Early Education Codes of Ethics

   This week’s assignment from class is to pick three items described in the code of ethics of two professional organizations, the NAEYC and DEC. It is difficult to pick only three since each of the ideals and principle outlined are thoughts that any reputable participant in early childhood education would heartily agree with. One of the principles of the NAEYC code of ethics reads “Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children. This principle has precedence over all others in this Code.” This particular principle reminded me of the Hypocratic oath that doctors take. As I have educated children over the past 30+ years, I believe that I have followed this principle in my classroom. Although I have never been one to jump on a new bandwagon right away, I have also chosen not to participate in practices that I believe would be detrimental to the children in my class.

   The second principle that I chose also came from NAEYC, but is in reference to families rather than children. This principle states “We shall inform families about the nature and purpose of the program’s child assessments and how data about their child will be used.” This is an important principle for two reasons; first of all, this communication is necessary in order to alleviate fears that parents may have regarding assessments. Parents are frequently worried about how their child is developing – are they normal, are they behind, etc. When they discover that assessments are being done, it can exascerbate these anxieties. By communicating with the parents, we can make sure they understand the scope of the assessments as well as their purpose.

   The third principle I chose comes from DEC; it states “We shall empower families with information and resources so that they are informed consumers of services for their children.” This principle goes hand in hand with the previous principle from NAEYC. It is important not only for us to communicate with the parents about their child’s assessments and how they will be used, but we also need to be able to connect them with necessary resources. These resources could be needed for financial assistance, housing, health care issues, or intervention services. If we do not have the answers they are seeking, we need to know where to direct them to find those answers.