Kristen Zaleski
Teachers are professional leaders who use ethical behaviors in their everyday careers.
They are faced with daily dilemmas and must act responsibly and correctly toward each situation
that they are given. Under the NAEYC Code of Ethics, there are four responsibilities that
educators have. These responsibilities include; ethical responsibilities to children, families,
colleagues, and to the community and society.
The first ethical responsibility is to children. “Our paramount responsibility is to provide
care and education in settings that are safe, healthy, nurturing, and responsive for each child”
(NAEYC, 2005, p. 2). Teachers must be committed to respecting differences and diversity.
Children must be supported through developmental learning, play, and work. “We are also
committed to promoting children’s self-awareness, competence, self-worth, resiliency, and
physical well-being” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 3). Within this responsibility, discrimination is
prohibited, assessment systems are used, and stimulating environments are incorporated. This
responsibility also gives an educator the ability to suspect abuse or neglect and take against it.
Children are fragile and innocent. With this ethical responsibility, children will remain protected
and safe in the classroom.
The second ethical responsibility is to families. “Because the family and the early
childhood practitioner have a common interest in the child’s well-being, we acknowledge a
primary responsibility to bring about communication, cooperation, and collaboration between the
home and early childhood program in ways that enhance the child’s development” (NAEYC,
2005, p. 3). Teachers must work with families to develop trust, participation, and support. One
of the most important ideals of this responsibility is to respect the preferences families have on
culture, language, customs, and beliefs. Families play a large part in the development of
children, so their relationship with educators must be strong.
The third ethical responsibility is to colleagues. “In a caring, cooperative workplace,
human dignity is respected, professional satisfaction is promoted, and positive relationships are
developed and sustained” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 5). Having strong relationships with colleagues not
only creates an enjoyable environment to work in, but also a supportive one. Within this
responsibility, teachers share resources to ensure the best possible care, they support professional
development, and recognize personal achievement. “Based upon our core values, our primary
responsibility to colleagues is to establish and maintain settings and relationships that support
productive work and meet professional needs” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 5). The ethical ideals for
colleagues are just as important as the ideals for children and families. A supportive and safe
work environment allows teachers to focus on improvement and self-development.
The last ethical responsibility is to the community and society. “Our responsibilities to
the community are to provide programs that meet the diverse needs of families, to cooperate with
agencies and professions that share the responsibility for children, to assist families in gaining
access to those agencies and allied professionals, and to assist in the development of community
programs that are needed but not currently available” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 6). This responsibility
has an ideal of working as a team to provide all children with food, shelter, and healthcare.
Children and families must also be kept free from violence in their community. As a collective
society, educators can fix violating programs, safety concerns, and extend services to those in
need.
The four reasons for the a code of ethics include; power and status of practitioners and
that children are vulnerable; multiple client groups including parents, children, centers,
specialists, and community agencies; local and state regulation; and rule and ambiguity. A code
of ethics is important because it is rooted through the history of education. The code of ethics
allow educators to effectively help children develop, create a strong community, respect citizens,
respect diversity, and develop trust and respect. Ethics are the moral choices of right and wrong.
As a teacher, it is very important to be professional and keep information confidential. Without a
code of ethics, there would be no privacy or trust within the community. This would create
chaos and ultimately lead to the suffering of the children.
I fully support the NAEYC Code of Ethics. As a teacher, trust is one of the most
important values in the classroom. Without the four responsibilities discussed, there would be no
support, safety, warmth, or care in the educational environment. The NAEYC Code of Ethics
stands as a commitment to the moral obligations of childcare. This is so important to educators
because of the respect and appreciation that colleagues, families, and communities all deserve.
Ethical Dilemmas
The developmental setting of this dilemma was in the toddler group (ages 2 and 3). This
ethical dilemma deals with the families of children who continue to resort to biting as a form of
expression. When a situation involving biting came up in the classroom, a set of parents were
very concerned and would ask questions outside of work about it. There was one dilemma
where both children involved in a disputed resorted to biting each other. When children resort to
biting, a call home must be made. During this incident, the parents of the two children worked in
the same department of the hospital. “As a professional, it was my job to contact the parents
immediately to inform them of the biting that took place. After calling the first parent at work, I
had to hang up the phone and call the same department back to speak with the other parent. I
was asked by each parent which child bit the other first. As a professional, I had to keep this
information confidential. Many parents tend to label the children that bite. This can cause
isolation and bullying, which is not fair for the child. It was my ethical responsibility to keep the
specific details confidential to protect the children. This was an ethical dilemma because I was
asked to share information that could harm the children or expose them as a labeled biter. I also
had to involve the families of the children in the matter.”
This dilemma was an ethical responsibility to families. Ideal I-2.8 is, “To help family
members enhance their understanding of their children and support the continuing development
of their skills as parents” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 4). This ideal fit with dilemma because of the need
to involve the families in the matter. It is very important to inform family members of
developmental strengths and weaknesses. By calling the parents of each child involved, the
cooperating teacher was helping the families understand their children and how they, as parents,
can help ease the situation.
The principle of this dilemma was P-2.9. This principle states that, “We shall inform the
family of injuries and incidents involving their child of risks such as exposures to communicable
disease that might result in infection, and of occurrences that might result in emotional stress”
(NAEYC, 2005, p. 4). The teacher was morally obligated to take action because biting can affect
the well-being of children and disturb safety measure in the classroom. It was also her ethical
responsibility to inform each family of the biting that occurred. There was no side taking and
names were kept confidential, but the purpose of explaining the incident to the families was
completed. There is an incident report that is filled out and signed by the teacher and center
administrator for parents to look over.
This dilemma was solved with informing both parents, but keeping details confidential to
protect the children. Parents were informed to raise awareness and take measures into helping
the children stray away from biting. The code of ethics would suggest that the child is protected
at all times. Each child is to be respected and supported. By informing the families, they
become aware of the situation and are fully supportive of the steps that must be taken to prevent
another biting occurrence.
The second dilemma involves working with colleagues in a toddler developmental
setting. When interviewing the teacher, she stated, “The hardest part I find working with a lot of
different people is the different teaching styles. Our center is really about the freedom of style
for each classroom. This sometimes poses problems for the shared spaces.” In the morning for 2
hours, the toddler room is joined with the pre-toddler room as free play. This not only joins
rooms, but also teachers. She continues to say, “on the playground for instance, one set of
teachers may allow the children to climb up the slide while the other would prefer them not to.
Finding the balance so that both sets of teachers are happy and feel as though the children are
safe in the playground environment can be challenging. Sometimes you work more smoothly
with some teachers than others, often because the teaching styles are more similar. Finding a way
to work as one ‘toddler team’ can also be a challenge. We find that trusting that everyone is
doing what is best for children and keeping up with communication causes a lot less stress for
anyone involved.”
This is an ethical dilemma because colleagues often disagree on teaching styles. The
dilemma mentioned about slide rules is very common. There must be some sort of agreement to
keep the peace between colleagues. The ideal in this ethical dilemma is 1-3A.1. This is, “To
establish and maintain relationships of respect, trust, confidentiality, collaboration, and
cooperation with co-workers” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 5). The principle of this dilemma is P-3C.1.
This principle states that, “In decisions concerning children and programs, we shall draw upon
the education, training, experience, and expertise of staff members” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 6). The
important moral obligation in this situation is to meet with members as a team to set
collaborative rules and regulations while working together. This dilemma in particular was
handled in a way that when children we not on the top of the slide, then they could climb it. If
children were on the top of the slide, they could only slide down it. All colleagues could
incorporate their teaching styles in a way they made everyone happy. The Code of Ethics would
most likely suggest that educators discuss ideas or knowledge about teaching styles to work out
what fits best in the classroom. This is a developmentally appropriate practice.
Closing Summary
The resolutions of the ethical dilemmas that were discussed directly connects to my
personal ethical beliefs. I believe in keeping information confidential when it does not need to
be shared. I also believe in protecting, nurturing, and providing a safe environment for children.
Working with colleagues is also a very important ethical belief to me. With full support from coworkers, the educational atmosphere is less stressful. There seems to be more agreement and
less quarrels over which teaching strategy is “right.” By sitting down and to discuss teaching
styles, there is a collaborative effort involves that creates the best environment possible without
stepping on any toes. The most important ethical belief is to support the children. Under no
circumstance would I expose a child as a label for other parents to use for them. The idea of a
child being isolated and bullied in the classroom is a worst nightmare of mine. The resolution of
each dilemma relates to my belief in confidentiality and collaboration with other educators.
These moral obligations are necessary for the overall success of the educational environment.
My personal code of ethics comes from personal experiences and family background.
Growing up, I was raised to accept everyone around me. I was taught to refrain from
discriminating and learn to understand people for who they are on the inside. To this day, I keep
my family lessons close to my heart. I find that it is so important to have an open mind to all
those around me. In the classroom, this is an ethical belief as well as a personal belief. I also
had an experience of a student of mine with ADHD being labeled by parents as the wild one. I
find labeling to be extremely disrespectful to not only the child, but also the family. As an
ethical belief, it is my job to keep information completely confidential unless I am given
permission to discuss. I have ethical responsibilities to not only children, but to families,
colleagues, and the community as well.
Bibliography
"Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment." National Association for the
Education of Young Children 3 (2005): 1-9. Print.