Summary Report for:
25-2011.00 - Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Instruct preschool-aged children in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth needed for primary school in preschool, day care center, or other child development facility. May be required to hold State certification.
Sample of reported job titles:
Teacher, Preschool Teacher, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (Pre-K Teacher), Lead Teacher, Toddler Teacher, Teacher Assistant, Group Teacher, Early Childhood Teacher, Headstart Teacher, Head Start Teacher
Tasks | Tools & Technology | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Job Openings | Additional Information
Tasks
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior, and procedures for maintaining order.
- Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
- Teach basic skills such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
- Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
- Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
- Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
- Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
- Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
- Teach proper eating habits and personal hygiene.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Balance or gross motor equipment — Play structures |
| Board games — Educational board games |
| Emergency medical services first aid kits — Emergency first aid kits |
| Photocopiers — Photocopying equipment |
| Sand or water tables or activity centers — Sand tables; Water tables |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Computer based training software — Children's educational software |
| Data base user interface and query software — Data entry software |
| Electronic mail software — Email software |
| Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel |
| Word processing software — Microsoft Word |
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Knowledge
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
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Skills
| Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. |
| Instructing — Teaching others how to do something. |
| Active 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. |
| Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. |
| Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. |
| Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
| Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. |
| Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people. |
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Abilities
| Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. |
| Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. |
| Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. |
| Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. |
| Originality — 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. |
| Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. |
| Information Ordering — 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). |
| Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. |
| Fluency of Ideas — 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). |
| Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. |
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Work Activities
| Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
| Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
| Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. |
| Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. |
| Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. |
| Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
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Work Context
| Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
| Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? |
| Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? |
| Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
| Physical Proximity — To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people? |
| Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
| Frequency of Decision Making — How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? |
| Coordinate or Lead Others — How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company? |
| Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job? |
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Job Zone
| Title |
Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed |
| Education |
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. |
| Related 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. |
| 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. |
| Job Zone Examples |
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include food service managers, electricians, agricultural technicians, legal secretaries, interviewers, and insurance sales agents. |
| SVP Range |
(6.0 to < 7.0) |
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Education
Percentage of Respondents |
Education Level Required |
31   |
Some college, no degree |
| 22 |
Associate's degree |
| 21 |
Bachelor's degree |
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Interests
Interest code: SA
| 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. |
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Work Styles
| Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. |
| Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical. |
| Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. |
| Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. |
| Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. |
| Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations. |
| Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job. |
| Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. |
| Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. |
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Work Values
| Relationships — 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 — 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 — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. |
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Related Occupations
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Wages & Employment Trends
National
| Median wages (2012) |
$13.04 hourly, $27,130 annual |
| Employment (2010) |
457,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2010-2020) |
Faster than average (20% to 28%)
|
| Projected job openings (2010-2020) |
232,400 |
| Top industries (2010) |
|
State & National
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012 wage data
and 2010-2020 employment projections
.
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2010-2020). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
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Job Openings on the Web
Find Jobs
for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
State & National Job Banks
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Sources of Additional Information
Disclaimer:
Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries.
Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.
- Preschool Teachers
. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition.
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