Teaching the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

A Resource Guide

Stephanie Feeney, Nancy K. Freeman, Eva Moravcik

• Publisher: The National Association for the Education of Young Children
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781938113888
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

An Essential Guide to Using the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

Information and guidance to help you teach new and experienced educators about professional ethics and the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct.
Special Features of This New Edition:

• Explains the needs of adult learners at different stages of professional development
• Details theories of moral development and their implications for ethical decision making
• Provides effective ways of teaching the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct
• Offers new and updated interactive activities, including games and a collection of cases for college classes and trainings on ethics

One
Teaching Professional Ethics

This introductory chapter is designed to provide a context for the teaching of professional ethics in early childhood education. In it we discuss different instructional formats, show how instruction can be tailored for learners with different levels of experience, suggest an approach to sequencing instruction, look at setting goals and ways you can prepare yourself to teach ethics, and offer some strategies for getting started. How instruction is organized will of course depend on the purpose and context of the training, how much experience the learners have had with young children (their level of maturity and stage of moral development), and their previous exposure to professional ethics.

Instructional Formats

Ethics trainings can range from informal experiences, like a discussion in a child care center, to formal ones, such as college courses taken for credit. They can occur in a variety of settings, be of different durations, and have different goals. As an adult educator you plan very differently for veteran teachers in an in-service workshop than you do for a group of undergraduate students in an introductory course, or for a session at a conference that may be participants’ first exposure to ethics in early childhood education.

Ethics. 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.

Moral development. The emergence and change in moral understanding from infancy through adulthood. Increasing ability over time to distinguish right from wrong.

Professional ethics. The moral commitments of a profession that involve moral reflection that extends and enhances the personal morality practitioners bring to their work, that concern actions of right and wrong in the workplace, and that help individuals resolve moral dilemmas they encounter in their work.

Values. Qualities or principles that individuals believe to be desirable or worthwhile and that they prize for themselves, for others, and for the world in which they live.

In-Service Education

In-service education in professional ethics can be conducted by a director who is helping staff members learn about a code of ethics or address some of the thorny ethical issues they encounter in their work. It can be conducted by an experienced early childhood educator who is offering a local, state, or national conference presentation for teachers or directors, or it can be offered by a professional development specialist who provides community training (e.g., for a Head Start program or a state’s QRIS—Quality Rating and Improvement System).

Your goal for either a one-time training or ongoing in-service professional development is to improve participants’ day-to-day practice. Tailoring instruction to the learners is not difficult if you are working with a group of teachers you know and who are dealing with real-life ethical situations. When there is a shared commitment to the profession’s core values, regularly scheduled staff meetings that include open-ended explorations of ethical issues can be especially fruitful.

When working with teachers you do not know, such as at a workshop or conference, your task is to make the learning experiences meaningful and applicable to practitioners with varying levels of professional preparation and experience. This book is designed to help you to do that.

Code of ethics. Defines the core values of the field and provides guidance for what professionals should do when they encounter conflicting obligations or responsibilities in their work.

Core values. Commitments held by a profession that are consciously and knowingly embraced by its practitioners because they make a contribution to society. There is a difference between personal values and the core values of a profession.

Ethical issues. Situations that involve determining what is right and wrong, and what rights and responsibilities and issues of human welfare are part of the situation.

College Courses

All accredited teacher preparation institutions offering initial and advanced degrees in early childhood education are now required to include professional ethics in their core curriculum. Sometimes professional ethics is included in an introductory (foundations) course or a course on professionalism; in other instances it is a strand in several courses such as child development and working with families, and then revisited in practicum courses, student teaching seminars, and program culmination (capstone) courses. Some institutions combine these approaches.

The important point is that instruction in ethics must be explicit and must be included in course syllabi. If it is not a formalized part of the curriculum, everyone might assume that someone else is teaching it and, in the end, ethics might not be adequately addressed during students’ professional preparation.

If you are teaching ethics in a college course you probably have a good idea what the students are like and you may know some of them. In this setting you will be responsible for planning the content and also for assessing students’ learning.

Tailoring Instruction for Different Levels of Experience

Following are some broad guidelines for designing instruction for learners who are at different stages in their professional development and learning.

Working With Beginners

Create learning experiences for beginners that include content that is practical and engaging and that

• Requires little experience or initiative

• Provides basic information

• Connects to and draws upon the learners’ life experiences

• Makes ethics real

• Promotes active participation

Working With Experienced Educators

Learning experiences for experienced early childhood educators can provide opportunities for them to

• Share their professional experiences

• Apply their previous professional experiences

• Acquire advanced information

• Develop skill in applying the NAEYC Code

• Develop skill in reasoning and ethical deliberation

• Develop skill in justifying ethical decisions

How to Identify Activities for Different Learners

Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 5 have activities that are designed to help students get to know each other and learn about and apply the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct. Each activity is identified as Icebreaker (Introductory), Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced. The Icebreaker activities in this chapter are designed to help participants get to know each other. Beginning activities are designed to promote understanding of basic concepts related to ethics and introduce the Code. Intermediate activities expand on basic knowledge of the Code. Advanced activities involve application and are for those who are acquainted with the Code and familiar with the process of ethical analysis.

Working With Both Beginning and Experienced Educators

A class, workshop, or staff training may include both beginning and experienced educators with varying degrees of knowledge and experience. Such diversity provides differences in perspective that can be challenging but may also prove valuable as you help individuals expand their understanding of professional ethics.

Ethical deliberation. Careful thought or discussion of ethical issues in order to make a decision.

With mixed groups, it is helpful to

• Begin with an orientation to make sure everyone has some basic understanding of the ethical dimensions of working with young children

• Include real-life examples to make the topic come alive for everyone

• Allow time and opportunities for participants to share their experiences with others

• Acknowledge what each participant contributes

The Sequence of Ethics Instruction

Ethics instruction logically progresses from creating an awareness of ethical issues in early childhood education and the existence of a code of ethics to developing participants’ skills in applying the code and engaging in moral reasoning.

In their article “A Developmental Approach to Teaching About Ethics Using the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct,” Holly Brophy-Herb, Marjorie Kostelnik, and Laura Stein (2001) describe a four-phase developmental model of educators’ increasing understanding of ethics. It provides a useful outline for the design of ethics instruction.

1. Awareness. Individuals focus on the personal values that govern their lives, the values represented in their professional code, and the specific substance of that code.

2. Differentiating ethical judgments from other judgments. Emphasizes helping individuals make distinctions between ethical judgments and other kinds of judgments.

3. Analyzing ethical dilemmas. Individuals apply a systematic approach to resolving ethical dilemmas.

4. Applying the NAEYC Code in daily practice. Individuals learn how to translate ethical thinking into ethical conduct.

We recommend a sequence of training that is consistent with this framework. First, help learners acquire an awareness of their personal values, introduce them to the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct, and help them see how it is relevant to their work. Next, help them understand how ethical issues are different from other kinds of issues they will encounter in their work with young children. Then help them to develop skills to systematically address issues using the NAEYC Code and learn to clearly explain their ethical positions. The final component is to promote learners’ readiness and ability to use the Code in their daily practice as a decision-making tool.

Ethical dilemma. A moral conflict that involves determining appropriate conduct when an individual faces conflicting professional values and responsibilities. (A dilemma has two defensible resolutions.)

Ethical judgment. (Terms with a similar meaning are moral judgment, ethical decision making, and ethical analysis.) T...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Teaching Professional Ethics
• Chapter 2: Know the Learner
• Chapter 3: Teaching About Morality and Ethics
• Chapter 4: Teaching the Code of Ethical Conduct
• Chapter 5: Addressing Ethical Issues
• Chapter 6: Putting the Pieces Together
• Chapter 7: Assessing Learning and Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness
• Appendix
• Glossary of Terms
• References and Resources
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgments