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Preschool Teacher

Academic programs / Undergraduate degrees / Career opportunities / Preschool Teacher

Preschool Teacher

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Potential job titles in this career
Child Development Teacher, Early Childhood Teacher, Group Teacher, Infant Teacher, Montessori Preschool Teacher, Nursery Teacher, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (Pre-K Teacher), Teacher, Toddler Teacher

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.
What will I do?
  • Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
  • Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
  • Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
  • Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
  • Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
  • Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
  • Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.
  • Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
  • Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
  • Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
  • In this career, it is important to know
    Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    It's useful to be good at
    Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

    Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

    Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

    Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

    Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

    Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

    Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

    Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

    Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

    Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
    Employment trends
    Location Pay period 2022
    10% 25% Median% 75% 90%
    United States Hourly $11.50 $13.88 $16.99 $21.20 $28.16
    Yearly $23,920 $28,870 $35,330 $44,090 $58,580
    Arizona Hourly $13.50 $13.73 $14.33 $17.43 $22.27
    Yearly $28,090 $28,550 $29,800 $36,260 $46,330
    2022 Median%
    United States $16.99 Hourly $35,330 Yearly
    Arizona $14.33 Hourly $29,800 Yearly

    Employment (2022)
    512,300 employees
    Projected growth (2022 - 2032)
    Slower than average (2% to 3%)
    Projected job openings (2022 - 2032)
    56,300
    * Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).
    What are accelerated programs?
    Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

    3 year programs

    These programs allow students to fast-track their studies after admission and earn a bachelor's degree in three years or fewer while participating in the same high-quality educational experience of a 4-year option. Students should talk to their academic advisor to get started.

    Accelerated master's

    These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

    Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Acceptance to the graduate program requires a separate application. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master’s during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.
    What are concurrent programs?
    Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.
    What are joint programs?
    Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

    What constitutes a new program?
    ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the “New Programs” option.
    What are online programs?
    ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.
    What is the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)?
    The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is a program in which residents of western states (other than Arizona) may be eligible for reduced nonresident tuition. See more information and eligibility requirements on the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program.

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