Early Childhood Happenings Utah: December 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Golden Rule

My Walden colleague Eileen Cirilli made a great connection between the following ideal from the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and The Golden Rule, so I would like to add it to my blog too!

We shall demonstrate in our behavior and language respect and appreciation for the unique value and human potential of each child.
Everyone deserves and wants to be treated with respect, including children. They can sense when they are not being respected and it will show in their behavior. I always think of the Golden Rule, “treat others the way you want to be treated.”

Cirilli, E. (2012, December 15). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://mscirilli.wordpress.com

Monday, December 10, 2012

What Ethical Conduct Means to Me

This week I have been asked to take three of the ideals from the NAEYC and DEC Codes of Ethical Conduct and talk about why they are meaningful to me and how they are a part of my professional life.

The first statement comes from DEC. It says that, as professionals, "we shall honor and respect our responsibilities to colleagues while upholding the dignity and autonomy of colleagues and maintaining collegial interprofessional and intrapersonal relationships." This statement talks about the importance of taking good care of the professional partnerships that we have, and recognizing the shared responsibility that comes from working with professional partners. I have been given the opportunity to foster some great partnerships over the course of my professional life, and this ideal is especially meaningful to me because I believe those relationships are the greatest assets I have had in my career.

The second statement comes from NAEYC. It talks about the importance of using "assessment instruments and strategies that are appropriate for the children to be assessed, that are used only for the purpose for which they were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children." This statement is meaningful to me because it outlines the correct use of assessments, which is to be helpful to children. I feel strongly that testing children to place them in a category, especially in the early years, is harmful. But, checking to see where children are developmentally, so caregivers can give them opportunities to practice the skills they need to reach goals, through active play, is beneficial. Helping providers and leaders see the difference, and continually advocating for the developmentally appropriate way to do this, makes this ideal very important to me.

The third statement also comes from NAEYC. It outlines the "right of each child to play and learn in an inclusive environment that meets the needs of children with and without disabilities." Over the past two years I have been involved with a campaign that emphasizes the importance of all children having a learning environment within their early childhood programs that is inclusive of everyone. All children have needs, and all children deserve to have a place that supports their individual abilities and interests. I really like this ideal because it lets early childhood professionals know that all really does mean all!

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Code of Ethical Conduct. Retrieved from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.dec-sped.org/

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Early Childhood Resources

These are the resources used for my course at Walden University. I have added three additional resources that I find valuable. They are bolded.

Course Resources

Articles

v Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8.

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap

v Where we stand on child abuse prevention. http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/

ChildAbuseStand.pdf

v Where we stand on school readiness. http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf

v Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity.

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf

v Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf

v Early childhood inclusion: A summary. http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf

v Infant-toddler policy agenda. http://main.zerotothree.org/site/Pageserver?pagename=ter_pub_ infanttoddler

v Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf

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

v UNICEF Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf