Speaking the Truth

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Speaking the Truth

• and Acting Powerfully

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• First do no harm.

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NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

• P-4.6. We shall report the unethical or
  incompetent behavior of a colleague to a
  supervisor when informal resolution is not
  effective.
• First, go directly to that person and discuss the
  matter with them then seek assistance from a
  supervisor

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Code of Conduct

• P-4.7. We shall be familiar with laws and
  regulations that serve to protect the children in
  our programs.
• Stay current on legislation
• Copies of state licensing standards must be
  readily available to those charged with
  implementing those regulations

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Code of Conduct

• P-4.8. We shall not participate in practices
  which are in violation of laws and regulations
  that protect the children in our programs.
• We are required by both ethics and legislation to
  comply with laws and regulations

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Code of Conduct

• P-4.9. When we have evidence that an early
  childhood program is violating laws or
  regulations protecting children, we shall report
  it to persons responsible for the program. If
  compliance is not accomplished within a
  reasonable time, we will report the violation to
  appropriate authorities who can be expected to
  remedy the situation.
• First, attempt to work within and change the
  existing system
• If no resolution is found, contact authorities

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Code of Conduct

• P-4.10. When we have evidence that an agency or a
  professional charged with providing services to
  children, families, or teachers is failing to
  meet its obligations, we acknowledge a collective
  ethical responsibility to report the problem to
  appropriate authorities or to the public.
• You are protected for violations reported in good
  faith by a whistle blowers law

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Code of Conduct

• P-4.11. When a program violates or requires its
  employees to violate this Code, it is
  permissible, after fair assessment of the
  evidence, to disclose the identity of that
  program
• You are not bound by confidentiality to an
  institution but to individuals, including
  children and families
• unless maintaining confidentiality jeopardizes
  the welfare of the child
• unless you are an employer, in which case you are
  bound to a certain degree by the confidentiality
  accorded to your employees, within the
  constraints of the law

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Code of Conduct

• All that it takes for evil to exist in the world
  is for good men to do nothing.

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• A child reports that his parent has burned the
  cold out of him, and you discover rows of what
  appear to be burn marks on his back

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• A child reports that her mother has burned the
  cold out of her by lighting a newspaper in her
  ear

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• A family, who are are Jehovahs Witnesses, want
  to enroll their children in your child care
  program, where you have traditionally celebrated
  virtually all holidays and birthdays

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• A family interested in your program says that
  they do not want their children immunized on
  religious grounds

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• A newly enrolled child in your program presents
  with a high lead screening score. You advise the
  parents about the need for chelation treatment,
  but the parents say that they have no money to
  for it, ignore your recommendation that they go
  to the Board of Health for help, and do nothing

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• The family of a preschool aged child, who are new
  immigrants to this country, requests that you
  serve only warm milk to their child because he
  has a cold

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Diversity Issues What Do You Do?

• The family of a child with special needs in your
  program, informs you that they have put a DNR (Do
  Not Resuscitate) order on their child, who is
  medically fragile

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Our Past, Present Future How Much Do We Tell
Children?

• Depends on
• Age/stage/maturity of children
• Goals and objectives of lessons
• Preparation
• Consider long-range implications of distorted
  views on history
• Remember that, History is told by the victors.
• With young children, do not dwell too much on
  injustices
• Temper according to developmental needs, so that
  children are not overwhelmed with distorted,
  negative, or positive viewpoints

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Why Temper?

• During the preoperational period, between ages 2
  to 7, young children become involved in
  increasingly more complex symbolic play. They are
  intuitive and engage in animism, attributing
  lifelike characteristics to non-living beings.
  Imaginative thinking and transductive reasoning,
  where cause and effect are erroneously attributed
  to unrelated variables, can sometimes get the
  best of them, triggering fears of the dark,
  monsters, and other unknowns over which they feel
  powerless.

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The Best Country in the World

• Are we truly, the best or relatively the
  best?
• Is there no need for improvement?
• Is it a competition?
• Who do we anger and/or alienate when we make such
  a claim?
• Can we claim to be great without claiming to be
  better than others?

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Final Thoughts First Steps for New Beginnings

• One of the most compelling arguments against
  multicultural education is the tendency to stress
  the differences between people
• Provide balance by emphasizing equally the
  similarities amongst people

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Between and Within Group Tensions

• There can be as much diversity within groups as
  between groups
• The same dynamics that cause tensions between
  groups can also be the source of tension within
  groups

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Reducing Between Within Group Tensions

• Ethnocentrism We internalize our own culture
  (race/religion/gender, etc.,) and that becomes
  the standard by which all other groups are judged
• Assumption In order for our group to be the
  best, other groups must be wrong or worse, e.g.,
  Win/Lose
• SOLUTION Emphasize that it is NOT a
  competition, that each group can be great and
  right, that no one group is better than any
  others, e.g., Win/Win

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Reducing Between Within Group Tensions

• Frustration-Aggression Scapegoating Blaming
  another group for ones own failures.
• - Assumption If some can overcome adversity,
  so, too, can all others
• SOLUTION Model taking responsibility for ones
  own part in successes and failures
• Encourage children to take ownership of their
  parts in social disputes
• Teach the language necessary for resolving social
  discord
• Teach self-advocacy skills
• Support efforts to advocate for the rights of
  others

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Reducing Between Within Group Tensions

• 3. Authoritarian Personality Inflexible, rigid
  personality type characterized by adherence and
  obedience to rules and authority, accompanied by
  fear of, and low tolerance for difference.
• Assumption This is a personality trait that is
  inborn and inflexible to remediation
• SOLUTION Fears are learned
• Emphasize early exposure to and celebrations of
  human similarities and differences
• Introduce to alternate notions of fairness based
  on need and flexible rule-making, including the
  notion of handicapping in golf, etc., in order
  to level the playing field for those at a
  disadvantage

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Reducing Between Within Group Tensions

• 4. Power Theory Competition and exploitation.
  Negative views of subordinate groups justify
  their unequal treatment and exploitation.
• Assumption Accuracy of negative views and
  existence of natural pecking order
• SOLUTION Emphasize cooperation rather than
  competition
• Do not feed into discriminatory or prejudicial
  views
• Remember that absolute power corrupts
  absolutely and empower those who demonstrate
  altruism do not condone those who take unfair
  advantage of others.

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Avoid the Tourist Approach

• To avert people feeling like foreigners when
  studying different cultures, incorporate
  diversity into daily routines with
• Photographs of people from diverse groups
  decorating the environment
• Dolls and other materials from diverse groups in
  dramatic play area and other learning centers
• Multicultural games, songs, stories, etc.
• Encourage family involvement