EDEC 108 Professional Issue In Early Childhood Education Assessment 1 Answer

One Ethical or Professional Issue

Ethical issues impact the childhood studies of young children, along with their families. Primarily, determining an ethical issue is a complex task for educators, and hence, the educator must be confident that a particular issue is an ethical issue. An ethical issue must concern right and wrong, responsibilities, the best interest of individuals, and human welfare. One ethical issue that is prominent in children's education is the choice of instructor. Teachers or instructors play a crucial role in the early education of children and are responsible for providing a path to children's future. This issue is selected as teachers have a significant role to play in the life of children (Remley & Herlihy, 2014). This type of issue usually generates between the administration of the school, principal, and parents. Children must have an appropriate instructor that could guide them through their primary education journey. Different teachers behave differently with every student, and also each student has their favourite teacher. The school administration and parents have the power to provide children with their favourite teacher. An issue arises in these situations as either parent agree to educate their children as per the administration allotted teacher or disagree with their choice and try to implement a teacher of their own choice (Resnik, 2011). Parents and administration both understand the importance of implementing effective teacher to student as it is crucial for their future. Hence, the choice of instructor or teacher is a prominent ethical issue for children. In primary years, educators are regarded as leaders and most importantly they were the leaders for Christ. Most of the primary education provided to students was in churches hence, the studies were mostly dedicated towards religious studies. The principle of studies was based on Christianity and one ethical issue that generated in these times is that they are mostly unregulated and there was only one or two Father’s for majority of children (Jackiewicz, 2015). Hence, this type of education system was not profound for children and they have been denied with overall development. 

Stakeholders in this regard are mainly student, parents, instructor, principal, and administration. The primary stakeholder is the student itself as he/she future is at stake; hence, they also choose the best instructor for themselves that could help them in shaping their lives. The satisfaction level of students must be fulfilled so that students could take guidance from their instructor. However, students at such age don't have much understanding and knowledge; hence, the role of parents, administration, and principle is essential. Parents worry about their children's future and, thus, try to provide them with the most efficient education that they could afford. Parents also select teachers that could help their children in their education (Oberhuemer, Schreyer & Neuman, 2010). The support of principle and administration is crucial for parents as they are the ones that make the final decision. The principle is aware of its student's and teachers' capabilities and hence, tries to allocate appropriate teachers to appropriate students. Finally, the role of teachers is also significant as they are ones that are familiar with the capabilities of their students and hence, carve a path to their future. Similarly, children also have their favourite teacher and try to build their education from their teaching. In such cases, it becomes difficult for principle and parents to allocate a particular teacher of their choice and have to go with their choice of students (Ross et al.,2013). While; issues also arise between principle and parents when they disagree with the choice of teacher allotted to their children. These are the stakeholders that get impacted by the ethical issue of choice of teacher or instructor. 

Demonstrate Application to the Issue using the Ethical Decision-Making Cycle

Figure 1: Ethical Decision Making Model 

There are a total of 54 rights that have been stated under the United Nations (UN) Convention. In which one right allows children to have the education to fulfil their potential. An international framework was established in which all the world leaders came together and promised to meet the educational right of all children. The framework formed stated that every child has its own set of rights and is not a subject that belongs to parents and has decisions made for them. The childhood convention formed will be applicable until children reach the age of 18 years (Lundy, 2012). The convention allowed governments to change their laws and policies related to children's education and allow them a bright future. To meet the policies of the UN, the convention is that ethical issues related to children's education are also disallowed. The primary ethical issue is the choice of teacher or instructor, and hence, the convention is also associated with this segment of an ethical issue. The ethical decision making cycle includes various steps, namely gathering the facts, the definition of the ethical issue, stakeholder's identification, the consequences from the ethical issue, obligations, and finally, an action plan for tackling the ethical issue. In terms of the UN convention, the policies were formed were effective, but there was not much provision for tackling ethical issues related to children's education (Fass, 2011). The issue of ethical issues has persisted for a long time in children's education, and hence, it is essential that the policies formed must address them. The UN Convention on Children's Rights has successfully issued policies that allow children to gain an education, but the risk of the ethical issue has persisted for a long time.

 However, when viewed from a broader angle, it is evident that the UN convention allows children to gain an education without any issue; hence, the concept of the ethical issue is also included in the convention. Therefore, school administration and local authorities must provide education to children without any hindrance (Xiong, 2015). The issue of choice of the teacher is an ethical issue in which the primary step is to gather facts. This will require the teacher, parents, and principal to find out the characteristics of a student and what is the demand of the student. According to the facts gathered, then appropriate steps could be taken. Similarly, other measures are needed to be taken to eliminate the ethical issue and provide effective education to children as per the UN Convention of Children's Rights.  

The ECA Code of Ethics comprises a set of statements that derives the expected behaviour of early childhood professionals. This set of statement is designed especially for early childhood education and also for their care. The ECA was formed based on the principle of the UN Convention on Children's Rights that was passed in 1991 (Jackiewicz, 2015). ECA has provided a set of ethical duties that early childhood professionals have to follow to provide effective education to children. The code of ethics does not provide a solution to ethical issues but only acts as a guide for personal reflection to the professionals. This means that code of ethics could not completely eradicate the issue of ethical issues in childhood education but could provide a way that will help professionals in handling the issue. The code was primarily generated for aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that have been taking care of their children and educating them on an island for thousands of years. This code of ethics, when reflected with an ethical decision-making model, describes that the primary aspect is to gather facts and then find solutions for tackling the issue. The code of ethics is issued for the indigenous people of Australia, and then it was implemented across the country (Barblett, Hydon & Kennedy, 2017). Several principles are discussed in the code of ethics; namely, every child is unique and could contribute to the well-being of the community.

Another principle is that every child certain rights such as civil, economic, and social; this could be reflected with the choice of teacher, and hence, it means that children could choose a teacher for themselves as per their civil rights and parents and administration do not intervene in the process. Moreover, another principle states the importance of professionals as it depicts that professional decisions have a significant impact on the education of children that is based on their knowledge level. Along with this, the support of families, parents, and neighbourhood is crucial for the overall success of children (Lundy, McEvoy & Byrne, 2011). Furthermore, a respectful, reciprocal, and responsive relationship between professionals and children's is the centre for their education and care. These are some of the principles that are formed with its base on the UN Convention on Children's Rights. This code of ethics could also be elongated with the ethical decision-making model based on these principles; decision making is done.

Understanding and Alignment of Decision 

EYLF is Australia’s first early education framework and is aimed at providing effective education to children before the age of 5 years and also to their transition to school. This framework was developed by the Australian government council for educators so that they could help young children in delivering their potential to the area of their interest (Jennifer & Wong, 2011). The framework was developed, keeping in mind that the early years of education was a crucial period for children that help them and the country to have a bright future. Quality learning through effective learning was the primary motive of this framework. The framework was not only traditional and also emphasized play-based learning and inclusion of communication. The framework recognized that traditional learning could help children’s learning abilities, but non-traditional learning will allow them overall learning and growth (Grajczonek, 2012). The framework also emphasized the importance of language and communication. One of the reasons for learning disorder is ineffective communication skills. If children were provided with training in language and communication, then this will help them in fighting learning disorders.

Belonging, Being, and Becoming were a framework that helps children experience learning that will allow them a bright future. The fundamental of the framework is that children from their birth are connected with their families, place, community, and culture (Susan, 2010). All these aspects are crucial for the overall development of children’s and the primary teacher or educators are these aspects for children. The relationship developed with families or surroundings is the primary subject for children's education. Hence, belonging is the basic necessity that allows children to know where they belong. For example, children belong to their families, community, culture, and neighbourhood and hence, have a more profound impact on children's interdependence. Belonging is a term that is not only restricted to childhood but is carried on throughout life (Ortlipp, Arthur & Woodrow, 2011). Hence, belonging is a major aspect of children's lives and is the reason that shapes children's life. The next element of the framework is as it recognizes the significance of children's lives. Being is concerned about the presence of children and them knowing themselves. Finally, the last aspect is becoming that is concerned about children's identities that they will acquire. Children go through several phases in their lives, and at every point of their lives, they develop different identities; thus, becoming is the aspect that is connected with the knowledge, relationships, capacities, and skills of children that change starting from their childhood.

The National Quality Standard (NQS) of Australia set a high-quality standard or a national benchmark for the early childhood education of children. The standard is not only confined to school hours but also provide effective services after schooling (Gao, et al., 2011). NQS has issued major areas that produce a significant impact on children's education, namely, education program, children's health and safety, physical environment, staffing arrangements, relationship with children's, partnership with families, and governance and leadership. This is crucial that the primary aspect of this framework, namely the education program, deals with the choice of teachers. This ethical issue could be eliminated in this very aspect as these deals with the formation of educational programs (Barblett & Kirk, 2018). When education programs are formed in the alignment of allocating appropriate teachers to students, then the issue of choice of teacher will be eliminated. Furthermore, children’s health is another important aspect that is crucial for children's overall growth, and hence, the framework has emphasized to include it. If children’s will have proper health and safety, their education will be more profound, or if children’s health is not good, then it will also impact their education. The next area that was included in the framework is the physical environment as it is vital that the physical environment of children is safe and provides a rich experience as it affects the development of children. 

The next aspect that is needed to be considered; and is crucial for the ethical issue of choice of teacher to be included in staffing arrangements. Experienced and qualified teachers help students in learning more effectively and also on their overall growth. Another important job of teachers is that they need to build a crucial relationship with students to teach them more effectively. Relationships help in building an educational base for children as children learn more effectively from teachers that have a relationship. These are the factors that help children in gaining crucial education and building a bright future for themselves (Thorpe et al., 2020). The government of Australia has understood the importance of child education and hence, has implemented several policies and frameworks. This framework also recognizes the potential of educators in the lives of children's and therefore, the effective choice of teachers is vital for the development of children's.

Conclusion 

For the overall growth of children's the role of educators or teachers plays a vital role. Hence, the ethical issue of the choice of teachers is a significant problem for the development of children. The ethical decision making cycle comprises of several aspects, and the primary aspect is the gathering of facts. Hence, it is essential for all stakeholders to gather appropriate facts about children's education and their well-being. The points will be related to the educational needs of students, the capabilities of the student, and the extent of the need for guidance. The stakeholder associated with the ethical issue is parents, children's, principle, administration, and governing bodies. This is crucial that all the stakeholders have given appropriate power for taking necessary actions to build a bright future for children. It is also important that the ethical issue must be appropriately addressed or at-least appropriately defined so that parents and administration know the issue. Parents and administration both are supposed to understand the importance of implementing effective teacher to student as it is crucial for their future. The ethical decision making model justified that there are a total of 54rights that have been stated under the United Nations (UN) Convention, which allows children to have the education to fulfil their potential. Similarly, an international framework was established in which all the world leaders came together and promised to meet the educational right of all children. On the other hand, EYLF was introduced as Australia’s first early education framework and is aimed at providing effective education to children before the age of 5 years and also to their transition to school. The framework was developed by the Australian government council for educators so that they could help young children in delivering their potential to the area of their interest to grow.Parents and administration both are supposed to understand the importance of implementing effective teacher to student, for example, the UN Convention on Children's Rights has implemented significant policies that were related to providing effective education to children; however, there was not much provision of ethical issues considerations. Hence, it is vital that the ethical issue must be defined effectively to tackle the issue.