Week 7: Code of Ethics

This week I was asked to review 2 Codes of Ethics and discuss what three ideals from each mean to me and my career as a professional in the field of ECE.

The Division of Early Childhood's code of ethics can be found here:
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/81238/CRS-CW-6488739/educ6005_readings/dec_codeofethics.pdf

Three of the ideals I connected with in their code of ethics were:

Responsive Family Centered Practices 
1. We shall demonstrate our respect and appreciation for all families’ beliefs, values, customs,
languages, and culture relative to their nurturance and support of their children toward achieving
meaningful and relevant priorities and outcomes families’ desire for themselves and their children.
6. We shall respect families’ rights to choose or refuse early childhood special education or related
services.
7. We shall be responsible for protecting the confidentiality of the children and families we serve by
protecting all forms of verbal, written, and electronic communication.

These three ideals connected with me because I have been having issues with a co-worker revealing children's personal information with other parents. She seems to not be aware that what she is doing is wrong so I have had to talk with her about this and also mentor her. It is important to respect the privacy laws of the State and company in which we work/live. In my co-worker's case, she comes from a different cultural background and she said sharing information about everyone's lives was common and accepted. I have to be sensitive to her background while also being straight-forward about privacy laws and legalities when privacy is breached.

The NAEYC's code of ethics is located here:
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Three of its ideals I responded to were:

B—Responsibilities to employers
Ideals
I-3B.1—To assist the program in providing the highest
quality of service.
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 this Code.
Principles:
P-3B.4—If we have concerns about a colleague’s
behavior, and children’s well-being is not at risk, we
may address the concern with that individual. If
children are at risk or the situation does not improve
after it has been brought to the colleague’s attention,
we shall report the colleague’s unethical or incompetent behavior to an appropriate authority.
P-3B.5—When we have a concern about circumstances
or conditions that impact the quality of care and
education within the program, we shall inform the
program’s administration or, when necessary, other
appropriate authorities.

These match up with the ideals form the DEC listed above and I chose them for the same reason. Our school philosophy states that we closely follow the guidelines and principles of NAEYC and the parents understand what this means. I think we need more staff training to make sure the employees also understand what this means.