Saturday, December 17, 2011

Ethics

According to NAEYC's code of ethical conduct, ethics is defined as "the study of right and wrong, or duty and obligation, that involves critical reflection on morality and the ability to make choices between values and the examination of the moral dimensions of relationships." As a professional in the early childhood field, I could face ethical dilemmas...and maybe I already have....

the ideals meaningful to me:
I-1.1: to be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.
--in order to be effective in any job, an individual must know about and have experience with that job; things change and we must stay up to date with what is happening; it is important to always learn and develop as a professional through more education and training

I-1.5: to create and maintain safe and healthy settings that foster children's social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development and that respect their dignity and their contributions.
--we have learned that children have voices and have the right to be heard; this is meaningful to me in that I need to listen to those voices and facilitate to what they need and want; above all, we will not harm children in any way, we HAVE to provide them safe, healthy, and stimulating environments for them to learn and develop

I-2.3: to welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program
--we need to close the gap between home and school; learning will only be as effective as those that encourage it; communication is everything! for all those children that have a hard time transitioning into a childcare setting, if parents would visit more and talk more about school at home, it would be easier for their children; word of mouth spreads the fastest, so from a business perspective, we can spread high-quality care through this ideal as parents actively participate and tell their friends how well that program is...

I-3B.2: to do nothing that diminishes the reputation of the program in which we work unless it is violating laws and regulations designed to protect children or is violating the provisions of his Code
--this ideal brings to mind those individuals who wear their program's uniforms wherever they go, including a bar-scene; we represent this field and our companies wherever we go, whatever we are doing should NOT reflect negatively on the company; this includes, to me, keeping thoughts about co-workers to yourself instead of sharing them with a parent standing in your classroom dropping off her child to your care...

I-3C.1: to promote safe and healthy working conditions and policies that foster mutual repect, cooperation, collaboration, competence, well-being, confidentiality, and self-esteem in staff members.
--I really want to post this ideal on a former employer's office door! If you are going to be in a management position, then be a manager. Be involved. Be present. do NOT hide under a stack of paper!

All of these ideals came from NAEYC's Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment:
NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved December 17, 2011, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

**I think so many things are worth remembering from this class...good thing I printed out all the resources we had to read, so I can always refer back to them in the future....:)**

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Course Resources

  • National Association for the Education of Young Children
    http://www.naeyc.org/

  • The Division for Early Childhood
    http://www.dec-sped.org/

  • Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
    http://www.zerotothree.org/

  • WESTED
    http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm

  • Harvard Education Letter
    http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85

  • FPG Child Development Institute
    http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm

  • Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
    http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/

  • HighScope
    http://www.highscope.org/

  • Children’s Defense Fund
    http://www.childrensdefense.org/

  • Center for Child Care Workforce
    http://www.ccw.org/

  • Council for Exceptional Children
    http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

  • Institute for Women’s Policy Research
    http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm

  • National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
    http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/

  • National Child Care Association
    http://www.nccanet.org/

  • National Institute for Early Education Research
    http://nieer.org/

  • Pre[K]Now
    http://www.preknow.org/

  • Voices for America’s Children
    http://www.voices.org/

  • The Erikson Institute
    http://www.erikson.edu/

  • International Resources:
  • Also, I have purchased these books over the last few years to have at my own personal disposal:
    • Phelan, T.W. (2003). 1-2-3 Magic: Effective discipline for children 2-12.Glen Ellyn, IL:Child Managment, Inc.
    • Davis, L. & Keyser, J. (1997). Becoming the parent you want to be: A sourcebook of strategies for the first five years. New York, NY: Broadway Books.
    • Shelov, S.P., Altmann, T.R., Hannemann, R.E. & Trubo, R. (2009). The Complete and Authoritative Guide: Caring for your baby and young child, Birth to age 5. USA: Bantam Books. (Original work published 1991)