The childcare sector in Australia has become one of the largest employing sectors, and thus, choosing a career here can be a brilliant decision. As a professional, you will be required to perform a vast range of tasks and responsibilities to support the children and students you will work with. Children are the future of society, and thus, they must receive the best learning in their early years of development.
Therefore, if you choose this career, you have to apply various skills according to the work environment. Various child care short courses are available in colleges across Australia that teach aspiring individuals these skills, thus making them job-ready for the industry. This blog discusses all these qualities one must have to meet career goals.
Communication skills
To become a successful child care worker, you must be equipped with excellent verbal, written, and non-verbal communication skills.
- Verbal communication is necessary when you interact with your young students, parents, and colleagues.
- On the other hand, you must have effective writing skills to design childhood education programs and record lessons and other documents.
- Use of body language and other non-verbal communication skills will be required for building strong relationships with people at work.
Planning and instruction
Depending on where you work, you may have to plan and deliver important lessons to the children. For example, a person working as a nanny for preschool-aged children in their private homes will need to plan specific educational activities and instruct various subjects like writing and reading. Therefore, developing these skills is essential if you particularly want to work in a kindergarten or preschool setting.
Creative thinking
Whenever you do a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, you will find your trainers giving importance to creativity. Having a creative mind will give you an advantage in finding a job in a childcare setting. You can easily plan fun activities and organise exciting events for the children. These activities will keep them motivated and engaged, thus playing a significant role in their development.
Therefore, the more ways you find to develop your creative thinking, the better it will be.
Skills to make key decisions
For any job, decision-making skills are important. As an early childhood teacher, you may be assigned responsibilities like deciding what topics to teach, choosing child-oriented activities, planning individual-oriented learning, and other key decisions that boost holistic development for children.
In addition, you must also have the quality to make quick decisions and good choices in emergencies, such as when a kid gets hurt.
Problem-solving skills
The job of a childcare worker involves several challenges, and as a mature professional, you must know how to overcome them. Challenges associated with the learning environment include:
- Lack of supply of resources
- Sickness of children
- Children getting upset for any emotional reason
Whenever such a situation occurs, you must respond promptly and find a quick yet effective solution. For example, to comfort a child with sickness or an unhappy child, you may think of changing your approach.
Analytical skills
Monitoring children’s learning process and analysing their behaviour, curriculum choices and decisions according to that recorded information are all included in the list of analytical skills that a childcare worker must apply. Your ability to evaluate information and consider intricate details will play a crucial role not only in your students’ achievements but in your success, too.
For instance, while working with pre-schoolers, you may need to instruct small groups of children according to particular curriculum requirements. In that case, you may also need to document data to monitor their progress. When you have good analytical data, it will become easy to discuss with parents their development.
Compassion and empathy
Working with children requires you to be naturally compassionate and empathetic, and you will be required to handle children of different ages and coming from different backgrounds. Therefore, how you interact with them and their parents will greatly depend on your ability to understand their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
You will have to be patient also in situations like a child getting hurt so that you can provide them with the best possible support and comfort.
Organisational skills
As a child care worker, you will also be required to be extremely organised. Organisational skills will be most required when you are the only instructor and caretaker in the workplace.
For example, a child care worker working in a preschool is sometimes assigned multiple responsibilities like recording and maintaining student files, supplying inventories, and keeping all important documents. For this role, the person must pay complete attention to every detail and have sufficient organisational skills.
Doing a certificate course in childcare and education will help you develop these skills effectively and stay organised to manage the administrative tasks associated with your job position.
Leadership skills
As a childcare worker, you will also need to direct and lead a small or large group of children in various activities when in school and sometimes hold meetings with your colleagues and the parents of the children. Therefore, to direct and manage the daily responsibilities, you must have strong leadership qualities.
Classroom management
Classroom management is also a leadership skill where you must maintain discipline and rules among your students. Usually, you will have to manage a larger number of children if you work in a preschool, kindergarten, or primary school. To reach your professional goals, you must develop strong classroom management qualities. These skills include:
- Keeping records of the students’ work
- Ensuring that you have proper resources required to provide quality classroom teaching
- Monitoring the behaviour of the children
- Establishing a strong class community
How can you start?
Enrolling in an Early Childhood Education and Care course in Perth can be your starting point. Usually, aspiring candidates enrol in a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care that teaches them the basic skills required to do a job.
Courses are offered both online and on-campus. Depending on your location and budget, you may choose one. But before you choose, always check if you have access to the best learning.
