- You must have a warm, smiling face that makes every child feel special and loved.
- You must be able to laugh at jokes that you don’t understand, or you don’t find funny. Child humour can be a confusing minefield to navigate.
- You will preferably have a little bit of quirkiness. If a child requests that you be the captain of a pirate ship, you will be the best pirate captain you can be.
- You must feel comfortable telling everybody in the same room as you, that you are going to use the bathroom.
- The ability to sing in tune is not necessary, however the ability to sing out of tune in front of a crowd is essential.
- Some knowledge of Frozen, Minions, Spiderman, Ariel, Peppa Pig, Octonauts, Thomas the Tank Engine and Sofia the First would be advantageous.
- A high level of multitasking is essential. If something would normally take 5 minutes to achieve, you must be comfortable with it taking 15 minutes or longer.
- You must be able to distribute warm hugs as required.
- Possessing the skills required to rapidly count the heads of numerous moving small people is of utmost importance.
- Must be comfortable entering public places on the way home from work with unknown substances on your clothing.
- You must have a high level of comfort around talking about bodily functions. You must also have a strong sense of smell to enable you to respond swiftly to said bodily functions.
- You preferably do not have an aversion to an environment that at times resembles the aftermath of a tornado.
- You must be able to remain focused in environments with high noise levels.
- Pretending to eat playdough creations realistically is required, this is a skill that may develop with time and experience.
- The ability to remember the names of 40+ children, their parents, siblings, grandparents, pets and special soft toys is a key component of this job. Again, this is something that will develop over time.
- You must feel comfortable sitting on furniture that does not contain all of your behind.
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- A high level of comfort with being asked personal questions by children is essential. You will regularly be asked questions regarding what you are having for lunch, whether you are willing to share said lunch, whether or not you are married, and if not, why you are not married, where you are going (as you walk into the toilet), and what you did in there (the toilet).
- You must have an understanding that the small people you have a strong relationship with during the week, may completely and utterly refuse to talk to or acknowledge you when they see you at the local store. Your feelings must not be easily hurt.
- You must have the ability to read a ten page fairytale with at least one interruption per page.
- Authentically showing an interest in and curiosity for bugs and creepy crawlies is essential, even if they are your biggest fear on earth.
- You must be prepared to have a lot of fun in the workplace. Laughter is something you can expect to engage in for a large part of your working day.
- Finally, you must be prepared to feel loved, special, and important to many young children and their families. There is simply no other job quite like this one.
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Click here and we will email you the printable poster
This is just how it is working with children. I love working with children and miss it so much. I worked with them for 20 years but was hert in the 22 Feb quake and now it is hard to go back to working with children now. I spend meny hours with my 5 grandchildren but still miss working with the children on a daily baces.
So sorry to hear your career was cut short by the earthquake Helen. I am sure you touched the lives of many children in your 20 years, and your 5 grandchildren love every minute they spend with you. Thanks for your message 🙂
Helen, I worked as an Early Childhood Teacher for 23 years until I had a car accident. Like you I missed the daily contact with children. I was very fortunate to gain a position in a Family Support Service working with families. Now still working in my 70’s in three part-time positions! These are Facilitator for Early Childhood and Community Development and at an Early Childhood Intervention Service and teaching Child Studies students at TAFE. I have never regretted my decision to study to become an Early Childhood Teacher and it has opened many wonderful opportunities to work with young children and their families. And now there are the grandchildren for me too!!
This is so very true
It is so wonderful how these little guys relate to us in such a short time all they need is a smiling face and kind engaging words
Love my job as education support person
🙂 Fantastic to hear Helen!
Being asked “Is that your dad?” when my husband has visited the centre on occasion, has always brought a smile! The friendships with children are ageless.
Haha yes!!
Early childhood teachers totally undervalued for the amazing work they do preparing these precious little people for school and the wider world
Thanks Heather 🙂
Yes Thank you Heather😊
Hi there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your
content. Please let me know. Thank you
Hi there ปั๊มไลค์เพจ, that would be great, I hope your group enjoys it 🙂
This is great!! So true
I can sure relate to all of the above. While working with children every day can be an adventure. I would like to add one: You must be able to decipher your name anyway it is pronounced. 🙂
I spent 23 years in the early childhood field before retiring. All if these are so true. Well done! It made me laugh and cry at all the memories.
I spent 37 years working in the early education field. I have been Kindergarten or first grade teacher almost all those years! Children are so much fun to work with(I always said I would almost do it for free) You get to laugh and sing all day long! This article is spot on!!!
Thanks Debbie, it certainly is such a fun thing to work with children every day! And oh so rewarding too!
Here’s another one for your alternative job description: being prepared calmly to receive ANYTHING that a child puts into your hand – worms, snot, wet tissue, half eaten food and so on!
PS Could you make your alternative job description into a poster?
Haha that is brilliant Amanda! Creating a poster is a great idea, thanks for the suggestion. We will work on this, it would make a great addition to many staff rooms 🙂
Absolutely! 🙂
I worked for many years at the Little Red Schoolhouse on Saltspring Island .We had an outhouse. When one person wanted to go, 4 or 5 more wanted to go too. It took a while to get everyone’s boots and jackets on. It was always interesting. Each child had certain requirements for using the outhouse. Either he or she wanted the door shut or the door open, the teacher in with them or standing outside, help with getting onto the seat or not. On the way there were often banana slugs to look at. I loved that job and the schoolhouse too. It was fantastic. The children I am talking about are grownup now and have their own children. Thanks for the article, it made me laugh and remember. p.s.I often find myself counting people when I am in a group even now !
This is such a good post, I’m sure a lot of people will benefit from this, especially those who are looking for teacher jobs. Keep it up! And by the way, the drawing above is really adorable!
http://www.talentedteacherjobs.co.uk/
Thanks Barry 🙂
Fantastic i love this. Would you mind if i use parts of this in an advert for staff who want to work with us at artrageous kids?
I have been wanting to create an advertisement just like this as these are the real qualities we need.
Great job x
Absolutely Caroline 🙂
Love this! So hard to keep a straight face when asked some questions. First day of work after I got married there were some cracking questions.
“So youre married to a boy now?”
“Yep”
“Where’s your baby?”
“Uhhhh…”
This is brilliant. I work with 2 year olds and every second point was spot on perfect. Think I might have to print this out to give to my student teacher I have at the moment!
Hi Sonya,
Recently came upon your post again this summer. I worked in Child Care (with infants, preschoolers, and school-age children as well as teaching Kindergarten) for 20 years and have been teaching at Red River College since then. With your permission, I would like to share your post with students as a part of our Professional Behaviour course.
Thank you for your thoughts that demonstrate the joy of working with children that I hope to instill in our students.
Bev Snell
Please post a poster to
Poppies preschool
61 st martins road
Christchurch
Hi Bev, that is absolutely fine to share with your students! It’s fun to share and discuss the lighter side of early childhood teaching, I hope they enjoy it 🙂
Hi Lynn!
You can download the poster here for printing:
https://blog.storypark.com/email-alternative-job-description-early-childhood-teachers-please/
Be prepared for straight out insult with a smile on your face e.g (your naturally spotty) child asks if you have chin ken pox or why you have a big bum or tum
Hey,
This is a great post! I had to chuckle about the “telling everyone that you are going to the potty” point. That is definitely a key part of the job description! I think one of the most important parts is just to enjoy life!
Best,
Dennis
I have just retired after 50 years in EC. Of course I now volunteer and do it all without payment, but also without homework. Love the descriptions and much better than usual job adverts. Thankyou