The roles of early childhood education teachers became diverse. The professionalism of the job has been highlighted in response to demands from parents and society. Early childhood education teachers should not limit their roles only within caring or protection but should be an expert who is equipped with profound knowledge and skills. Therefore this study intends to identify roles and qualities of early childhood education teachers that are preferred by parents. The research questions established in this study are as follows: Firstly, what personal qualities of early childhood education teachers are preferred by parents of young children attending kindergartens and child care centers? Secondly, what professional qualities of early childhood education teacher are preferred by parents of young children attending kindergartens and child care centers? The research participants were 505 parents of 3-5 years old children who attended 2 kindergartens and 5 child care centers in city C. The questionnaires were self reported survey that consisted of personal qualities and professional qualities of early childhood education teachers. The personal qualities of early years teacher included personal characteristics and appearance of teachers. The professional qualities covered teaching ability, teaching attitudes, educational skills, safety and hygienic maintenance and communication with parents. In the analysis of the results, SPSS WIN 18.0 was administered using Frequencies, Chi-squared test, t-test and Analysis of Variance and Correlation. Research findings are summarized as follows: The most preferred qualities by parents were personal characteristics in the personal qualities and teaching ability in professional qualities. They were followed by safety and hygienic maintenance in the professional qualities. When the most preferred qualities of early childhood education teachers were specifically examined, the parents favored teacher who were emotionally stable, warm and fair. Their appearance should be like someone who wore casual clothes co efficiently work with children. In the professional qualities, parents preferred teacher who possessed professional knowledge to enhance children's social development, teacher who esteemed the job, teacher who was flexible enough to adjust themselves into children's level, teacher who strictly abided by safety regulations and hygienic procedures, and teacher who initiated connection between family and setting through active communication. Based on the findings of this research, qualities of teachers and areas for improvement needs to be specifically identified and reflected in early childhood education settings. In doing so, developing early childhood education can be facilitated into more advanced level.