Ethical Expectations     

Along with upholding professional standards, one of the hallmarks of any profession is strict adherence to a code of ethics. As early childhood professionals, the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is your guide on how to meet your responsibilities to “children, families, colleagues, and the broader society” (Bredekamp, 2017, p. 528). In order to understand how to meet your ethical expectations, you will need to have a solid foundation in your early childhood education code of ethics.

To prepare for this discussion, read the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. in its entirety. As you are reading this important code, be thinking specifically about how each of the principles applies to your current or future work with children.

For your initial post,

• Explain why, according to Bredekamp (2017), “the first principle is the most important and takes precedence over all others” (p. 528).
• Determine how you might rank principles 2 through 6 of the code.
• Defend your ranked list by providing examples and support from at least one scholarly resource (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and your course text.
• Justify why it is important as leaders in the field of early childhood education that we adhere to each of the ethical principles outlined in the code.
• Design a word cloud (Wordle (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) that can be hung on your classroom wall or placed in a newsletter that incorporates the NAEYC statement of commitment (Figure 16.3 of your course text). Be creative and make this image have specific relevance to your current or future work with students, while still being an acknowledgement of your ethical responsibilities to children and their families. Post your word cloud at the end of the written portion of your discussion. Be sure to save your Wordle, because you will be asked to modify it in Week 5 of this course