Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre/school is the stepping stone to formal education. It
lays the foundation which help to shape up the future education and the overall
development of the children. The nursery school embraces the young learners
with utmost care and affection but in spite of that sometimes they feel
insecure and apprehensive. Their feeling of insecurity stems from the new
environment, unfamiliar faces of teachers, peers etc. Their heart and soul
incessantly long for their home and parents. So the nursery school teachers are
bestowed with huge responsibility of showering their love and warmth on the
children by providing a safe learning environment for the children.
The
first and foremost task of a nursery teacher is to make the young learners feel
comfortable in the classroom. The teachers should provide home-like environment
to the children so that they can settle down and concentrate on all the
activities. Moreover, favorable atmosphere aims to bring down the affective
filter which is an imaginary barrier that hinders learning. Managing the young
learners is an uphill task as they are full of energy and have short attention
span. So the nursery teachers need to be extremely patient and should not lose
her cool under any circumstance.
Pre-school teachers should have an appealing and charming
personality with a smiling face because that will enable them to be accepted by
the toddlers. The requirements have prompted the teachers to prepare the
infants in such a way so that they can cope up easily with the latest
developments. With the advent of globalization-project work, team work, social
skills, creativity, analytical mind etc are being harped on and the nursery
teachers are expected to touch all these areas to nurture the overall
development of the children. The teachers design the activities and lessons to
inculcate the team spirit among the children and allow them to be involved in
creative activity as well. Now-a-days the teachers have to be equipped for
interactive classes where the kids are encouraged to come up with their own
thoughts.
All
these parameters demand a proper nursery teacher training and qualification for
kindergarten teachers because a layman will not be aware of the components
required to plan an interesting lesson, implement latest techniques etc. The
teachers need to posses certain qualities and unique characteristics which will
help them to get along with the children easily. A proper training will impart
how to introduce a concept to the children and how to engage the young learners
effectively. Being a nursery teacher one must be equipped with the child
psychology so that the teachers can understand their fundamental needs. The
course will enable the candidates to become aware of the developmental stages
which will be useful while framing the age appropriate lesson, activities,
games etc. It also focuses on how to incorporate art and craft, music, role
play, songs, stories etc in order to achieve effective learning outcome.