by Tahmina Sattar

Created on: August 09, 2009

Patience, along with great communication skills and organisation skills is an important requirement in the job of a preschool teacher. Young children who are still accustomed to the home environment and the constant attention of the parents can certainly feel apprehensive of a new setting. Their fears can bring about all types of behaviour issues that the preschool teacher must manage and understand with a great deal of patience.

As a preschool teacher usually deals with children between the ages of three to five, this age group can be the most difficult to direct. At the same time this age is when children are the most receptive to learning and with hard work and patience, the results can be rewarding for the preschool teacher.

Dealing with emotional upsets, disruptive behaviour, non compliance and temper tantrums would not be an uncommon scenario for the first few weeks of preschool. The preschool teacher needs to have the right mindset and never ending patience during this time. An empathy and sensitivity to the natural fears that children have, coupled with a determined and patient attitude will help to bring comfort and compliance amongst children.

Even after the children settle down for the school term, they are likely to exhibit temperamental outbursts as they learn to communicate and develop social skills with their peers. Teaching children to share, tolerance of others, following instructions as well as helping them to develop other interpersonal skills takes a great deal of patience and perseverance from the teacher.

Dealing with parents of young preschoolers also takes a certain amount of patience and the preschool teacher must listen to all sorts of issues, fears or even just anecdotes about their children that parents want to share with their child's teacher. The preschool teacher must display great patience when communicating with parents about any disciplinary, behavioural or educational issues. Sometimes parents can become extremely sensitive about anything they perceive as criticism about their beloved young ones.

Most importantly though, is the role of the preschool teacher as the model of behaviour for their students. The teacher is second to parents and guardians and holds a pivotal role in shaping behaviour in young children. Preschoolers develop deep attachments to their teachers and often like to mimic the teachers role. As such, it is an important requirement that preschool teachers display patience when dealing with their students consistently and effectively passing on the skill of patience to them as well.

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