preview

Roles And Responsibilities Of An Early Childhood Teacher

Better Essays

What are the roles and responsibilities of an early childhood teacher? What makes an early childhood teacher effective if they use developmentally appropriate practices (DAP)? According to DAP, there are five main facets that make up the role of an early childhood educator. Each facet makes up what needs to be done by an educator to encourage the children’s development and learning and by using DAP it gives the children support.
Community of learners The educator must build a community inside their classrooms. According to the NAEYC position statement on DAP; “The role of the community is to provide a physical, emotional, and cognitive environment conducive to that development and learning” (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009, pg. 16). To build a community is the foundation on how the children build relationships outside of their own homes and families. Every person in the child care and/or classroom community needs to know that they are appreciated, respected, that they are safe, and feel part of that community. As educators we need to model these types of interactions, whether it be to other children and/or to adults. To help build that community educators need to get to know every child and their families, observe and learn about each child’s personality, understand their abilities, know what they are interested in, and in what ways they learn. The most important are that the educator makes a point to grow a positive relationship with every child in its care.

Get Access