Examining Codes of Ethics

The three ideals from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and DEC codes of ethics that are meaningful to me are as follows:

DEC Code of Ethics

IV. Ethical and Evidence Based Practices:

1.       We shall rely upon evidence based research and interventions to inform our practice with children and families in our care.

2.      We shall use every resource, including referral when appropriate, to ensure high quality services are accessible and are provided to children and families

3.      We shall include the diverse perspectives an experiences of children and families in the conduct of research and intervention (The Division for Early Childhood, 2000, p. 3-4)

NAEYC

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 (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2005, p. 2).

P-1.2: We shall care for and educate in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2005, p. 3).

P-2.5: We shall make every effort to communicate effectively with all families in a language that they understand.  We shall use community resources for translation and interpretation when we do not have sufficient resources in our own program (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2005, p. 4).

            I selected ethical and evidence based practices from DEC Code of Ethics and I-1.1 from NAEYC because I feel that it is important to learn and research information that can support children and their families in early childhood education.  Families often utilize child care providers as a resource and it is important to stay connected with any new information that is provided through research and in the community as well as intervention programs.                                   

         I selected P-1.2 from NAEYC because I feel that children and families should have a positive experience when entering a child care facility.  I want to ensure that child is a fun place to be and learn for children that enter the program by supporting all areas of children.  I also selected P-2.5 from NAEYC to ensure the importance of communicating with parents.  I worked in a pre-k program where 80 percent of my children and families spoke Spanish.  It was important for me to have a way to communicate with the children and their families.  Our program had Spanish speaking interpreters, however, due to budget cuts we were limited to their access.  I used whatever tools I had access to including going to school to learn Spanish, translation on the computer, books and family members.