Determining Whether a Situation is an Ethical Issue
Discuss about the Childhood Educator Launches Code Of Ethics.
Early childhood educators encounter many ethical issues in the course of their work with children and families. When faced with a challenging situation while at work, the first step is for the teacher to determine whether the situation is ethical or not. However, this at times is a difficult task. The first question you should ask yourself is, “Does it concern right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, human welfare, or individuals’ best interests?” If you answer no to each of these items, the situation is not an ethical issue and you can handle it as you would handle any workplace concern. If you answer yes to any of the items, you are facing an ethical issue. How you respond to it depends on whether it is an ethical responsibility or an ethical dilemma (APS Task Force on Ethics Education, 2012).
Joe, a petite just turned three-year-old is a new student in the class. His father brings him daily at breakfast time. The 3-year-old lives in a house together with his mother and his younger sister. He is the elder of the two siblings. His father works in the U.S. while his Filipino mother is a plain housewife. Their house is located inside a village near the school. He likes browsing the internet during his spare time. He engages in sports like basketball and martial arts. He likes the subjects Math, Arts & Music. He is amused by wrestling and never fails to watch the WWE with his favourite actors being John Cena and the Undertaker. He enjoys eating sushi and ramen and hates bitter gourd. Colours red, green, and blue are his favourites. He dislikes chaotic classmates but he is close to all the boys from his class. As required by licensing and the USDA food program, the school serves milk at breakfast and lunch. Like a number of children in the class, Joe refuses milk and drinks water instead. The class policy allows children to make this kind of choices. One day Joe’s father tells the school that he and his wife do not want him to be allowed to drink water until he has drunk at least a full cup of milk. The school assures them that he will be encouraged to drink his milk.
At the next meal, Joe is told that his family wants him to drink milk so he will be healthy and grow strong. Joe sobs uncontrollably. The class teacher comforts him and allows him to drink water. She tells Joe she will talk to Jane’s father about letting him drink water. Joe’s eyes grow wide, and he sobs even harder, saying, “Don’t tell Daddy! Don’t tell Daddy!” Should the class teacher honour the wishes of the family or allow Joe to continue to drink water instead of milk?
Example of an Ethical Dilemma
Ethics in a professional context acknowledges the complexities inherent within the profession and is meant to serve as a guide in navigating a broad range of nuanced situations. As such, professionals are prepared to not only think about the critical decision points but to also discuss them within a context of a common framework of understanding. This has made ethics core to most professions. However, this does not always apply in teaching, by virtue of the profession educators are faced with a series of grey areas and the choices made are often subject to their values and past experiences (Goh, Yamauchi, & Ratliffe, 2012).
Research indicates that a majority of early childhood educators do not always know the difference between ethical dilemma and ethical responsibility, and they are often not sure how each should be approached (Fabiano et al., 2013).
Ethical responsibilities are mandates clearly spelt out in the code of ethical conduct describing how early childhood teachers are required to act and what they must do and the kind of activities they cannot do. However, based on research majority of early childhood educators succumb to temptations to do what they perceive as easy or that, which will please others. An example of a code of ethic is 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. The code of conduct is meant to guide the early childhood educator when making a difficult or unpopular decision as they offer backup to the user. Ethical responsibilities are similar to legal responsibilities either in that they require or forbid a certain action to take place. In most cases, ethical responsibilities are the same to legal responsibilities (Russell, 2010).
A dilemma on the other hand is a situation where there are two possible solutions to a problem and each of the solutions can be backed with moral terms. A dilemma allows the persons faced with the problem to choose between two actions both of which have benefits and associated costs. The legitimate needs and interests of an individual or group must give way to those of another individual or groups. For instance a mother who requests the teacher not to allow their child to sleep while at school for whenever she naps the child has difficulties sleeping at night often keeping her mother up late into the night which is messing her at work (APS Task Force on Ethics Education, 2012). The teacher is forced to choose between honouring the mother’s request and has detrimental effect on the child or refuses the mothers request and will have negative impacts on the mother. The ethical dilemma in this case can be described as having two rights whereby teacher can conclude that it is morally right to let the child sleep is the child so requires but it is also morally right to honour the mothers will to help her keep the child on schedule hence allowing her to function at full capacity at work (Pope, Green, Johnson, & Mitchell, 2009).
Ethical Responsibilities vs Ethical Dilemmas
An ethical issue can either be a responsibility or a dilemma and not both. Ethical dilemmas are characterized by involving deliberations. The solution to the problem can be reached quickly or resolved by simply applying rules or by relying on facts. However, dilemmas do not have clearly stated rules written in black and white. Nevertheless, the code of conduct is expected to act as a guide to the deliberations offering a path to a more suitable solution to the ethical dilemma issue (Tirri & Husu, 2002).
In both cases of the mother requesting the teacher not to allow her child to sleep in school and the case of Joe are examples of a conflict between requests made by the family and what the teacher thinks is a good practise. When faced with such an issue it is important to do the following in order to reach a well-reasoned response; determine the nature of the problem followed by analysing the dilemma(Fleet, De Gioia, Madden, & Semann, 2018). In determining the dilemma, it should be decided whether the issue is an ethical issue or whether it involves an ethical responsibility or an ethical dilemma. If the issue is an ethical responsibility, seek guidance from the ethical code of conduct. In analysing the dilemma, it is important to identify the conflicting responsibility, brainstorming the possible solution, considering the ethical finesse finding a way to meet everyone needs without making any difficult decisions. Furthermore, the code of conduct can shed light on the most suitable approach. Always opt for the solution that has the most ethical defence based on the situation and the professional judgement (Romero & Walker, 2010).
The educator, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognizes the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence, and nurture of the democratic principles(Fenech & Lotz, 2018). Essential to these goals is the protection of freedom to learn and to teach and the guarantee of equal educational opportunity for all. The educator accepts the responsibility to adhere to the highest ethical standards. That which is considered as ethical often comes down to determining what is in the best interest of the child(Elliott Ed, 2006). Parkay (2004) states, “behaving ethically is more than a matter of following the rules or not breaking the law-it means acting in a way that promotes the learning and growth of students and helps them realize their potential.” Resolving ethical dilemma requires an early childhood educator to make decisions without a clear cut right or wrong answer (Ingleby, 2012).
Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Early Childhood Education
Early childhood educators are tasked with the responsibility of having a complex understanding of child development and early education issues with an aim of providing with a rich meaningful education experiences for all children and families in their care(Goh et al., 2012). Early childhood educators are being asked to have deeper understandings of child development and early education issues; provide richer educational experiences for all children, including those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged; engage children of varying abilities and backgrounds; connect with a diverse array of families; and do so with greater demands for accountability and in some cases, fewer resources, than ever before (Ingleby, 2012).
The validity of ethics as a means to induce professionals to behave as expected by the society and their peers is dependent on a complex interplay of law and morality. The law alone is not enough as an ethical system. Codified law focuses on actions and outcomes rather than values (Haefner, 2006). However, this does not mean that law lacks moral authority for the law plays a significant role in enforcing minimum standards of what is right and what is wrong and enforcing breaches. However, rules have the potential to be misused and there is a possibility where observing the rules replaces morality in the society(Schachter, Spear, Piasta, Justice, & Logan, 2016). Both the legal and ethical aspects of an action are not easy to disentangle as they are easily intertwined. Law and ethics should not contradict each other but should instead complement each other as a system of control over human behaviour and interactions. Ethics unlike the law are all about choosing where the choice mad is subject to environment, education, or cultural context. Immanuel Kant argues that (Iacovino, 2002);
The appreciation to which Kant refers comes down to an attitude that should lie behind and encompass all our more specific duties. Rules cannot totally define our lives. In government and business, for example, an unjust person will always be able to find loopholes in even the most carefully stated professional or civil codes. Kant knew this, and for that reason, he held that above all we need an underlying commitment to the moral law that will, as it were, fill in the legislative loopholes.
Educators are expected to address the academic, personal and the social needs of the society most vulnerable. Lack of code of ethics in education has an impact on teachers who are at times faced with difficult decisions without a defined framework to discuss them with their peers. A key element for any profession lies in the ability of the profession to develop ways to self regulates(Markussen-Brown et al., 2017). The absence or lack thereof has contributed to several dilemmas and the undervaluing of the educators as a profession. In the absence of a clearly stated code of conduct, policy makers are tasked with the development of specific laws and policies that guide the teacher’s behaviour. However, some of these rules fail to acknowledge the unique position of an educator and also do not put into consideration the variable nature of teachers, schools, and their students (APS Task Force on Ethics Education, 2012). More so, the teacher is denied an opportunity to make independent decisions. Ethics in other professions were brought about by difficult that professionals found themselves in. for instance, the American Medical Association’s code of ethics was brought about to help physicians reconcile the conflicting needs of serving patients at a time when certain contagious diseases could not be treated without the medic contracting the disease. In law, the bar exam in most cases focuses extensively on ethics (Myers & Herb, 2013).
The Role of Early Childhood Educators
Teachers are expected to have a caring demeanour, have the willingness to exceed their normal working hours to help students, an ability to reach out to children who appear to be unfocused or disconnected from their surroundings, personal knowledge of their student that can help the child achieve their full potential in class. This respectable attributes are also found in educators who overstep their boundaries(Macdonald, 2013). Unlike in other professions where the code of conduct institutes a culture of social distance such as a doctor should not have a personal relationship outside the office. Nevertheless, teachers and students operate in a completely different dynamic whereby the student is an integral part of the teacher throughout the school calendar(Anonymous, 2011). Unlike doctors, teachers are expected to spend time with the student out of class as coach, club sponsors, mentors, or even teach them at home. As a human, teachers can easily bring in their personal life issues in and out of school. The relationship between the teachers quickly becomes a shared space such a coach pushing a student athlete towards achieving their full potential required to break a record or English teacher with vested interest in a student whom the teacher believes can do better in writing but the student is reluctant(French-Lee & Dooley, 2015). At times having an intimate connection as shown in the above examples cannot be avoided; the shift from a student receiving knowledge to becoming actively involved in the teacher student relationship can further blur the boundaries (Fabiano et al., 2013).
Conclusion
Research shows that as an educator one makes more than a thousand decisions, majority of which involve individual students that are often made on a reflex basis. They barely have time to analyse their decisions to think through the potential long term implications of their actions. The expectations placed on a teacher to be a caring and responsible adult in a child’s life when combined with personal issues can contribute to the development of blind spots (Bailey, 2010).
Teachers join the profession with an innate desire to do what is best for students, however even the most experienced educators, may not always know when their decisions even where the intentions are good could be placing them on a path that jeopardizes their position as a teacher(Brock, 2012). Based on the above discussion, policy makers should no longer focus all their attention on curricula development but should also assume responsibility for empowering teachers to negotiate the diverse values in their schools. Ethics draws on human dispositions, attitudes and behaviours such as valuing, selecting, and acting, and is concerned with desirable actions associated with human relationships and responsibility for other people (Norberg & Johansson, 2007). There is need for a clear sense of ethical knowledge that will provide teachers with a more comprehensive sense of professionalism. Without insisting on morality makes it difficult for teachers to address the complexity of moral judgements (APS Task Force on Ethics Education, 2012).
References
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