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Qualities and Roles of an ECCE Teacher

An Active and Empathetic Listener

It is a known fact that to understand and feel the problems or situation of another
Notes person, one has to put oneself in that person’s shoes. This is called 'empathy'.

This fact is equally true in children-teacher relationships. To understand and feel
children’s pleasure and pain, teachers have to be active and empathetic listeners.
Children have different ways of expressing their emotions and responding to
situations. Empathetic teachers have the ability feel to recognize children’s
thoughts and emotions. This helps in making children understand their place in
the teacher’s life. This quality also helps teachers in solving many classroom
and behavioural problems.

Cheerful and Committed
Did you ever encounter a teacher in your school who used to be annoyed, angry
and always displeased with the children? Did you like that teacher ? You
probably did not. The personality of teachers directly influences children.
Teachers with positive personality create a positive emotional environment.
Such teachers receive cooperation and positive responses from children. These
teachers respect their profession and are happy working with children.

Patient and Persistent

Teachers must have patience and persistence to address the needs of children.
Teachers may find that during play and other activities, children might misplace
toys or play material, mess up the classroom and dirty themselves. They may
not respond and learn things in the manner in which teachers have anticipated.
In these circumstances, teachers need not get upset or angry at children. Rather
providing freedom to the children to play and explore the way they like, keeping
in mind their safety concerns, encourage children to learn better. Similarly, one
child might require the same thing to be repeated several times while the other
may require very special attention in some other way. To address different needs,
ECCE teachers have to be patient and persistently strive for positive outcomes.

Flexible and Adjusting

Teachers have to manage a classroom full of children with diverse needs and
potentials. Planning to cater to these needs is a vital component of an ECCE
programme. Teachers may not necessarily have all the resources and conditions
adequate for effectively planning and implementing the activities. Teachers who
are flexible and adjusting may help in bringing out positive outcomes from
adverse circumstances. This also aids in smooth functioning of the centre as
it is not bound to rigid rules. Thus, teachers must keep a flexible and adjusting
approach while planning and designing learning experiences for young children.

138 EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION