Leadership and Ethics Paper

EDUC 412
Lexi Beauregard
Introduction

The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct offer guidelines for people working in the early

childhood setting to follow to ensure they are being ethically responsible to children, families,

colleagues, and their community. The code of ethics is broken up into four categories, ethical

responsibilities to children, families, colleagues, and community. Under each category the code

of broken down into principles and ideals. Principles help guide and assist practitioners in

resolving ethical dilemmas they come across in their work (NAEYC, 2011). Ideals help reflect

professional practices in the field and what professionals should aspire to (NAEYC, 2011).

Dilemma #1

I interviewed my cooperating teacher J for this paper. We talked about many ethical

responsibilities she feels she has as an early childhood educator. We mainly discussed her ethical

responsibilities to children and families. She expressed just how important building relationships

with families is, especially when ethical issues/dilemmas may arise. By having a good

relationship with families, it allows these conversations to feel more natural and the

communication can be open between both parties. J mention the range of dilemmas that could

occur in the classroom, she mentioned examples like whether to push a child to sleep when they

seem to be fighting sleep to suspecting child abuse in a family.

An example of an ethical dilemma J encountered happened many years ago. She was

working in an early childhood center, and she had created a bond with a family, so she

understood the family dynamics well. Often a mom would bring in their child without their
lunch, diapers, wipes, food. bottles, or anything else they may need throughout the day. She also

had noticed over time that this child had some bruises that would come and go. She knew this

family enough to know that the mother of the child was not in a stable relationship with a

boyfriend. This caused stress to the mother, which carried over into the infant. She would often

forget to bring in items for the child because she was stressed out herself with what was

happening at home. Since J had created such a good relationship and kept the communication

open with this parent, the conversation she had to have with the mother was conversation style

and felt natural to her. J asked the mother how things were going, and the mother confined in J

by telling her what had been happening at home. J gave the mother options to how she then

wanted to precede with called DCYF. She gave her options like; J calling without the mother

present, J calling with the mother, the mother calling with J, or the mother calling on her own.

By giving the family options it made the mother feel like she was a little bit more in control of

the situation. She talked to the mother about how DCYF can be helpful to her if she looks at it in

that point of view, instead of thinking that they’re the “bad guy”. If J didn’t build the

relationship, she did with this mother and infant, this conversation could have gone worse, and

the mother might not have trusted J enough to tell her what was really happening at home. J

knew that having this type of conversation with a parent could ruin their relationship, but she

also knew she had an ethical obligation to the child.

When looking at this situation through the code of ethics there are many ideals and

principles in which align with the dilemma J faced. P-1.8 —” We shall be familiar with the risk

factors for and symptoms of child abuse and neglect, including physical, sexual, verbal, and

emotional abuse and physical, emotional, educational, and medical neglect. We shall know and

follow state laws and community procedures that protect children against abuse and neglect”
(NAEYC, 2011). As educators it is important to know the signs of abuse and neglect so that we

can document and observe the child to get them the help they need. It is our ethical responsibility

to be a mandated reporter and report this type of situation with the appropriate people. J knew

that it was her ethical responsibility to report the abuse and neglect she was seeing in the family

mentioned previously. I-2.2 — “To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships

with the families we serve” (NAEYC, 2011). Relationships with families is extremely important

to ensure children are getting all of the support they need, at home and in the classroom. In this

ethical situation, having developed a good relationship with this mother, allowed her to trust J by

telling her the situation about what was happening at home, so that they family could get the help

they needed. It was J’s ethical responsibility to build this relationship with the family.

Dilemma #2

I also got the chance to interview D who is a director at my placement site. She talked

about how important it is to be a trustworthy director to the teachers in her center. She mentioned

how she tries to be open to teachers' philosophies and wants teachers to have autonomy in their

classrooms, because she knows just how important it is. When assessing teachers and their

practices, she will run through a small checklist with things like “is this developmentally

appropriate for this age group, are their too many materials out/not enough materials out, is it

harmful to children”, etc. She may not always agree with a teacher's philosophy, but if it is not

harmful to children, shee likes to have teachers feel comfortable teaching in their own style. D

likes to ask a lot of questions about why teachers teach the way they do so she can better

understand their thought process and the way they run their classroom. Just like J had mentioned,

D mentioned how important relationships are with colleagues. By having good relationships and

communication with the teachers at the center, D feels confident in all the teacher's philosophies
and the way they run their classrooms because she has gotten to know all of them by building a

strong relationship with them all.

When asking about a specific ethical dilemma D has encountered, she mentioned recently

there was a classroom closure due to a sickness in the classroom. Many parents were questioning

the closure, and some were very upset by it, due to having to find another childcare option for

their child or taking time off work to stay home with their child. D found this dilemma to be easy

for her to manage because there were legal reasons, she had to close the classroom that she could

share with families, and the closure was based off facts, so she had evidence to back up her

decision to close the classroom. P-4.7 — “When we become aware of a practice or situation that

endangers the health, safety, or well-being of children, we have an ethical responsibility to

protect children or inform parents and/or others who can” (NAEYC, 2011). In this case, the

situation was a sickness in the classroom, due to the pandemic we are currently in, if D did not

close the classroom, she could potentially be putting other children and families at risk of

catching the sickness that was reported in the classroom. It was D’s ethical responsibility to

follow regulations and protocols for this situation to ensure that everyone was safe and healthy.

Critical Reflection

For me, I think watching and observing other professionals in this field has helped shaped

my ethical beliefs. By watching how other professionals have handled situations and how they

run their classroom I have seen what I aspire to be as an educator. I have seen just how important

building relationships in this field is, and by having good relationships with children, families,

colleagues and communities, it allows ethical situations to be more natural and builds trust with

all the parties involved in the situation. The way J handled the ethical dilemma she faced would

be the same way I would have faced it. She had built trust with that mother, so having the
discussion was easier and more conversation style. Personally, I am not good with confrontation,

so being able to build these strong relationships with families is extremely important to me, so

that conversations like this can happen if the situation arises. For D’s dilemma, there was no

other way to handle the situation, laws and facts stated that D needed to close the classroom. By

having evidence to support the decision it helped the situation and made it easier for D to explain

to families.

After having two discussions with two professionals in the field with different

perspectives in 10 years I see myself being in a teacher role. As a director I would feel

overwhelmed with just how many people I have responsibilities to and how much was weighted

on me. I see myself being in the classroom with children and not in a leadership role like D is. I

would use the code of ethics to base my work off in lots of ways. The code of ethics is a great

guideline for how to be a responsible teacher. By using the code of ethics in my classroom I can

ensure that I am being ethically responsible to all parties, children, families, colleagues, and the

community.

To engage in informed advocacy, I want to stay up to date on current practices by

engaging in professional development opportunities. I think that being ethical in the classroom is

extremely important and knowing how to run a smooth, flowing, ethical responsible classroom is

something to strive for. I also want to include the code of ethics in my work and refer to it often.

It is there as a guide, so I believe teachers should use it and be familiar with it. I would

encourage my coworkers to also be familiar with it.

Conclusion
 The NAEYC Code of Ethics is an extremely important document that all educators should

be familiar with. By having the document near in the classroom, it can help people in the field

understand their ethical responsibilities to children, families, colleagues, and their community.

By digging deeper into this document, it gives me a better understanding of my responsibility as

a teacher and what I am ethical responsible for.

 References

NAEYC. (2011). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Position Statement.

Washington, DC: NAEYC.