Examining Codes of Ethics

 The goal of the ethics is to give educators current, reliable, and useful information on topics that are important to them.

 

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 (NAEYC, 2005).

As an educator, I believe that it is our goal to foster a healthy environment for all children. It is our responsibility to help children meet their developmental goals through nurture, respect, and a safe relationship and environment. We should be respectful to all children irrespective of their cultural, ethnic, economic background

 

I-2.2—To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve (NAEYC, 2005).

 

If families and schools are to form partnerships that work, there must first be a foundation of mutual trust, confidence, and respect. Each individual center, in cooperation with the community in which it serves, must reflect on its current educational program and its relationship with the family in which it is embedded. Based on this self-reflection, I suggest the school and the family must jointly determine which strategies are likely to be the most effective in creating a sense of trust.

 

 1-4.1—To provide the community with high-quality early childhood care and education programs and services (NAEYC, 2005).

Children who experience high-quality, stable child care engage in more complex plays and demonstrate more secure attachments to adults and other children, and score higher on measures of thinking ability and language development. High-quality child care can predict academic success, adjustment to school, and reduced behavioral problems for children in first grade.  Children's success or failure during the first years of school often predicts the course of later schooling. A growing body of research indicates that more developmentally appropriate teaching in preschool and kindergarten predicts greater success in the early grades.

 

Division of Early Childhood - Code of Ethics

Personal and Interpersonal Behavior

 

2. We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, and honesty in all our professional activities in order to inspire the trust and confidence of the children and families and of those with whom we work (DEC, 2009).

 As early childhood professionals, we must continually keep current with research so that we can provide the best care and education to the children and families we serve. There are many diverse programs that are related to children and families. These programs must collaborate to bring about the best results in a community. We must maintain the highest degree of integrity, honesty and sincerity of purpose to earn the trust and respect of the children and the community we serve.

 

Enhancement of Children’s and Families’ Quality of Lives

4. We shall advocate for equal access to high quality services and supports for all children and families to enhance their quality of lives (DEC, 2009).

As an educator of early childhood education, I must make sure that the education is equally accessible to all children that I serve. I should also strive to improve the quality of lives of my children and their families.

 

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved
from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

The Division for Early Childhood. (2009, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved from
http://www.dec-sped.org

Course Resources Section from Week 5.

Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices

NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf

NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf

NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller

FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf

Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.

Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.

Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title.

Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

Websites:

World Forum Foundation

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us

This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage

World Organization for Early Childhood Education

http://www.omep-usnc.org/

Read about OMEP's mission.

Association for Childhood Education International

http://acei.org/

Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

Note: Explore the resources in Parts 3 and 4 in preparation for this week's Application assignment.

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

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/

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/

Institute for Women's Policy Research

http://www.iwpr.org/

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.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067

Voices for America's Children

http://www.voices.org/

The Erikson Institute

http://www.erikson.edu/

Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

Tip: Use the A-to-Z e-journal list to search for specific journal titles. (Go to "How Do I...?", select "Tips for Specific Formats and Resources," and then "e-journals" to find this search interface.)

YC Young Children

Childhood

Journal of Child & Family Studies

Child Study Journal

Multicultural Education

Early Childhood Education Journal

Journal of Early Childhood Research

International Journal of Early Childhood

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Developmental Psychology

Social Studies

Maternal & Child Health Journal

International Journal of Early Years Education

Additional Resources

DEC/NAEYC. (2009). Early childhood inclusion: A joint position statement of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Retrieved April 2009, from Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf

Soundy, C. S., S. Guha, & Y. Qiu. 2007. “Picture Power: Placing Artistry and Literacy on the Same Page.” Young Children 62(3): 82-88.

Education and Leadership

“We seek to inspire, influence, and impact our diverse communities by helping to meet the challenges of education globally.” - Kate Steffens, Ph.D.

Walden University. (2013). About the College. Retrieved from http://www.waldenu.edu/colleges-schools/riley-college-of-education/about

John Hagel’s Passion

“Passion is about risk-taking.  Passion diminishes perceptions of risk and amplifies perceptions of reward.  In a curious way, risk becomes reward for passionate people.  They see that risk is the only way to discover new things and explore new territories. For this reason, passionate people thrive in times of high uncertainty and disruption.”  - John Hagel MBA

Great words of Contributors in Early Childhood Education

“We think of our profession as based on research and the basic ideas as universal” - Janet Gonzalez-Mena, MA in Human Development

“Children’s early literacy is one of the areas to show the most promise in engaging fathers” -  Aisha Ray, Ph. D 

  -    

Influence of family in my life

My family consisted of four members-- my dad, mom, my elder sister and me. In my family, everyone had a distinct role to play. My dad was a professor at Calcutta University and much of his work involved teaching. He was the only earner  in the family. That does not mean he was not concerns with the remaining three members of the family. He would make sure that my mother remained healthy and his daughters were being respectful to the mother. He wanted to make sure that we were being responsible and keeping up with studies.  My mother stayed home and made sure that the household were run well, disciplined and nurtured my sister and me, watched over us to see that we were doing well in school. Our dad used to take care on our studies with our mom in the evening time and good communication in the early morning before we left for school. Today when I go back to my sweet memory of early childhood, it seems to me that we were the part of family system where children got lessons in culture, caring, and  love through the responsible parental care.

Same time our mother played a key role that set up situations for her children. As for example when we two sisters were getting bored under the load of heavy homework, she used to take us in different climate like play ground by playing hide and seeks  so we could see ourselves. I believe in this scenario when the children is in fighting condition or stressed for family reason it is better to set situations for that child to see herself in different roles (Garris 2006). Today as an educator when I see the child suffers in disruptive zone, I always try to keep the child in different roles or allow the child to lead a change activity.

In my early childhood years, I never felt any stress or disruptive environment inside or outside the home, because our parents were always there to support us in our emotional and physical need: emotional quality is related to beliefs about children and families (Garris 2006). We used to feel safe, encouraged, happy, supported by the nurtured climate created by our parents.

Today, as an early childhood educator, we often see children who feel scared, insecure, and unhappy, maybe because they come from families that might not be able to maintain equilibrium or stability. Sometimes new input or changes come in family that is not easy to adapt for the children. Some families are mindful about healthy food while other families are much less concerned about healthy diet. Other examples of insecurity include illness in the family, loss of a family member, or addition of a new-born.   

Therefore, as childhood educators, we need to find ways to support families as the families support their children (Delpit 1995; Garcia 2001). The best things we can do is to create a classroom climate safe so the children can feel school is a place which is wonderful with a climate of safety and positive feedback. In that scenario, it is reasonable not to change classrooms’ decoration or fix some new staff. Following Garrison(2006), we should encourage families to plan ways to increase stability and security. I think early childhood educators need equilibrium to get the root of issues without medication that encourage families to plan ways to increase stability and security (Garris 2006).

Finally, I want to state every early childhood educator need to develop and enhance skills that will offer children the best possible learning experiences and opportunities, in school, at home, and in community settings. It is therefore essential that every effort is made to ensure that ongoing and effective communication and partnerships be established and maintained with parents.

My Naughty Nieces

These are my naughty nieces (Tuktuk and Tikli).

Tuktuk (My big niece)

Tuktuk is twenty two years old and Tikli is twenty and has always been my friend. They are in India and we spend as much time as we meet together in India. They are the students of Bio-Medical Engineering. I always see them as my friends. Debi spend her summer vacation with them in India. We always have many conversations that we really need for our present and future life.



Tikli

We always try to share our ideas through telephonic communication and email. After my mom and dad, they are my extended family members.

Ruby's Personal Childhood Web

My family consisted of four members-- my dad, mom, my elder sister and me. In my family, everyone had a distinct role to play. My dad was a professor at Calcutta University and much of his work-involved teaching. He was the only earner in the family. That does not mean he was not concerns with the remaining three members of the family. He would make sure that my mother remained healthy and his daughters were being respectful to the mother. He wanted to make sure that we were being responsible and keeping up with studies. My mother stayed home and made sure that the household were run well, disciplined and nurtured my sister and me, watched over us to see that we were doing well in school. Our dad used to take care on our studies with our mom in the evening time and good communication in the early morning before we left for school. Today when I go back to my sweet memory of early childhood, it seems to me that we were the part of family system where children got lessons in culture, caring, and love through the responsible parental care.

Same time our mother played a key role that set up situations for her children. As for example when we two sisters were getting bored under the load of heavy homework, she used to take us in different climate like play ground by playing hide and seeks so we could see ourselves. Today I am still my mom dad’s little Girl.

This is my little Debi, my daughter and my best friend and supporter in my life. Here is a great value in the mother-daughter tie because the two persons care for one another and share strong feelings, emotions in the family. When I  look at my precious little girl I feel my bond, my dream, my sweet memories of my childhood. I want her to see me being confident with her life. I want her to see me focusing on all the things that she likes most. She is a gifted student and wants to be a dermatologist in future. I want to help her have confidence in herself.

My Passion in Early Childhood Education



When I was a child, growing up in Calcutta (India) my best friend was a little girl of the same age from my neighborhood. I had no knowledge that she was from a very poor family (later on I found out that her mother supported the family for her little income as a house cleaner in four house in the neighborhood). Frankly, I did not care. We would play hide and sick, just run around trees singing songs that we did not know the words to, or throw little pebbles in the pond next to my house. I did not care that her clothes were dirty and torn up….we had so much fun! Then I lost touch with her. Several years passed by. I graduated from high schools and started attending a college. One day I was walking home from college. I saw a woman with a little girl in her arm coming towards me with a big smile. She asked me “Do you recognize me?” I said “of course”. (Actually, I had no idea--she did not look or dress likes anyone in my friends or family circle.) She kept on saying how proud she was of me. To carry on small talk, I told her “I am proud of you too”. She started laughing loudly “How can you be proud of me? I am just a maid with no education and a little girl to support on the top of that.” By the time I realized who she was, she had disappeared in the crowd. I started thinking---how can I break this cycle of poverty? How can I stop this little girl from following her mother’s footsteps?

The answer was right there: “education”. A passion was born—childhood education is where it all begins.

Many years have passed in between. Unfortunately, my passion had to a back seat while I was raising my own little girl. My passion took a back seat but never left my life. I kept on preparing myself for delving into the profession of early childhood education. My resolution is stronger than ever.

Today as an early childhood educator I am the true believe of the word passion. Today I am exploring my career as an educator of early childhood education from where I never shift my career to somewhere else. In a word, my passion is not a risk taking (Hagel 2009) or multiple (Melamed 2005). I build my career based on my passion, which is a real contribution in my life.

After taking the decision whether my passion goes towards the real world of early childhood education that is my long-term goal; I asked myself and explored in that field. Because working with the children need patience, dedication and sensivity. In addition, today I am working from last nine years, which is very enjoyable and rewarding to me.

Debi Prova Ganguly's Painting

My daughter Debi Ganguly painted this picture of trees without leaves. At the beginning of summer, she was in the summer daycare where I teach.  Debi, being much older and matured than the children in my class, was often got bored playing with blocks and preferred to play with her  I-Pad instead.  One afternoon, she was playing with little children in the playground attached to the daycare when suddenly decided to paint which is another hobby of hers.  I asked her why she drew the trees without leaves, she replied, “Because they think that nobody likes them because they are not pretty.”  

I truly believe that that art stimulates and develops the imagination and critical thinking and refines cognitive and critical skills. As an early childhood educator, I believe while drawing, children “explore feelings and ideas, and through their images they communicate thoughts to others as well as themselves” (Kolbe 2007,7). That is why I chose this painting by my daughter.



Little Ruby

This is me, Ruchira Pal, “Ruby” to many, and “Rubai” to my parents and big sister. I still remember the doll I am holding. It was much more than just a doll to me: she was my friend, my constant companion, my cheerleader in all my moments of joy and sorrow, my soul mate……..

I am all grown up now, but I have o many fond memories… Thankfully, I do not have to miss those days --as an educator of childhood education, I get to re-live my childhood through carefree, pure-hearted, innocent children who never stops asking “why”. Walden University is there to cheer me up.

My reflection on Early Childhood Education and Journey of Walden University

This course on early childhood education of Walden University gives me new and different ways of understanding that our children are subjects.This early childhood blog, Dr. Kevin Dartt and my fellow classmates not only help me to show the journey to Walden University, but reflecting the diverse cultural identities of children and their families. I work in New Orleans, the cultural heritage city of Louisiana from last 8 years as an educator of early childhood center. I always try to create such environment that will help the children to think they all are valuable where there are no place for the word color, race, country…Everyday my fellow classmates’ discussion make me feel that they are not only welcoming all children but a journey and reflect the diverse world in which we live in.