12 Characteristics of Effective Early Childhood Teachers 

Tyrah Urie

When thinking about what it takes to be an effective early childhood teacher, what does

it consist of?  It has become a question that has been in the mind of several reflective teacher

educators, idealistic teachers, and worried families who put their young children in the hands of

another adult. A Lot of great characteristics come from one's own personal characteristics;

feelings and beliefs that can not be observed directly, or assessed through traditional measures

which cause them to be tricky to identify.

What draws teachers to the field of early childhood education? This question can be

answered in many different ways in which most answers closely correlate in the characteristics

that teachers need to have to be effective in the early childhood classroom. Things like, passion,

perseverance, willingness to take risks, pragmatism, patience, flexibility, respect, creativity,

authenticity, love of learning, high energy and a sense of humor (Colker, 2008). All of these

characteristics are what early educators are teaching the young children who are in their

classrooms to obtain, so we need to make sure we obtain them ourselves. 

Passion and perseverance are two key characteristics that stand out to me. More than

anything, you must have passion for what you do. If you do not have passion and enthusiasm

for the children you are working with, then already you nor your children will be successful.

“This is not a career for someone just looking for a job working with kids because they are cute

and it looks like fun. This is a career that must ignite your passion” (Colker, 2008). This

statement stood out to me. When someone is asked what they like about young children, or

why we want to teach young children, you get a lot of “because they are cute”. To be honest,
when I was in my beginning stages of wanting to become a teacher that was my answer too.

However, the more I learned through college and the more I was able to experience young

children, my answer developed and grew. My answer still consists of the children being cute,

what 3-5 year old isn’t?  However, my answer has developed into the idea that I love making an

impact on such young children’s lives. The passion and dedication I have for being a large part

of what is most children’s first experience in school is astounding to me. Teachers have to be

willing to be long term-advocates for improving the lives of children and their families (Colker,

2008). Teaching them the foundational skills that they will not only use at school and

throughout their educational lives but for the rest of their lives in everyday life is something

that an educator strives for.

Other key characteristics that make an effective early childhood teacher I found while

reading this article are; flexibility, patience. The ability to be flexible and base your teaching off

the children’s interests and ideas is key to being an early childhood teacher. From my

experience in my college course and with children, you may have one thing planned and the

children may take it the complete opposite way when it comes to planning and implementing.

As a teacher you must be flexible and adapt. “Any job in early childhood education demands

that you be able to deal well with change and unexpected turns” (Colker, 2008). That in turn,

comes patience. When things are taking a turn the ability to be patient is key. The ability to not

only be patient with yourself in teaching but with your children is key.  Different behaviors,

speed of learning, frustration, and exasperation may challenge your patience, but an effective

teacher has the ability to refrain and remain patient. 

 High energy and a sense of humor as an early childhood educator are really important

to have. With young children it is found that they respond more positively to teachers with high

energy levels, valuing their enthusiasm. In my experiences with young children in my college

practicums, the days where I was well rested, positively thinking, and ready to go, were the

days where I could share my high energy with the children. These days were some of the best

days for not only myself, but the children as they were able to pick up on my high energy. It was

sort of like a chain effect, whereas vice versa they could pick up on my low energy days and it

was visible in the classroom.  Having a sense of humor goes very closely with having high energy

in my opinion. “Learning should be fun; nothing conveys this message more than a room filled

with spontaneous laughter”(Colker, 2008). The ability to laugh with your children, is opening up

the idea that learning is fun, people make mistakes, but we learn from them and it is ok.

Teaching children to laugh, even when the joke is on them is important in building self

character. “All children ask is that we love them, respect them and be willing to laugh when its

funny...even when the joke’s on us” (Colker, 2008). 

All of these different characteristics play a very large and important role in being an

effective teacher. Having each one of these characteristics results in not only being a successful

teacher, but having a successful classroom as a whole. The ability to build relationships become

much more natural and fluent, the trust between the teacher and children become stronger,

and the learning that is being done in the classroom feels real and desired, and that is what

teachers should strive for.