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I believe the outcome of your survey reflects what I see as I work with early childhood professionals. Those rooms where teachers are engaged in building a relationship with the children tend to appear more effective. Those teachers are not only seeking to know and understand each child, but they then are more likely to use that knowledge to build a stronger and more effective program because they want the children to do well! Also glad to see that respondents put an early childhood degree so high.

As a director of a center I have to agree with the order of the top 5 %'s.
An education is invaluable but if an employee is not passionate about their
concern and love for the child then they will generally not be able to enjoy the children's developmental behavior, humor, fears and interests.

I would much rather have a teacher who has a passion for what she/he is doing than someone who feels they "know" everything because they have a degree. Too often I have interviewed and had a perspective candidate do a working interview who has displayed no connection with the children, no common sense, and not be willing to be flexible, to meet the needs of the children as opposed to doing everything by the book. Training, enhances an inner passion that is something that cannot be learned from a book, it is by experiences in your life that create a desire to make a life long difference in the life of a child. Being willing to play, to cry and leave fingerprints on the lives of the children you care for and cherishing the fingerprints they leave on your heart.

The quality of the person is more important than the degrees the person holds. Does the person understand children? Is the person nurturing? Is the person able to command the respect and love of the children?

These are the questions that must be answered first about a person. If the answers are yes, then we can train the person.

I also agree that a nuturing, loving personality is most important as an early childhood educator. I do appreciate the information and knowledge that I have gained from my Masters program. It gave me great insight into the child development particularly with reading and writing. This provides me with a very realistic idea of what children may understand at these young ages which allows me to explain to the parents that to a child an "D" is a D whether the child 'draws' it upside down, right-side up or backwards--just as a chair is a chair no matter which we you turn it. Most of my day though is spent encouraging the child's spirit, helping them deal with emotional or social issues and finding great joy in their discoveries and creativity. Early childhood educators need patience and the ability to laugh often.

A good working understanding of how children learn and develope.

I agree with many of the characteristics expressed. Teachers certainly need to be loving caring people who enjoy being with children and find the work fulfilling, educational, rewarding and inspiring. However, I have one great concern. I have observed over and over that many early childhood teachers do not understand child development and, therefore, often have unrealistic expectations, blame children for engaging in normal behavior and treat such behaviors and "crimes" rather than an opportunity for loving guidance. As a person who has been a teacher trainer for many years, I feel that I must take some responsibility for this. I believe that we must put more emphasis on child growth and development in a more practical manner so that rather than yelling, punishing, or engaging in some other behavior which makes a child feel less than a full human being deserving of respect, we will respond more appropriately. The toddler or even the preschooler who evades sharing is not a selfish, evil person, but a young child involved in a developmental process.
The preschooler who sneaks a toy out of someone's " cubby" is not a thief on his way to a life of crime but a child in a normal developmental process. How
the story evolves depends a lot on how well professionals use knowledge,
love and positive guidance.

Sylvia
Long Beach, California, United States , appreciating your use of the word "collaborator" in place of teacher. Finding myself uneasy with the traditional paradigm of teacher imparting knowledge to student, vs. sharing the responsibility for learning with the student, and learning alongside one another.

So I'd add "ability to collaborate" as a qualification for teaching

One thing missing in the choices that wound up in the poll, was:
interest and ability for self-reflection. I ache for everyone in the room when I watch an adult skip the step of reflecting on what's going on inside themselves before connecting with a child, particularly in emotionally charged situations.
A second missing choice was: structural support in the program for supporting teacher self-reflection

I absolutely agree that a nurturing personality and love of children is essential for an effective preschool teacher. I'm fascinated that the third item on the list is a BA in early childhood education, and an associates degree is also listed - yet I don't think that represents what is available in the real world. Degreed professionals usually command a higher salary than what is available in this field, which makes it harder to meet these criteria. I'm also surprised to see in-house and local training much further down the list, when that is much more readily available, and I think much more common. This seems to indicate that what we believe is most important, is different from what we, as an industry, achieve.

The qualities I found missing in the list of choices were the habits of being a lifelong learner; passionate curiosity, problem solving behaviors, and open-mindedness. If we wish to provide the rigorous learning environments that truly nurture whole children - their hands, heads and hearts - we must see ourselves as learners first and teachers second.

Nurturing personality, along with some diploma or training in education.
Special subject as child psychology, to know human mind is important
to be a good teacher.

A nurturing personality and a love of children are no longer enough. Teachers must have a 3 year minimum professional qualification. Would you allow someone who was nurturing and loved children to teach your child at primary (elementary) or secondary (college) level? Of course not!

In New Zealand, our current government has cut back funding from 100% qualified staff in ECE, to 80% qualified. The thinking is that not everyone has to be qualified, and as long as most of the staff are, its fine to have the rest made up of people who are nurturing and love children.

Most of us in the ECE profession disagree. We see this as government finding areas to cut spending in a recession. We believe that having 20% of staff unqualified can pull standards down. Professional teachers can be challenged - "Is that really necessary? They are only little children". Our greatest concern is that most of the unqualified teachers are working with the under two year olds. The first two years of life are an essential period for language development, and for cognitive and social and emotional development. We need qualified teachers working in this area, and advising parents of what they need to be doing with their little ones at home, to promote their full potential.

Early childhood teaching is a profession, and needs professionals.

I would rate nurturing personality and love of children as one category
Hig quality, SPECIFIC E.C education as another (regardless of the degree)
Opportunity to work with and model a high quality EC professional
High quality supervision and mentoring
Ongoing EC education throughout his/her teaching career

The top two traits give me cause for concern and annoyance.
Most people do not have a "real" understanding of what it means to nurture. For example, nurturing a garden does not mean you simply allow it to run wild and free, standing by watching and doting. It requires active knowledgeable participation in the process. What's the best environment for each plant, when is it best to water, feed, prune and weed? I have seen and worked with too many "teachers" who do not plan for or engage with children in their learning and sincerely believe they are nurturing.
Progressive is not permissive.
And just because you love children, does not mean you should be working with them. Pedophiles love children. Love is an irrational and capricious emotion. It can cause people to make questionable decisions based on unrealistic expectations.
I have been an early childhood "collaborator" (teacher) for 33 years. I CARE about and enjoy being with young children. I enjoy their conversation, perspective, curiosity and passionate sensory attitude toward life. I care enough about them to stop their inappropriate and mistaken behaviors...behaviors that hurt or harm them, others or the environment. I feel this nurtures the caring, learning human inside them.
Thanks

The discussion of qualifications for ECE educators ("Pre-school Teachers")is a heated one in California. Nearly 700 California Early Childhood Mentors dedicated time in their monthly seminars for 18 months to address this issue. Why? Who better to provide guidance to policy makers on how to prepare and assess ECE educators than Mentors--teachers of children birth to five who have been selected using rigorous standards on their teaching experience, classroom environments, and recommendations from the field? Mentors tapped into their education, experience, and wisdom to provide information and insight to Mentor Program staff. Together, we created important ECE policy recommendations based on the characteristics of high quality teachers that should guide recruitment, education, and assessment of the ECE workforce. The final document is below. The formatted document and a wealth of background materials can be found by clicking on Leadership through Knowledge at www.ecementor.org.

Characteristics of High Quality Teachers of Young Children: The Unified Voice of California Early Childhood Mentors

We believe . . . that regardless of the path that brought them to excellence, high quality teachers are in the field today. Whether teaching in center-based, family child care, or school-based programs, these teachers skillfully support the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and creative development of young children. In order to pave a clearer path to excellence for future teachers, we have come to consensus on the characteristics of a high quality teacher of young children, regardless of age group, auspice, or program type.

A High Quality Teacher of young children is someone with the disposition, knowledge, and skills to develop and maintain trusting relationships with young children. A child’s relationships determine brain development, willingness and desire to explore the unknown, knowledge retention, and long-term success. The high quality teacher of young children develops and maintains trusting relationships as the bedrock on which all other teaching opportunities build.

A High Quality Teacher of young children is someone with the disposition, knowledge, and skills to develop and implement an integrated curriculum that incorporates:
• Unstructured play to develop executive function—the ability to regulate their emotions, make independent decisions, and collaborate with others.
• Teacher-directed learning to provide children with information, insights, and support in their acquisition of knowledge and skills.
• Discovery-based/child-directed learning to encourage further development of innate curiosity and lifelong learning by allowing young children to identify their own learning goals.
• Sensory-based learning to develop children’s awareness of themselves and their natural and constructed environment. Touch, movement, sight, sound, taste, and smell each provide unique learning experiences.
• Individualized developmental support. Every child has a unique path and pace of development, a unique combination of physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and creative development. Critical developmental leaps taken in the first years of life require balancing group time with individualized support of each child, utilizing a repeating pattern of observation, documentation, evaluation and support.

A High Quality Teacher of young children is someone with the disposition, knowledge, and skills to create a safe, healthy, inviting environment. The high quality teacher of young children creates a physical and emotional environment for all children, including children with special needs, that promotes safe exploration, protects children’s health, and provides opportunities for motor development.

A High Quality Teacher of young children is someone with the disposition, knowledge, and skills to celebrate diversity. The high quality teacher of young children is sensitive to cultural, linguistic, physical ability, and lifestyle differences of young children, families, and colleagues as well as self-reflection regarding her or his own hidden biases.

A High Quality Teacher of young children is someone with the disposition, knowledge, and skills to facilitate partnerships with families. The high quality teacher of young children creates an environment that welcomes families as well as children, includes them in decisions that impact their young children, keeps families informed about their child’s progress and activties, and provides them with information on community resources.

A High Quality Teacher of young children is someone with the disposition, knowledge, and skills to continually learn. New research findings on brain development, new teaching methodologies, and new guidelines or requirements for health and safety provide rich sources for professional and personal growth. The high quality teacher of young children seeks out knowledge and then incorporates it into her or his teaching.

The Mentor Teachers of the California Early Childhood Mentor Program do hereby recommend . . . that the characteristics of the highest quality teachers of young children identified here be used as benchmarks to guide policies developed to educate and assess professionals in the field of Early Care and Education. College curriculum, mentoring programs, and professional development efforts should strive to encourage the development of these characteristics in the teachers of tomorrow.

What, I wonder, is a nurturing personality? And what does it mean to love children? And how does that make one a good teacher?

Nowhere on this list do I see anything suggesting that knowledge of child development might be the most essential key to effective teaching.

I find so discouragingly few people in the classrooms who understand that, at the core, we must attend to those 7 essential skills that Galinsky writes about in her new book, The Making of a Mind. It is those skills - the "Tools of the Mind" that Leong and Bedrova describe - that provide the foundation for a disposition toward learning and the wherewithal to learn the specific knowledge and skills that make for competence in academic learning.

Janet Sherman

Might you consider next time adding an "other" category with a way to add something. None of the choices listed were my first choice. Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

As a community college instructor and a coach to community child care providers, I see the benefit of formal education in addition to workshops and ongoing trainings that keep teachers abreast of the latest directions in the field. A BS from 1964 would not be enough to keep me qualified as a classroom teacher or as an instructor. While in-house training is very helpful in relation to the program's philosophy, it may offer only one perspective. When Colorado required college courses for preschool teachers, some people chose to leave the field rather than take formal college classes. Maybe we need ALL of the factors introduced in step-by-step increments that do not force people to leave the field in the meantime. Hopefully compensation will increase with higher professional standards.

Agreed upon definitions of a profession give priority to formal education and specific skill sets in a field of focus. Would you ever bring your child to a doctor who loves children but has never been to medical school?
We need to continually advocate for - demand - formal education and specific skills in the women and men that work in the field of early childhood education.
This is how we will be recognized as professionals in a field of professioal practice.
Do children and families deserve less?

I am in agreement with those comments that discuss the integrated philosophy. Having been in the early childhood education field since my teens and now having celebrated my 60th birthday, I have joined the struggle over the years to help parents and the community at large see the early childhood development profession as the critically important field that it is. With the advent of scientific research that focuses on the importance of early childhood in the overall development of the person, our career field has finally been placed in the spotlight and under the microscope. Who should be teaching and nurturing our young children? I value my masters degree in early childhood. I pursued that degree because of my love for children, which, by my very long definition, is "concern and care for the well being of children, seeing them as individuals, and seeking to provide them with positive, healthy experiences and environments so that they can grow into healthy, mature adults, contributing in positive ways to our world." That degree added to my skill-base and to my desire to continue to research and study, so that I could use new findings to better relate to and nurture children, as well as to better relate to and nurture their parents. We take what we have and try to add as much as we can of what we don't have in order to be the best that we can be as an example for our children.

Having a Bachelor's Degree is over rated as far as the ability to care for and nurture children. Most early childhood education degrees are focused more on classroom teaching than nurturing young children. The CDA seems to do a great job of giving developmentally appropriate activities and milestones without spending the money on a four year degree to make half the money of a public school teacher.
Also there are many who have the personality and ability to be wonderful with children yet not able to complete a four year degree. Those are the ones that need the recognition for their contributions and dedication to children in spite of the low wages received.

I am glad to see BA ranked high on the list as I feel that there is a higher level of ability to reflect deeply on emergent curriculum and communicate effectively about the children's learning that is unfolding in the classroom when teachers have a higher level of education. Ongoing learning and seeing oneself as a lifelong learner is also key.

What a distressing list of "qualifications"! We will never be considered to be a genuine profession if our own leaders think that a nurturing personality is the most important attribute of a good teacher.

You can formerly learn child development theories through college, you can learn it informally by many years teaching children, what you can't be taught is having a nurturing, caring personality. This is an intrinsic temperament attribute that the best education could not teach someone to learn.

I have done a lot of interviewing and hiring over the past 15 years for our large school of 300 children. I have learned to trust my gut instincts and when I don't, I am always sorry. I want a lead teacher who exudes a love for children (actually people in general), but who also presents themselves as a professional. For me that means that they speak/write well, listen attentively, demonstrate organization, and a real interest in growing. I had to hire 3 new lead teachers this year. I love the way they are collaborating with each other and already established teachers, researching new ideas, and demonstrating value for the children/families we serve and the program we have in place. We do require a 4 year teaching degree in either El Ed or ECE for our leads, but I have found that although the degree is significant, there are degreed people out there who are NOT suited to work with children.

I do think that people who enjoy young children and are nurturing tend to select early childhood. Those who do not like the children probably would quit in a week, given the inherent challenges. On the other hand, I think that personality factors and personal characteristics are often confused with skillls.

People can learn to demonstrate warmth and authority with children. A really skilled teacher does this routinely. This is not some esoteric that is provided by being born to it, but a skill that they have learned along the way. People who want to learn how to do this can, with instruction and practice much like they learn how to plan effective activities or engage in responsive communiation.

I have had my eyes opened following course work in college level ECE. The programs being offered now in college are current and up to date with research. I wish everyone involved in ECE were able to be exposed this material. I definately feel ECE Bachlors degree makes a hugh difference.

These findings, to me represent that we are in a transition period, with
somewhat inconsistent views. WE have research that overturns some of our previous views, which we may or may not have given up. We are on a pathway toward valuing what a person has learned to be and be able to do as a teacher, often from a bachelor program in a college, but also from excellent training and years of experience. We don't know how to measure or conceptualize whether a junior in college knows more than, less than, or the same as a director of an early childhood program with 5 years of expernence. We haven't developed equivalencies on our career ladders, or ways to measure and offer credit for prior learning.

But we are getting there.

Hi dear,
I think 'Love of children' is only an important aspect of 'Nurturing personality' and hence the second important factor can be 'Bachelor degree in ECE. But what about experience of the teacher in setting where early care and emotional growth are equally important? I have another doubt on the spiritual development of the teacher which most teacher education programs do not mind as it is considered as something religious even if it is not so(because all religions emphasize on the spiritual entity of human being). Without considering the super natural power which majority of people believe by their own experience and learning how can we work for social change? The essence is not to develop a mind which can be easily divided by religions but to create strong minds to love and render equality identifying the spiritual oneness.
Thank you.

I am not surprised that the top traits were "nurturing personality" and "love of children". These are key to working with and teaching the young among us. Infants and toddlers are so vulnerable and rely on caregivers to meet their physical, emotional, mental and developmental needs. Their need to trust and expect caring loving attention and guidance directs their ability and reception of what they are being taught

Thank you for a great survey. It was encouraging to see the results.
True Professionals learn daily.

True professionals learn daily. I appreciate the survey and found the findings extremely encouraging. We are teaching the future.

Sincerely
Regina Miller
Center Director Princeton Children's Center

I agree with Gaby, Wendy and Joyce. I was heartened that my conclusions after being in the ECE field for 30 years are validated by what (I am assuming) are younger professionals. Programs and education are just that without the relational, nurturing assets most childcare professionals have as they begin their career. Let us remember that children in care, are spending their CHILDHOOD with us. Their childhood memories become are exactly what we give them. Shall we give them an academic program? Or shall we give them an amazing time of wonder at the world atround them as they explore and learn through creative activities and adventures. Lessons about life and humanity and themselves as well. Lessons about fantasy and creativity which are tied to imagination, reasoning and thinking porcesses. Academics will be their "work" for the next twelve years so let's help them be prepared for success by remembering our own childhoods and what shaped our thinking and who we have become. Education has a place here of course, but is not only indicator of a great ECE teacher.

What is glaringly absent from the findings is 'to be in service'

Connecting with a heartf-felt commitment of interacting, guiding, and supporting a child's developmental awakening through compassion, interest, and reverence is a life-long journey of holistically educating the whole child...

The most disturbing response is 'love of children'

experientially, a whole lot can go wrong under the pretense of love-

and, a whole lot of life-affriming experiences happen for children when respect is present, organic, and genuine

I think your survey leaves off the most important aspect of effective teaching -- reflective practice. Effective teachers observe children carefully and then use those observations to guide their teaching. They share those observations with colleagues and supervisors to deepen their understanding of what's going on with this particular child and how to craft learning opportunities that respond to their unique needs.

Many of the "qualifications" that folks checked in your list can support and perhaps help initiate reflective practice (e.g. nurturing personality, loving children, having an advanced degree, working with experienced teacher) but these qualifications alone are not sufficient if they are not guided by a clear vision, strong leadership and institutional structures that value, encourage and make time for reflective practice.

The different categories are interesting and appropriate. The percentages are what I would expect for early childhood teachers. However, I was hoping that the percentage of teachers who have a bachelors degree would be higher. I think with the changes expected in 2013 we will see that percentage go up even higher. I think that directors and administrators need to motivate their teachers to keep learning and keep reaching higher. We are the models of education as a wholem and what it means to be educated and to keep on learning. We should be perpetual students ourselves. I plan to never stop learning and never stop reaching higher.

I was surprised to see that there was no reference to the ability to build relationships with parents. Quality early childhood care and education is a partnership with the parents.

I'm glad that nurturing and love for children are at the top of the list. While education is very important, I would move the opportunity to work with a master teacher along with supervision and mentoring up to the next level. I think research is proving how important coaching is in creating excellent teachers.

Interesting results. Some might say that you cannot teach the "top" 2 but I would argue that a solid understanding of child development + with practice in perspective taking (so you can see the world from the child's point of view and teach accordingly) + using an inquiry approach to curriculum planning cycles = nurturing and responsive preschool education.

I found the results of the poll very interesting. I see how, as in all developmental processes, becoming a great teacher involves a balance of nature and nurture. Individuals who, by nature, love working with children and have a nurturing disposition, gravitate to this field and set the bases for a caring loving early childhood professional; qualities that are definietly needed when working with young children. But it is the exposure to great teaching role models and a solid theorical base that completes the picture.

I like the first three, and the way they are ranked. I have witnessed Teachers with a CDA work more effectively with children than Teachers with a PhD. Education is critical in understanding how to teach, but if you don't have the right personality and care for working for children no amount of education can give you that.

After seeing other comments, I would add that if the question is LICENSURE. I would support that as being important for the question of worthy wage, and professional recognition. That reflects the current trend. It isn't the license per se that is the crucial factor.

I think that obviously it is a combination of many of these things, which I now cannot remember completely.
1. The Creativity involved comes from the development of the teacher, is not fundamentally necessary as an innate quality--(any more than anyone is fundamentally creative.)
2. One can start from any one of a number of places and grow to become competent in many ways. This development should always be supported.
3. The value of a degree-- AA and especially BA, should lie in the specific attention to systematic exploration of issues in the larger world--and critical thinking, that should be emphasized in a BA program. That might be missed in in house, professional development approaches. In the current, often anti-intellectual climate, attention to "data" about the world in general is essential.

While the discussion of dispositions is important, I think we as a profession agree on most of the dispositions being discussed. What seems to me to be the chasm at this point is WHAT educational background is useful and what LICENSURE should or should not be required. In a recent study I was involved in, 30 states required licensure for the birth to kindergarten range. However, many of those states did not recognise a B.S. child development degree as suitable preparation. I believe those teachers with this background have far more formal education in the birth to kindergarten age range than teacher ed programs that focus on K-3rd or 4th grades. We are short changing children when we don't recognise this blinder on the eyes of too many.

I would be interested to see how different people voted. For example, percentages broken down by the types of professionals that voted. Did teachers vote differently than Directors and Technical Assistance Specialists. I think the value placed on the different qualities will vary greatly among the types of professionals.

I am pleased to see that BOTH educational level and nurturing personality were identified by a large majority of respondents. These numbers illustrate that as a field of professionals we are willingto to say out loud that being a kind and nurturing soul is not enough to be a good teacher. And that education is also very critical. I know this isn't a scientific survey and so we can't say that this is what a majority of folks in the field say, but I would guess it does provide a good cross section of engaged professionals who work in the field. It is good that so many of us are willing to stand up for the position that an education is seriously important. Without taking such a position as a field, we will never increase the status of early educators, nor will we be successful in advocating for reasonable wages for the professionals that do this work.

How about the adults who work with children having an understanding of child development, having the ability to observe, take anecdotal notes, plan from these observations and follow the lead of the child? How do they learn these skills? From being observed and coached/mentored at the very least. Ideally working along side a master teacher and receiving quality training and education supports this learning. Sharing and reflecting with others - director, peers, mentors, master teachers help to develop life long learners! Just loving children and having a nurturing personality doesn't cut it! Creating a tool box of knowledge and skills along with the nurturing and loving disposition is what the ECE field needs!

I, too, am intrigued by the results. But I feel that the key to these qualities is that each must be part of a combined package; none would be sufficient in isolation. For example, I often hear from staff and some parents that staff don't need degrees, they just need to love kids or be nurturing. Other parents ask only about whether new staff are degreed, and never question personality characteristics. But, as a director, I understand that a person with a degree in early childhood, however well prepared academically, will never be able to make a difference with children of he or she does not enjoy being around children every day. Likewise, the most nurturing individual may adore being with the children, and may be a beloved member of the staff, but may not help children achieve their potential because he/she doesn't understand develppmentally appropriate practice, or may not know how or where to find answers to issues which may develop. Similarly, a teacher lacking in creativity may follow appropriate developmental practices to the letter, but may lack the ability to change up activities to meet the varying needs of individual students. A highly effective teacher will have enterd the field because they love children and have nurturing personalities, will want to continue their education in order to be the best, most professional and prepared teacher, and will always strive to be as creative as possible in order to privde a superior program that meets the needs of all children.

Nurturing personality is a must for me as a director. People who choose to work in the "helping professions" need to be able to nurture, care and support those who she /he work with.
Love of children is to general of a statement. Who does not love children. This trait does not indicate any thing to me.
BA in ECE is not always a good indicator. In the 28 years that I have owned and administered two centers the teachers who join our field with a 4 years degree feel that they are over qualified and under paid. This my not be true in every state or in every center. In centers housed in universities the situation might be different. I find that teachers with Associatye Degrees are happier, more comitted to stay in the field.

I agree with Christine in that I wish the insta poll had not been a list. I struggled to complete the poll because I didn't necessarily agree with the choices provided. I think we've all seen well-trained individuals who do not relate well with children and nurturing individuals who do not engage children in appropriate activities. There definitely needs to be a balance rather than one or the other.
If we say that a nurturing personality is the top qualification for an effective preschool teacher, then how do we ever professionalize our field? Is it any wonder that those outside of our field think anybody can do what we do?

I agree with the survey. While I'd like to think that teachers with a degree would be loving and nurturing, the reality is that it is not always the case. Sometimes you can teach people paperwork, policies, and theory but you can't teach them to love kids; that has to come from within. It has been my experience that nurturing and loving teachers have a passion for what they do; with proper support and mentoring this passion can be directed towards degree.

I woul dbe interested if the respondents were mostly administrators? I wonder if there is a match between the ECE on the floor and the administrators. I have observed that there is not always a connect, and this causes challenges for those seeking for ECE's and those ECE's seeking a position.

I believe the number one quality for a preschool teacher is the ability to really listen to the children.

The second would be the ability to laugh especially at yourself.

In the words of Marian Wright Edelman (The Sea is so Wide and My Boat is So Small) " You can have the best equipped school, smallest class size, and a grat curriculum, but if teachers . . . do not love children, children will know it - and be hurt."

I wish the insta poll had not been a list. Research has already shown that the more training and formal education an early childhood teacher has the more purposeful her teaching becomes. Intrinsic to purposeful teaching is love and nurturance. In other words, this particular poll doesn't share new insights with the field. Personally, I would be interested in finding out what qualities make an effective director: what should administrators be watching for when looking to promote teachers into administrative rolls?

I would agree with your survey. Ditto to Kathryn's comments.

I think the coments are great on most. Nurturing is very important, Experience helps Education top. But remember children don't care how much Education you have they just want to know how much you care. With out all of it we would not know how to take care of children.You have to the know the normal before you can say it is not normal.

I assume that when one is attracted to any field, certain intrinsic individual qualities exist that propel that person to seek a position...thus, 'loving children' or 'having a nurturing personality' are givens for me. Having a Bachelor's degree in early childhood and working under the supervision of a highly skilled professional are most important. The workshops and additional trainings that reflect current best practice bolster that foundation. Make sense?

I personally participated in this poll and it was very difficult to choose from the list. Almost intuitive to this discussion is the idea that excellent teachers must love children and have compassion for them. After that of course we must consider research about good teaching. Research has shown that excellent teachers have spent time learning about young children , whether in a forml education setting, through mentorship, or through many years of experience. But if you think about it there were no wrong answers on that list.

I didn't find anything to disagree with in the results except that any teacher in a quality program needs to be a good employee and colleague.

I was surprised by the answer. Of course you need to be nurutring and love children; however, that is not enough. Education in understanding child development and support in developing effective teaching and guidance strategies are essential.

It saddens me that an associates degree in early childhood ranks so far down the list. there are many community and Tec. colleges that offer excellent programs in early childhood education. An associates degree, coupled with the opportunity to work with a creative, seasoned, master teacher, I believe could be more effective than having a bachelor's degree and starting out by oneself.

For my child, I'd want a teacher that is warm and nurturing.I would want the teacher to view their chosen career as their calling, not just a job.When working with my child, I would hope that the teacher would encourage curiosity, and let him learn by doing many hands on activities. But most of all, I want a teacher that truly listens to my child. Most children will show you how they learn best if we will allow them to take the lead. Hopefully, as a team, my child and his teacher would learn together. Children can educate us, as well as we do them. The list doesn't surprise me and for the most part I feel it's a good list.

if you don't like working with children from around the world, then you shouldn't be working at a childcare center. put your worries aside for 8 hrs. & enjoy the children...they have alot to offer!

I was not surprised to see most of these qualifications on the list and would largely agree. I WAS surprised, however, not to see 'sense of humour' on the list! For me it is an essential qualification to teach young children...

I think that this same questioned was polled atleast a year ago perhaps with different areas to choose from. I believe that most teachers feel that education in our field is a very important start. I highly agree with the response.