And then she received her Teaching certificate, and with it, she bagged her dream job at a top school and lived happily ever after….

No! When you want to be that educator who wants to make a difference, that is not where the story ends. The teaching course and starting your career as a preschool teacher is not the final stage of education. To be great at what you do, for teaching an early childhood (EC) education course and gaining experience with children under 5 years, it is important to keep upskilling and updating on the latest trends in early education.

And if you are an Edupreneur who has worked to create the perfect infrastructure for learning, you know you are the one responsible for knowing how to train preschool teachers and keeping them up to date on the latest updates in early education.

If you are searching for training topics for preschool teachers to sharpen their skills, you are already ahead of the game. As an educator or an edupreneur, knowing what to work on is halfway to winning the game!

Continuous professional development is the most effective way to improve learning outcomes in children. But what are the areas you should focus on for early educators? What could the training topics for preschool teachers be? This is what we will focus on in this blog.

Essential topics for Modern Preschool Teachers

Top 10 Training Topics For Preschool Teachers 

1. Child Development

Understanding child development is essential to track the right progress and milestones of a child. If a teacher does not have the knowledge that a three-year-old lacks the impulse control to “share” with others, they might become frustrated with a child rather than guide them. 

2. Classroom Management

 A well-managed classroom is not a quiet classroom. It is a classroom which knows what it is doing. Where the children move and learn with a proper goal. Where transitions are not a moment of confusion. And a teacher has to know how to do it well. Handling the classroom is also a science, which depends on understanding behavioural learning theory and neuroscience. 
Kids can run amok during transitions, say while moving from lunch to play. Simple actions like rhythmic clapping or transition songs can make the whole experience different.

3. Play-Based Learning (Pedagogy)

The world is moving away from rote learning. According to NEP 2020, learning in early education should be play-based. Teachers need training on how to facilitate “Guided Play”. Where children are introduced to various concepts like gravity, volume, vocabulary, all through games and activities.

4. Curriculum Planning

Every teacher needs to know how to plan their lessons. Without a plan, a classroom can become chaotic. Without a plan, the preschool classroom becomes just another playroom. They also need to know about the new ways of teaching that work well for children, as per recent studies that keep on happening. Like the National Education Policy. Knowing these and being trained accordingly.

5. Positive Discipline and Behaviour Modification

Punishments are a thing of the past. Modern educators believe in behaviour management. They are trained to identify “triggers”, they use time-out to help the child calm down and pacify, and they help the children to understand their emotions and help them to share their needs.

6. Inclusive Education

Today’s classrooms are inclusive. Open to all students, neurotypical and neurodiverse.  So teachers too need to understand and keep up to date with the latest studies on identifying and guiding children with various learning needs. It is to make sure that no child is left behind. 

7. Social Emotional Learning

We as teachers often see how a young child struggles to understand and regulate their emotions. So teachers need to know more about SEL to help and guide the children. 95% of school teachers agree that SEL is important for the children, but only 20% feel they are actually ready to guide children through SEL concepts.

8. Observation and Documentation

In preschool, “tests” are done through observation of the child’s developmental progress. Teachers need to know all the ways to observe and jot anecdotal records. Early educators need to keep refining their skills in understanding a child’s unique needs so that they can adjust their teaching to support individual growth effectively. 

9. Parent Engagement

Preschool teachers are the bridge that connects the school and the parents. So they are the ones who are first responsible for parent retention. So, teachers need training on how to make parents feel like partners in the educational journey of their wards. 

10. Stress Management

About 40% to 53% of preschool teachers complain of significant burnout. A burned-out teacher cannot give their best. So, self-care and time management modules were planned by a preschool to show that the staff were valued, and staff retention would be better.

Why should we talk about how to train preschool teachers?

Before we know how to train preschool teachers, we should understand why we need to constantly prepare various training programs for preschool teachers. Preschool teachers are not just babysitters who keep children engaged during the better part of the day they spend in preschools. They are curriculum designers, emotional coaches and the link between the school and home! The ones who represent the school to the parents.  As teachers, you need to upskill so that you are at the top of your game. 

As an edupreneur, when you invest in training, you are:

1. Reducing Staff Burnout: Learning new ways of organisation and administration skills increases teachers' knowledge and reduces burnout in teachers. Helping them to perform better. Organisations with a good learning culture have 57% higher retention. 

2. Boosting Enrollments: A teacher who is aware of the latest developments in education well utilises the knowledge in the classroom. This results in a thriving learning environment. And parents can work out when certain children are performing better than others. Studies suggest that the collection of students in a classroom setup is 27% regulated by the climate generated by the teacher. 

3. Reduce Risk: Teaching safety protocols and hygiene is essential to protect the kids. According to OSHA and a study by the National Safety Council, all it takes is a good safety and health program to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses by 20% to 40%.

How to Implement this in Teacher Training?

Most training does not work that well because it is just one workshop that is forgotten in a few days. There should be talks and discussions on training topics, and teachers should be encouraged to follow what they have learned. A coordinator or the administrator could spend some time in each class to provide feedback and tips for real-time coaching. One can also open the floor to the teachers, asking them what they find hardest. Say if they find “Nap -time” difficult to handle, then put that up as your next focus of training.

At the end of the day, a preschool is not a building but the humans who create it. And as a school, when you invest in the teachers and as teachers when you invest in yourself, you end up with much more energetic classrooms.

If you are looking for a preschool setup and solution, then visit Teeny Beans, fill in your details, and our representative will contact you soon. 

FAQs

1. How often should I train my staff?

Consistency is better. So aim for 60 minutes of tackling a new topic once a month. And brushing up for 15 minutes every week. And in this way, you cover one topic every month.

2. What is the most important topic for new teachers?

Classroom Management and Safety. If the room is safe and under control, learning can best take place. So these two should be topics that new teachers should spend time on.

3. How do I keep teachers motivated for training?

Make it interactive! Use certificates of completion and "Teacher of the Month" recognitions based on the training topic.

4. Can technology really help with training? 

Absolutely. Digital platforms allow teachers to learn at their own pace and revisit complex topics like "Inclusive Education" whenever they need a refresher.