Resolving an Ethical Dilemma

We often face difficult decisions in our daily practice. There are often many different rules, principles, and opinions at play. Many ethical dilemmas can be resolved through effective decision-making. However, since we are so often called upon to make independent judgments, it is important to incorporate the NAEYC Code of Ethics within our daily practice as early childhood educators. Many ethical dilemmas can be resolved easily with consultation and reflection. However, some issues are not as clear-cut. Therefore, to help make it easier to solve difficult ethical dilemmas, test you hand at navigating the following scenarios using the NAEYC Code of Ethics: 1. [[The Aggressive Child]] 2. The Volunteer 3. Cooking with Children 4. The Ethnic Joke 5. Speaking English 6. Grandma 7. The Academic Curriculum

You are a preschool teacher. Troy is a large and extremely aggressive 4-year-old boy in your class that is frightening and hurting other children. Your director and a mental health specialist have been unable to help. Troy's parents feel that his behavior is typical for boys his age; the won't get counseling. You and your co-teacher are becoming stressed and tired, and you are worried that the other children are not getting the attenion they need. ''What do you do?'' [[Ask the director to remove Troy from your class]] or [[continue to try to work with Troy even though the other children are suffering lack of attention]]

Incorrect. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.7: For every child we shall implement adaptations...consult with the family, and seek recommendations from appropriate specialists to maximize the potential of the child to benefit from the program. If, after these efforts have been made to work with a child and family, the child does not appear to be benefiting from a program...we shall communicate with the family and appropriate specialists to determine the child's current needs... [[Next Scenario]]

Correct. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.7: For every child we shall implement adaptations...consult with the family, and seek recommendations from appropriate specialists to maximize the potential of the child to benefit from the program. If, after these efforts have been made to work with a child and family, the child does not appear to be benefiting from a program...we shall communicate with the family and appropriate specialists to determine the child's current needs... [[Next Scenario]]

1. The Aggressive Child 2. [[The Volunteer]] 3. Cooking with Children 4. The Ethnic Joke 5. Speaking English 6. Grandma 7. The Academic Curriculum

Aidan, a 4-year-olds who is usually cooperative, has been irritable. He seldom smiles and frequently quarrels with other children. You mention this to his mother. She tells you she and her husband have been arguing and have decided to divorce. A few days later when you are working with a volunteer, Aidan spills paint. The volunteer asks Aidan to help clean it up, but he refuses. She asks him a second time, and he shouts that he will not. He starts screaming and knocks over more paint. During naptime, you and the volunteer sit down for coffee. She is still upset. What do you do? [[Help the volunteer understand Aidan's behavior and breach confidentiality]] or [[keep quiet and risk her misunderstanding]].

After some thought on the issue, you tell your director you cannot keep on working with this child and that you will leave if the child is not removed. Was this response [[Ethical (E)]] or [[Non-Ethical (NE)]]?

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.7: For every child we shall implement adaptations...consult with the family, and seek recommendations from appropriate specialists to maximize the potential of the child to benefit from the program. If, after these efforts have been made to work with a child and family, the child does not appear to be benefiting from a program...we shall communicate with the family and appropriate specialists to determine the child's current needs... [[Next Scenario]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.7: For every child we shall implement adaptations...consult with the family, and seek recommendations from appropriate specialists to maximize the potential of the child to benefit from the program. If, after these efforts have been made to work with a child and family, the child does not appear to be benefiting from a program...we shall communicate with the family and appropriate specialists to determine the child's current needs... [[Next Scenario]]

You tell the volunteer about Aidan's parents' divorce. Was this an ethical decision? [[YES]] [[NO]]

You do not relay any information to the volunteer regarding Aidan's parents' divorce, but volunteer do have a general conversation with the volunteering to help her understand that behavioral issues should not been taken personally or viewed as a failure as there are several external factors that could be impacting a child and their behavior. Was this response [[ethical]] or [[non-ethical]]?

Incorrect. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-2.13: We shall maintain confidentiality and shall respect the family's right to privacy... [[Scenario 3]]

Correct. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-2.13: We shall maintain confidentiality and shall respect the family's right to privacy... [[Scenario 3]]

1. The Aggressive Child 2. The Volunteer 3. [[Cooking with Children]] 4. The Ethnic Joke 5. Speaking English 6. Grandma 7. The Academic Curriculum

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-2.13: We shall maintain confidentiality and shall respect the family's right to privacy... [[Scenario 3]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-2.13: We shall maintain confidentiality and shall respect the family's right to privacy... [[Scenario 3]]

You are a preschool teacher and have just moved to another state and taken a job. You have always included lots of cooking in your curriculum and believe that it is a great way to motivate children and integrate learning. After your first cooking project in your new job, the director takes you aside and tells you that cooking is against licensing rules in this state because of potential health and safety risks to children. What do you do? [[Follow the regulation even though you believe it is stupid and wrong]] or [[continue to do what you believe is best practice]].

You stop cooking but complain a lot to the other staff and the parents. Was this response [[E]] or [[NE]]?

You adapt your cooking projects and utilize toy ingredients and cookware to maintain the same level of motivation and learning without violating licensing rules. Was this an ethical response? [[yes]] [[no]]

You meet with you director, the mental health specialist, and Troy's parents to develop a success plan. The plan includes strategies to manage Troy's behavior and excercises to try with him both at home and in the classroom to improve his behavior. The plan also stipulates that if behavioral improvements are not seen within a certain timeframe Troy will be moved to a different class to see if a change in class environment will better fulfill his needs and avoid disrupting the needs of the other students. This decision was the ethical decision. [[True]] or [[False]]

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-4.8: We shall not participate in practices which are in violation of laws and regulations that protect children in our programs. However, this teacher might also consider I-4.7: To support policies and laws that promote the well-being of children and families, and to oppose those that impair their well-being. To participate in developing policies and laws that are needed... [[Scenario 4]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-4.8: We shall not participate in practices which are in violation of laws and regulations that protect children in our programs. However, this teacher might also consider I-4.7: To support policies and laws that promote the well-being of children and families, and to oppose those that impair their well-being. To participate in developing policies and laws that are needed... [[Scenario 4]]

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-4.8: We shall not participate in practices which are in violation of laws and regulations that protect children in our programs. This teacher also considered I-4.7: To support policies and laws that promote the well-being of children and families, and to oppose those that impair their well-being. To participate in developing policies and laws that are needed... [[Scenario 4]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-4.8: We shall not participate in practices which are in violation of laws and regulations that protect children in our programs. The teacher also considered I-4.7: To support policies and laws that promote the well-being of children and families, and to oppose those that impair their well-being. To participate in developing policies and laws that are needed... [[Scenario 4]]

1. The Aggressive Child 2. The Volunteer 3. Cooking with Children 4. [[The Ethnic Joke]] 5. Speaking English 6. Grandma 7. The Academic Curriculum

You teach in a preschool. One afternoon in the lounge, you hear a co-worker make an insulting joke about children and families of a particular ethnic group. It makes you feel uncomfortable, and you think her comments show an unhealthy prejudice. But everyone else laughs. What do you do? [[Risk losing your good relationship with your colleague by saying something]] or [[try to ignore it]].

You are silent. It would be too embarassing to confront your coworker. Was this decision [[ETHICAL]] or [[NON-ETHICAL]]?

You make your thoughts regarding the joke loudly known making sure that everyone in the room is aware that the joke they just laughed at is biggoted and offensive This response was ethical. [[TRUE]] [[FALSE]]

Incorrect. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-3A.2: When we have a concern about the professional behavior of a co-worker, we shall first let that person know of our concern... One might also consider I-2.5: To respect the dignity of each family and its culture, language, customs, and beliefs. [[Scenario 5]]

Correct. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-3A.2: When we have a concern about the professional behavior of a co-worker, we shall first let that person know of our concern... One might also consider I-2.5: To respect the dignity of each family and its culture, language, customs, and beliefs. [[Scenario 5]]

1. The Aggressive Child 2. The Volunteer 3. Cooking with Children 4. The Ethnic Joke 5. [[Speaking English]] 6. Grandma 7. The Academic Curriculum

You've been teaching in a multi-lingual program for many years. You speak English and Spanish and you use both lanuages in your classroom. You also have several Vietnamese children who do not speak English in your group. You've asked their parents to teach you some words in Vietnamese so that you can help children with routines and in their play-words such as "bathroom" and "lunch." Several parents are concerned that their children will not learn English if you keep speaking other languages to the classroom. What do you do? [[Follow the families' wishes]] or [[follow your program's mission to provide multilingual services for a diverse population]].

After some thought, you decide that without the buy-in of the parents, there is no point to engaging your student in different languages and decide to try again with a new cohort next year. Was this decision [[Ethical]] or [[Non-ethical]]?

You tell the director about your dilemma, and the two of you research resources to help you inform families about the importance of supporting children's use their home language as they learn English. Was this response [[1. Ethical]] or [[2. Non-ethical]]?

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principles/Ideals: P-1.2: We shall care for and educate children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure. P-2.2: We shall inform families of program philosophy, policies, curriculum, assessment system, cultural practices, and personnel qualifications, and explain why we teach as we do—which should be in accordance with our ethical responsibilities to children. P-4.4: We shall be objective and accurate in reporting the knowledge upon which we base our program practices. [[Scenario 6]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principles/Ideals: P-1.2: We shall care for and educate children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure. P-2.2: We shall inform families of program philosophy, policies, curriculum, assessment system, cultural practices, and personnel qualifications, and explain why we teach as we do—which should be in accordance with our ethical responsibilities to children. P-4.4: We shall be objective and accurate in reporting the knowledge upon which we base our program practices. [[Scenario 6]]

Incorrect. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhered to the following Principles/Ideals: P-1.2: We shall care for and educate children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure. P-2.2: We shall inform families of program philosophy, policies, curriculum, assessment system, cultural practices, and personnel qualifications, and explain why we teach as we do—which should be in accordance with our ethical responsibilities to children. P-4.4: We shall be objective and accurate in reporting the knowledge upon which we base our program practices. [[Scenario 6]]

Correct. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhered to the following Principles/Ideals: P-1.2: We shall care for and educate children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure. P-2.2: We shall inform families of program philosophy, policies, curriculum, assessment system, cultural practices, and personnel qualifications, and explain why we teach as we do—which should be in accordance with our ethical responsibilities to children. P-4.4: We shall be objective and accurate in reporting the knowledge upon which we base our program practices. [[Scenario 6]]

1. The Aggressive Child 2. The Volunteer 3. Cooking with Children 4. The Ethnic Joke 5. Speaking English 6. [[Grandma]] 7. The Academic Curriculum

You are the director of a child care center. The church in which your program is housed has decided to sponsor adult day care for the elderly. To make room, you will have to close a classroom, reduce enrollment, and lay off staff. You have two choices. You can lay off "Grandma," who is loved by parents and has been with the center for many years. Grandma is only minimally competent by today's standards and does not have training or credentials. Your other choice is to lay off the teacher hired most recently. She is young, well trained, and does a good job in the classroom. What do you do? [[Lay off a more competent and qualified teacher]] or [[lay off a teacher who is only marginally competent]].

You keep Grandma on. The younger teacher will find another job. This was the ethical decision. [[T]] or [[F]]?

You let Grandma go. After years of faithful service, you make sure to make it know that her work was appreciated and she will be missed; however, current business needs dictated that the child care center reduce staff and a difficult decision was made to part ways professionally. Was this the [[a)ethical]] or [[b)non-ethical decision]]?

Incorrect. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-3C.6: In making evaluations and recommendations, we shall make judgments based on fact and relevant to the interests of children and programs. [[Final Scenario]]

Correct. This was a non-ethical response because it did not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-3C.6: In making evaluations and recommendations, we shall make judgments based on fact and relevant to the interests of children and programs. [[Final Scenario]]

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-3C.6: In making evaluations and recommendations, we shall make judgments based on fact and relevant to the interests of children and programs. [[Final Scenario]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-3C.6: In making evaluations and recommendations, we shall make judgments based on fact and relevant to the interests of children and programs. [[Final Scenario]]

1. The Aggressive Child 2. The Volunteer 3. Cooking with Children 4. The Ethnic Joke 5. Speaking English 6. Grandma 7. [[The Academic Curriculum]]

You are a center director and have been approached by the corporation that runs your program and asked to use a highly academic curriculum that takes up most of each morning. This makes you very uncomfortable. Your continued good relationship with your employer and possibly your job are dependent on your agreeing to this request. What do you do? [[Agree even though you do not believe that this is in the best interest of the children]] or [[refuse and risk your job]].

You agree. You cannot afford to lose your job right now. Was this an [[ETHICAL (E)]] or [[NON-ETHICAL (NE)]] decision?

You contact your management and respectfully inform them that upon review of the academic curriculum, you feel that the material will inhibit the development of your students and you cannot in good-conscience implement the new curriculum; however, you do have an idea for how to implement elements of the academic curriculum in a productive manner. Was this an ethical response? [[Yes]] [[No]]

It depends. If you do not find the curriculum to be harmful the children, this would be an ethical response because it would adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.1: 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. Thank you for your continued practice Resolving Ethical Dilemmas using the NAEYC Code of Ethics. If you would like to review any of the scenarios, you can navigate using the menu below. Otherwise, you can exit using the X in the top right corner. 1. [[The Aggressive Child]] 2. [[The Volunteer]] 3. [[Cooking with Children]] 4. [[The Ethnic Joke]] 5. [[Speaking English]] 6. [[Grandma]] 7. [[The Academic Curriculum]]

It depends. If you find the curriculum to be harmful the children, this would be a non-ethical response because it would not adhere to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.1: 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. Thank you for your continued practice Resolving Ethical Dilemmas using the NAEYC Code of Ethics. If you would like to review any of the scenarios, you can navigate using the menu below. Otherwise, you can exit using the X in the top right corner. 1. [[The Aggressive Child]] 2. [[The Volunteer]] 3. [[Cooking with Children]] 4. [[The Ethnic Joke]] 5. [[Speaking English]] 6. [[Grandma]] 7. [[The Academic Curriculum]]

Correct. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.1: 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. Thank you for your continued practice Resolving Ethical Dilemmas using the NAEYC Code of Ethics. If you would like to review any of the scenarios, you can navigate using the menu below. Otherwise, you can exit using the X in the top right corner. 1. [[The Aggressive Child]] 2. [[The Volunteer]] 3. [[Cooking with Children]] 4. [[The Ethnic Joke]] 5. [[Speaking English]] 6. [[Grandma]] 7. [[The Academic Curriculum]]

Incorrect. This was an ethical response because it adhered to the following Principle/Ideal: P-1.1: 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. Thank you for your continued practice Resolving Ethical Dilemmas using the NAEYC Code of Ethics. If you would like to review any of the scenarios, you can navigate using the menu below. Otherwise, you can exit using the X in the top right corner. 1. [[The Aggressive Child]] 2. [[The Volunteer]] 3. [[Cooking with Children]] 4. [[The Ethnic Joke]] 5. [[Speaking English]] 6. [[Grandma]] 7. [[The Academic Curriculum]]