5 who have not yet entered kindergarten. They teach language, motor, and social skills to young children. Young children learn from playing, problem solving, and experimenting. Preschool teachers use play and other instructional techniques to teach children. For example, they use storytelling and rhyming games to teach language and vocabulary. They may help improve children’s social skills by having them work together to build a neighborhood in a sandbox or teach math by having children count when building with blocks.

Preschool teachers work with children from different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. Teachers include topics in their lessons that teach children how to respect people of different backgrounds and cultures.

Related careers: Kindergarten Teacher, Childcare Workers

Sources: Minnesota CAREERwise & CareerOneStop

Typical Job ActivitiesSkills & KnowledgeAve Wage/Job OutlookEducation & Training

Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:

Assist students with special educational needs.
Provide for basic needs of children.
Apply multiple teaching methods.
Read to students.
Teach life skills.
Develop instructional objectives.
Develop strategies or programs for students with special needs.
Establish rules or policies governing student behavior.
Plan educational activities.
Plan experiential learning activities.

Typical Working Conditions

Frequent contact with others.
Working with a group or team.
Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
Making decisions that impact co-workers or company results.
The freedom to determine tasks, priorities, and goals.

Tools & Technology used by Preschool Teachers

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise

Most Important Skills for Preschool Teachers

Understanding How People Learn—Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Being Aware of Others—Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Coordinating with Others—Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
Monitoring Performance—Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading—Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Teaching—Teaching others how to do something.
Listening—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.
Speaking—Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Helping Others—Actively looking for ways to help people.

Most Important Knowledge Areas for Preschool Teachers

Education and Training—Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Customer and Personal Service—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.
English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Psychology—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.
Public Safety and Security—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.
Clerical—Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
Sociology and Anthropology—Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
Therapy and Counseling—Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Administration and Management—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.
Communications and Media—Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:

Social—Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Artistic—Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise

Wages Per Hour For Preschool Teachers (MN)

Low

$15.49

Median

$18.11

High

$18.79

Low indicates 25% of workers earn less and 75% earn more. Median indicates 50% of workers earn less and 50% earn more. High indicates 75% of workers earn less and 25% earn more.

Demand
This career is seeing high growth compared to other careers. There will be a need for about 11,406 new Preschool Teachers to meet market demand between 2018-2028. This includes the demand due to replacement (workers leaving the occupation or retiring) as well as growth.

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise

This career may require a Bachelors degree, and a license.

View the local post-secondary education options for this career from Central Lakes College.

Spotlight on Central Lakes College