2.5: Relating Ethics to the Profession

Learning Objectives

1. Summarize the key principles and core values outlined in the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct.
2. Explain how the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct guides decision-making and professional behavior in early childhood education.

NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

The following information is adapted from Julian et al. Introduction to Early Childhood Education (2023).

Image 4.4.1 Code of Ethics Statement of Commitment NAEYC

A common characteristic of professions is that they have a document spelling out the moral responsibilities to society and guiding principles for professional behavior. Because a profession is viewed as a group that can uniquely meet an important social need, and because the service is often provided to a vulnerable population, it is critical that there is a clear statement about how ethical behavior is defined. Without that, the power that resides in the professional role has the potential to exploit the population being served.

Although the field of early childhood education is still striving to be viewed as a profession, it has had a code of ethics since 1989. However, development of the code began at least 10 years before that (Feeney & Freeman, 2018). Beginning in the mid-70s, NAEYC leadership was advancing efforts to develop a code, with a code of ethical conduct adopted in 1989. The code was updated in 2005 and most recently reaffirmed and updated in 2011. The code exists as one of several position statements that NAEYC has adopted as guides to help early childhood educators make informed decisions on issues facing the field and profession, and to promote dialogue on these issues using a common language provided by the statement. All NAEYC position statements, including the Code of Ethical Conduct in its entirety, are available on the association’s website, naeyc.org. The code is focused on early childhood educators—those working directly with children and families. Supplements have been written to apply the code to the work of Early Childhood Program Administrators and Early Childhood Adult Educators as well. Multiple articles in NAEYC’s publication Young Children have addressed the use of the code, providing professionals with numerous opportunities to practice applying it to real situations faced in early childhood education.

Structure of the Code of Ethical Conduct

The NAEYC Code is organized by several components:

• Core Values
  • Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable state of the human life cycle
  • Base our work on knowledge of how children develop and learn
  • Appreciate and support the bond between the child and family
  • Recognize that children are best understood and supported in the context of family, culture, community, and society
  • Respect the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each individual (child, family member, and colleague)
  • Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues
  • Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect
• Conceptual Framework
  • The framework is an organizing structure for the code. It is divided into four sections that address an area of professional relationships: with children, with families, among colleagues, and with the community and society. Each section includes an introduction to the primary responsibilities of the professional in that setting. Each section also lists a set of ideals and principles.
  • Ideals are aspirational. They represent what we strive for as we do our work with children and families; they are our goals. Principles are more concrete—they could be considered the objectives that allow us to achieve our goals or aspirations (ideals). The principles guide conduct and help professionals resolve ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas are “moral conflicts that involve determining how to act when an individual faces conflicting professional values and responsibilities” (Feeney & Freeman, 2018, p. 19).
• The four professional relationship areas:
  • Ethical Responsibilities to Children
    • The first section focuses on the profession’s beliefs about the unique and valuable nature of childhood and the vulnerability of this stage of development. Consequently, early childhood educators have the responsibility to ensure the safety, health, and emotional well-being of children. Moreover, this section of the code addresses the profession’s commitment to respecting individual differences, helping children learn to cooperate with peers, and promoting children’s self-awareness, competence, self-worth, resilience, and physical well-being.
    • The first section contains 12 ideals and 11 principles (note that there is no one-to-one correspondence between ideals and principles). The first principle is identified as taking precedence over all the others in the Code:
    • “Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitive, or intimidating to children” (NAEYC, 2011).
  • Ethical Responsibilities to Families
    • The second section addresses the responsibility to the families that early childhood educators serve. Given the belief that the family is of primary importance and that the family and the teacher have a common interest in the child’s well-being, educators have a responsibility to communicate, cooperate, and collaborate with the child’s family. The second section contains nine ideals and 15 principles.
  • Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues
    • The third section of the code addresses responsibilities to colleagues. This section is divided into two subsections, one focused on responsibilities to co-workers and one related to responsibilities to employers. The responsibility to colleagues is to establish and maintain relationships that support productive work and professional needs. The focus here is on trust, confidentiality, collaboration, and respect for the dignity of each human. It also includes responsibility for holding co-workers and employers accountable for their own professional ethical conduct. The first subsection contains three ideas and four principles, while the second contains two ideals and five principles.
  • Ethical responsibility to Community and Society
    • The final section of the code recognizes the educator's responsibility to provide programs that meet the diverse needs of families, to help families access needed services, to collaborate with other agencies and professionals, and to develop programs that are needed but not available. This section contains seven ideals and 11 principles.

Using the Code of Ethical Conduct

The Code of Ethical Conduct provides a tool that can be used in various ways to ensure ethical conduct and resolve ethical dilemmas that arise in the complexity of early childhood education. While the code of ethics is a guide, it is not a recipe for specific behaviors to be enacted in any particular situation. However, the Code does identify several specific responsibilities. These ethical responsibilities are either things we should not do or things that we are required to do. Some of the responsibilities are presented as ideals, (I) some as principles (P), and include the following:

I 1.1 To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to keep current through continuing education and in-service training.

P 2.9 [To]…maintain confidentiality and…[to] respect the family’s right to privacy…

I 3 A.1 To establish and maintain relationships of respect, trust, and cooperation with co-workers

I 4.1 To provide the community with high-quality (age and individually appropriate, and culturally and socially sensitive) education/care programs

P 4.7 [To]… be familiar with laws and regulations that serve to protect the children in our programs.

P 1.1 [To] not harm children. [To]…not participate in practices that are disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, intimidating, emotionally damaging, or physically harmful to children.

P 2.1 [To]…not deny family members access to their child’s classroom or program setting.

P 3C.8 In hiring, promotion, and provision of training…[to] not participate in any form of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, culture, disability, age, or sexual preference….

These ethical responsibilities are clear-cut. They communicate what must and must not be done. So, one way the code serves your work is by providing clear guidelines on how to behave. In addition, the code is designed to help navigate ethical dilemmas. In this case, the professional is faced with two equally justifiable actions, but often includes a conflict between the interests of the two involved parties. For example, it may require prioritizing the needs of the child over those of the parents or a group over an individual. The code can help determine the best course of action in a situation. Still, the process requires thoughtful consideration of the various interests, needs, and priorities of one person or group compared to those of another.

Reflection

Consider this ethical dilemma (from Feeney & Freeman, 2018, pg. 52). Think about how you might resolve this ethical dilemma, considering your professional obligations and conflicting needs.

Kali, the mother of 4-year-old Chase, has asked his teacher, Sondra, to keep him from napping in the afternoon. She tells Sondra, “Whenever Chase naps during the day, he stays up until past 10:00 at night. I have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to go to work, and I am not getting enough sleep.” Along with all the other children, Chase takes a one-hour nap almost every day. Sondra feels that he needs it to engage in activities and stay in good spirits through the afternoon.

Application

The authors of the Code suggest a process for applying the code to ethical issues and dilemmas (Feeney & Freeman, 2018). As you consider the steps, think about the situation described in the reflection above. The steps they suggest are described here:

1. Determine if your issue/problem even involves ethics. Does it involve concerns about right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, human welfare, or an individual’s best interests? If so, it is an ethical issue.
2. Determine if your issue involves legal responsibility. If so, you must follow the law. Issues involving child abuse are examples involving legal responsibilities.
3. Next, determine if the issue involves an ethical responsibility. Recall that ethical responsibilities are clear-cut expectations about how a professional early childhood educator behaves. There is no question about what must be done (or not done).
4. Determine if your issue is a genuine ethical dilemma that requires making hard choices between conflicting moral obligations. Consider the needs of all involved and your professional obligations to each. Are there conflicting obligations requiring you to prioritize one over another? Are core values in conflict? If so, you have an ethical dilemma to resolve. Here are some steps to decision-making about an ethical dilemma:
   1. Identify the conflicting responsibilities. Consider the people involved and determine their needs and your obligations to them. Then turn to the Code for guidance. Review the Core Values and Ideals in the related section of the Code. You may need to get more information if you decide you do not have the full picture. It may also be helpful to refer to program policies or community laws.
   2. Brainstorm possible resolutions. Now that you fully understand the issue and the conflicting values, needs, and obligations, you can think about how to solve the problem. Do not yet reject any ideas, but generate as many ideas as possible. Then go back and consider the equity and feasibility of your ideas.
   3. Consider ethical finesse. In some situations, it may be possible to solve the problem without having to choose between two options. This approach is known as ethical finesse and is characterized by the ability to amicably resolve the situation, delicately maneuvering so that no one feels that their needs were not taken into account. For example, in the scenario in the reflection box above, is it possible to resolve the dilemma in a way that addresses both the child's and the parent's needs? Could the teacher work with the parent to develop more effective bedtime routines, or could they experiment with having the child go down for a nap a little later and sleep less time in the afternoon to see if this makes a difference? Ethical finesse should be used sparingly (Kipnis, 1987). If we rely too often on ethical finesse, it's possible that we're avoiding ethical responsibility and not fulfilling our obligations.
   4. Look for guidance in the NAEYC Code. If ethical finesse does not result in a satisfactory resolution, use the Code to determine the action you can defend morally and prepare to take it. Look to the Core values for guidance. Then review the Ideals and Principles to clarify your responsibilities. Make sure you feel you have all the necessary information. It may also be helpful to review your program’s policies or discuss the issue with a trusted colleague.
   5. Decide on a justifiable course of action. The next step is to choose between the alternatives, basing your decision on the ethics presented in the Code. In the previous nap-time example, if the attempts to help the parent with bedtime routines and/or a shorter nap did not solve the problem (i.e. the child became sleepy at nap time and was grumpy in the afternoon without a full nap) then the decision to reinstitute the nap procedure for this child is necessary. The responsibility to meet the child's physical needs outweighs the parent's need to get more sleep. It can be difficult to take such a stand, but having the Code and your knowledge of child development on your side of the decision can be reassuring and affirming.
   6. Implement your resolution and reflect. After making a decision and putting it into action, it's important to reflect on the process to determine what you've learned. Did you learn something about how you communicate with families? Did you learn something about how program policies are set and shared with parents? Or did you mostly learn about your own comfort level with these kinds of decisions?

Concluding Remarks

Clearly, applying the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct is not an easy process. Nonetheless, this important marker of a profession is critical in the work of early childhood education. Given the vulnerability of our clients and the inherent power we wield in that relationship, it is incumbent upon us to be aware of our ethical obligations and become proficient in using tools to assist in carrying out our ethical responsibilities. Numerous resources are available from NAEYC for practicing the use of the Code.

References

Feeney, S. & Freeman, N. K. (2018). Ethics and the early childhood educator: Using the NAEYC code (3^rd ed.). NAEYC: Washington, D.C.

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2011). Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/Ethics%20Position%20Statement2011_09202013update.pdf