Reflecting on Ethical Dilemmas in Early Childhood Education

Assignment Task

Rationale

This is a real world project based on scenarios or ethical dilemmas that you are likely to encounter in your professional work with preschoolers. It is important that you develop skills and understanding of these issues, and reflect on how to address them, with reference to your theoretical understanding, the National Quality Standards (NQS), the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and current research in the field.

Background for the scenarios

You, Shelley, are the trained teacher in a room with 25 children aged 3-5 years. The other educators in the room include one trained with a Diploma in Children's Services, Michelle, and the other educator, Zarla, is working towards Certificate III in Children's Services. Your centre is open for ten and a half hours per day from 7.30am until 6pm. You work full time on a variety of eight hour shifts. The centre is licensed for 79 children and is a for-profit early learning centre.

Scenario 1

You are talking with a new parent who has just enrolled her three year old child, Ethan, into your room who has never been in an early childhood centre before. You explain the centre's philosophy regarding settling children into the centre by establishing consistent and caring relationships. The parent seems unsure about leaving Ethan in your room however she needs to go to work and has not been able to find other centres with vacancies. She says:

I have little nagging doubts at the back of my head, then I think, this is a centre that has to make money. It’s a privately owned place. If you were to say, oh he’s had a terrible day, I don’t think he should be here, you would probably get sacked. You're probably not ever going to tell me that, which I’m wary of.

The parent is reluctant to leave and is becoming agitated about leaving her child. How do you respond to this concern and how do you support this parent to engage in paid work- both in the short term, and the long term so that she is confident in leaving her child with you. Write a response on how you would assist this parent and child to happily settle into your room and centre. Address the unit material, the relevant principles and practices of the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009) and the NQS (ACECQA, 2018)- especially Quality areas 4, 6 and 7.

Scenario 2

One of the children, Ishmael, in your room, who is 4.0 years old, sleeps for one hour per day at your centre. The child arrives at the centre every morning at 7.45am, and is picked up at 5.45pm five days per week. Both parents work full time. The parents come to you, as the teacher in the preschool room, and say they do not want Ishmael to sleep anymore at the centre because she is not going to sleep at home until 11pm. They need their sleep, as they are both busy working. How do you respond to the parents, and what do you do to ensure that the parents and the children are achieving the best outcomes possible? Address the unit material, the relevant principles of the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009) and the NQS (ACECQA, 2018)- especially Quality areas 1, 2 and 6.

Scenario 3

Beatrice is 3.2 years old and bit Thomas 4.5 years old, just after lunchtime. Thomas had been playing with the small animals, particularly the baby hippopotamus, when Beatrice bit him and took the hippopotamus off him. You follow the centre's procedure for reducing potential cross infection from the bite, and are pleased to see that the bite did not break Thomas's skin. You explain what happened to both parents and ask them to sign the incident book. Both parents are visibly upset about what has happened.

The following week the same thing happens at the same time of day, and Thomas had been playing with the plastic animals. You are really concerned about how to manage this as both Beatrice and Thomas need to feel settled at the centre, and the parents need to feel confident in their child's education and care. How do you support both children's learning and development, your relationships with the families and provide a safe and secure environment? Explain with reference to the unit material, the relevant principles of the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009) and the NQS (ACECQA, 2018)- especially Quality areas 2,5,6.

Scenario 4

Your centre’s philosophy embraces diversity and developing supportive relationships with families. Max (a male), a trained educator (Diploma of Children's Services) has been employed to work with your team while Michelle is on two months annual leave. Max is often employed on a casual basis at the centre working so is a regular sight. A parent of a child in your room comes to you after the first week of Max's employment and says that she wants Max to be moved to another room, as she does not want her child to have a male educator. How would you respond to this parent and work with her so that she is happy with her child's educators? Explain with reference to the unit material, the relevant principles of the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009) and the NQS (ACECQA, 2018)- especially Quality areas 2, 4, 6, 7.

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