Ethics Review

DEC Code of Ethics

(Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children)

We shall build relationships with individual children and families while individualizing the curriculum and learning environments to facilitate young children’s development and learning.

As early childhood educators, we must always remember our job is to teach to each child’s ability and style of learning.  IDEA mandates we do this for children with diagnosed disabilities; however, it can be difficult to achieve this for all our students.  We must find methods that allow for us to know and effectively plan for all our children.  All of my beloved school teachers that I still remember after all these years shared this gift of individualization.  I want to honor their efforts by developing my ability to recognize that all children can learn.  It is up to me to find the key to help them succeed.

We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services.

I did not get to where I am at today without the kindness and patience of more experienced staff.  I have had the opportunity to be mentored by some of the best supervisors and co-workers in the field of early childhood education.  They always made time for my questions and mistakes.  I did not gain my expertise in a vacuum.  I was the beneficiary of many selfless acts by other professionals.

We shall respect, value, promote, and encourage the active participation of ALL families by engaging families in meaningful ways in the assessment and intervention processes.

I must always be mindful that I am only an equal partner with my parents.  I am not the authority in the decisions in their child’s development.  I serve to provide information and help to facilitate their choices.  In matters of assessment, evaluation and treatment, I am there to help them navigate systems and feel confident with the decisions they have made for their child’s future.  One of my best supervisors used the analogy of wealthy customers at Neiman Marcus.  Head Start parents are the customers and Head Start employees are the sales assistants.   We are here to offer choices and provide exemplary customer service and at the end of the day, our customers determine what “services” they will invest in.

References

The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved December 14, 2011,

      from http://www.dec-sped.org/