Commitment to Professionalism
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CHAPTER13.docxCHAPTER 13
Contributing to the Profession
NAEYC Administrator Competencies Addressed in This Chapter:
Management Knowledge and Skills
1. Personal and Professional Self-Awareness
· The ability to evaluate ethical and moral dilemmas based on a professional code of ethics
8. Leadership and Advocacy
· Knowledge of the legislative process, social issues, and public policy affecting young children and their families
· The ability to advocate on behalf of young children, their families and the profession
Early Childhood Knowledge and Skills
1. Historical and Philosophical Foundations
· Knowledge of research methodologies
10. Professionalism
· Knowledge of different professional organizations, resources, and issues impacting the welfare of early childhood practitioners
· Ability to make professional judgments based on the NAEYC “Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment”
· Ability to work as part of a professional team and supervise support staff or volunteers
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Describe how the field of early childhood education has made progress achieving two of the eight criteria of professional status.
2. Identify the advocacy tools that early childhood advocates should have at their disposal.
3. Discuss opportunities that program administrators have to contribute to the field’s future.
Grace’s Experience
Grace had found that working with children came naturally, and she considered herself to be a gifted teacher after only a short time in theclassroom. She thought she would spend her entire career working directly with children. She is now somewhat surprised how much she isenjoying the new responsibilities that come with being a program director. She is gaining confidence that she can work effectively with allfamilies, even when faced with difficult conversations; and her skills as a supervisor, coach, and mentor are increasing as well. She is nowcomfortable as a leader in her own center and is considering volunteering to fill a leadership role in the local early childhood professionalorganization. That would give her opportunities to refine her leadership skills while contributing to the quality of care provided for childrenthroughout her community.
Early childhood administrators are leaders. They contribute to the profession by making the public aware of the field’s emergingprofessionalism, including its reliance on a code of ethics; engaging in informed advocacy; becoming involved in research to increase whatwe know about how children learn, grow, and develop; and coaching and mentoring novices, experienced practitioners, and emergingleaders.
13.1 PROMOTING PROFESSIONALIZATION 1
Lilian Katz, one of the most influential voices in the field of early care and education, began discussions about the professionalism of thefield in the mid-1980s. Her work extended a foundation that had been laid by sociologists, philosophers, and other scholars and continuesto influence how early childhood educators think about their work and the contribution they make to society. These are some of theattributes that are commonly used to distinguish professionals from other workers and to determine whether an occupation is, or ismoving toward becoming, a profession:
1. Professionals possess specialized knowledge. They acquire this knowledge and skill in its application by following a course of prolongedtraining.
2. Professions have rigorous requirements for entry into professional training, and training is delivered in accredited institutions.
3. Members of a profession have agreed-upon standards of practice that guide their efforts to meet their professional obligations.
4. A profession has a commitment to meet a significant social need.
5. Professionals are altruistic and service oriented rather than motivated by opportunities for personal gain. Their primary goal is tomeet clients’ needs.
6. Professionals provide an indispensable service and are recognized as the only group in society that can perform its function.
7. A profession is characterized by autonomy—it has control over entry into the field, oversees the quality of the services offered by itsmembers, and regulates itself.
8. A profession has a code of ethics that spells out its obligations to society (Feeney, 1995; Katz, 1995; Feeney, 2012).
We will focus on two particular dimensions of professionalism in which the field has made the most progress. The first is the acquisition of specialized knowledge attained through prolonged training (number 1 in the list above), and the second is reliance on a code of ethics(number 8). We will also acknowledge some of the areas where progress has been slow, or where early childhood educators’ approach toworking with young children and their families means they will never compromise the field’s traditions to satisfy all criteria that setprofessions apart from other occupations.
Moving Toward Professionalism: Professional Preparation and Reliance on the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct
Professional Preparation:
Many states’ licensing regulations continue to require child care teachers, caregivers, and directors to have only a high school diploma orGED; the CDA Credential, which is generally considered to be equivalent to 9 to 12 credit hours of professional education, is the mostfrequently required form of specialized training that an individual needs to be qualified to become a center director (Child Care Aware® ofAmerica, 2013). Publically funded programs, however, have raised the bar for entry into the field. The Improving Head Start Act of 2007required 50% of all center-based teachers to hold at least a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field by 2013(Administration for Children and Families [ACF], 2007). States’ QRIS systems and publically funded 4K programs have followed suit. Mostrequire teachers to have specialized training to prepare them to teach young children, requiring them to hold at least a bachelor’s degreeor to be making progress toward attaining that degree (Barnett, Carolan, Squires, Brown, & Horowitz, 2015).
The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Program Accreditation Standards also, over time, raise educationalrequirements across the board. They stipulate that by 2020, 75% of the teachers in accredited programs must have a minimum of abaccalaureate degree in early childhood education or a related field. NAEYC Accreditation also requires directors to hold at least abachelor’s degree and requires them to have specialized coursework in administration, leadership, management, and child developmentand learning, or a plan to meet these requirements within 5 years (NAEYC, 2014).
The effects of these policy changes are being felt by the entire field of early care and education, raising expectations for educationalattainment in nonprofit and for-profit programs operated under a wide variety of auspices. These developments point to progress that thefield has made in one criterion of professionalism: requiring early childhood practitioners to have specialized knowledge gained byfollowing a course of prolonged training.
Reliance on the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct:
Reliance on a code of professional ethics is a second criterion of professionalism in which early childhood educators have made significantstrides. The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (NAEYC, 2011a) includes statements of the profession’s core values and guides practitioners intheir efforts to meet their responsibilities to children, families, colleagues, and society. It articulates ideals (how we aspire to behave) andprinciples (standards of conduct describing what we must and must not do). A Statement of Commitment accompanies the Code. It is not apart of the Code but attests to members’ resolve to abide by the Code as they work with young children and their families.
NAEYC first adopted its Code of Ethical Conduct in 1989 (Feeney & Kipnis, 1989), revised it in 1992, 1997, and 2005, and reaffirmed andupdated it in 2011. The field has also taken steps to enhance practitioners’ reliance on the Code and to make this reliance more apparent tothose outside the profession.
One way that NAEYC has promoted the visibility and encouraged reliance on the Code is by making it an important criterion in NAEYCAccreditation Standards that apply both to programs serving young children and to postsecondary programs preparing teachers for everyrung along the professional ladder—beginning with the CDA and extending through associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degreelevels (NAEYC, 2011c; NAEYC, 2012). These standards ensure that all practitioners in accredited programs are knowledgeable about theCode, and all who graduate from accredited postsecondary programs have demonstrated that they know it and know how to apply it intheir work. It is noteworthy, however, that the NAEYC Code is not enforced. That is because NAEYC is a membership organization and isopen to all, regardless of their professional preparation or the role they play in the field.
Two Supplements extend the reach of the Code beyond those working directly with young children and their families. The first Supplementaddresses program administrators (NAEYC, 2011b). It provides guidance as you face situations with ethical dimensions unique to thedirector’s roles and responsibilities, such as how to prioritize applicants when filling a much-sought-after opening in the infant room, howto proceed when you must terminate a teacher because decreased enrollment is forcing you to downsize, and how to manage relationshipswith families in a way that lets you keep the needs of children paramount in your decision making. This Supplement is found as Appendix 3in this text.
The second Supplement guides adult educators (NAEYC, 2004a). It extends the original Code to meet the needs of those providing trainingand education, whether in credit-granting institutions such as colleges or universities or in informal professional development activities. Asa program director, you are likely to provide professional development designed to meet the particular needs of your staff. This Supplementreminds you, for example, to remain true to the approved training plan and helps you have the courage to deny credit to the caregiver whoslept through the training activity instead of participating and learning from it.
Several efforts have helped to make the Code widely accessible. The original Code is now reprinted in many textbooks; the Code and bothSupplements are posted on the NAEYC website, the original Code in both English and Spanish; and the Code is available from NAEYC in bothEnglish and Spanish as inexpensive brochures. NAEYC also offers an attractive laminated poster of the Statement of Commitment. Programsthat display this poster attest to their pledge to abide by the field’s ethical standards.
In addition to making the Code widely available, NAEYC has made efforts to support practitioners’ efforts to apply the Code to their work.NAEYC has published two books focusing on professional ethics: The first book, Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator (Feeney, Freeman,& Pizzolongo, 2012), provides a comprehensive introduction to the Code. It includes discussions of the role of morality and ethics in earlychildhood education, makes a distinction between early childhood educators’ responsibilities and the dilemmas they are likely to face, andoffers guidance in addressing ethical situations involving early childhood educators’ responsibilities to young children, families, colleagues,and the community. This book is often a required text in 2-year and 4-year institutions’ early childhood programs. The second book, Teaching the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct: A Resource Guide (Feeney, Freeman, & Moravcik, 2016), includes advice for instructors planningto teach about the Code and its application and describes many activities for teaching the Code, including reproducible masters that canhelp you prepare for effective trainings.
NAEYC’s journal, Young Children, includes a regular column that might help you include discussions of ethics in your regular staff meetings.“Focus on Ethics” alternates descriptions of commonly occurring dilemmas with an analysis and resolution of a previously publisheddilemma. All past columns are posted on the NAEYC website and can be used as the basis for staff development on professional ethics. Thiscolumn is based on NAEYC members’ submissions. You might decide to submit a dilemma that your center has been grappling with to beconsidered for publication and analysis. Specifics about how to become involved are included with each article.
The NAEYC has posted several video clips of Stephanie Feeney, one of theCode’s original authors and a leader in the field’s work on professional ethics.Watch this video to see her provide an overview of the Code in this discussion withPeter Pizzolongo, a member of NAEYC’s staff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=28&v=-R-gh3Z9BPY
You can help make the families you serve and others outside the profession aware of the field’s reliance on the Code of Ethical Conduct.Ways to accomplish this goal are to include the Code (or a link to its location on the NAEYC website) in your program’s family handbookand to put families on notice that they can expect your behavior, and that of all members of your staff, to reflect the program’s commitmentto these ethical principles. You can also prominently display the Statement of Commitment poster attesting to your program’s reliance onthe Code. You are likely to think of other ways to make the Code more visible in your particular setting.
Other Criteria of Professionalism:
Early childhood education’s rich and unique history illustrates why it is appropriate for early childhood education to satisfy some criteria ofprofessionalism but not others. For example, the field would not want to abandon its commitment to its career ladder, which welcomesemployees who work with young children while they pursue their associate degree, often with the support of the popular T.E.A.C.H.®scholarships.
Application Activity
Rely on the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (Appendix 2) and the Supplement for Early Childhood Program Administrators (Appendix 3)to resolve one of the following dilemmas. Analyze each dilemma by identifying to whom you have responsibilities. Find guidance inthe NAEYC Code and Supplement for Early Childhood Program Administrators (note item number[s]), brainstorm possible resolutions,then decide what the “good director” should do in each of these situations.
· An enrollment issue: The mother of the next child on your list for admission has told you that she has had her child in 5 differentpreschools in the past 6 months. She tells you very emotional stories about what she found wrong with each of them.
· A personnel issue: Your enrollment is down. You must close a classroom and let a teacher go. Do you choose to terminate the lastperson hired, who is an excellent teacher, or the long-time employee, who has never done a very good job?
· A family issue: A parent who has been rude and abusive to staff withdraws her child but then wants to come back to the center.
Other criteria of professionalism remain beyond our reach. For example, we would like to achieve greater professional autonomy, but thefact remains that regulations and standards that determine who is eligible and qualified to teach and care for young children are not likelyto have been developed by early childhood educators. Efforts to include experts in early childhood education in the groups that createthese regulations are the focus of advocacy efforts in some states.
For these reasons, it is now generally agreed that early childhood education is an “emerging” profession (Feeney, 2012). It is neither like the“paradigm professions” of law and medicine, nor are early childhood educators unskilled workers, such as day laborers or short-ordercooks, who enter the workplace with little prior training or specialized knowledge, and whose employers are likely to consider them to beinterchangeable. Consider where early childhood education falls on the professional continuum illustrated in Figure 13.1.
As the field moves toward increased professionalism, it is important that program administrators, as leaders in the field, are active inorganizations that support their efforts to remain informed and engaged professionals. Review the list of professional organizations foundin Appendix 4. We recommend that you join one or more that you find to be of particular interest and that you select one to become activein at the local, state, or national level. Doing so can enhance your knowledge and expertise and connect you with the larger community ofearly childhood professionals.
Figure 13.1
A Professional Continuum
Application Activity
Our discussion focuses on efforts to increase the professionalism of the field by setting higher expectations for professionalpreparation and by making our reliance on our Code of Ethical Conduct explicit, and we discuss the issues created by the field’s lack ofautonomy. Select one of the other five criteria of professionalism. Decide where the field of early care and education falls on theprofessionalism continuum that puts doctors and lawyers at one end and unskilled workers at the other. Provide a rationale for yourconclusion.
13.2 ENGAGING IN INFORMED ADVOCACY
Advocacy is speaking out for and taking action in support of causes that protect and support vulnerable populations. Early childhoodeducators have a long history of advocacy on behalf of young children, their families, and the field of early care and education (Feeney,2012). Our commitment to advocacy is established by the Statement of Commitment that accompanies the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct andis reiterated in several of the Code’s Ideals, including those that urge early childhood educators to advocate for children who have specialneeds and to promote environments that are physically and emotionally healthy and support young children’s learning, growth, anddevelopment (NAEYC, 2011a).
Advocacy can involve everything from working on behalf of a particular child or family to speaking out at the national level. Yourpersonality, your passion, your available time and energy, and your stage of professional development are all likely to influence the kinds ofadvocacy that are right for you. When you are a novice in the field, advocacy on behalf of a particular child or family will probably be thebest fit for your interests and abilities. As you become more experienced, and particularly when you move into an administrative role, it willbe time to reevaluate your strengths and interests in light of the responsibilities you have accepted by becoming a leader in the field. It maybe time for you to assume a leadership role in your local community, and perhaps on an even larger stage. Consider the following list toidentify the kinds of advocacy activities that are right for you:
· Individual advocacy involves professionals in working on behalf of children or families. You engage in this form of advocacy whenyou help a particular child or family gain access to needed services. An example of this kind of personal advocacy is pursuing speechtherapy for the child whose poor articulation is making it difficult for him to have positive interactions with his peers. Your individualadvocacy efforts may also involve sharing your views with individuals or groups to raise their awareness about an issue. This kind ofadvocacy can be either spontaneous or planned (Robinson & Stark, 2002). Distributing information about the Campaign for aCommercial-Free Childhood to the families of the children in your program and encouraging them to limit the number of commercialmessages to which their children are exposed are examples of individual advocacy. You are also engaged in individual advocacy whenyou write a letter to the editor or submit a guest editorial to your local paper.
· Collective advocacy involves professionals working together on behalf of a group of people, for example, young children, familieswho need child care, or caregivers who are not earning a working wage or receiving appropriate benefits. As an early childhoodadvocate, you are probably focused on securing a “greater societal commitment to improving programs for young children and moresupport for early childhood educators” (Jacobson & Simpson, 2007, p. 92) and in speaking up “because all is not right for children inour country and the world” (Feeney, 2012, p. 71). Two kinds of collective advocacy target decision makers far removed from the dailylives of young children and their families:
· Public policy advocacy may involve you in efforts to influence public policies and practices to make them more responsive to theneeds of children and families. Public policy advocates challenge those who develop laws, regulations, and policies to support youngchildren, their families, and the caregivers with whom they spend their days (Robinson & Stark, 2002). When a professionalorganization such as your state NAEYC affiliate communicates its position on an issue related to children and families to the statelegislature, the organization’s spokespersons are engaged in collective public policy advocacy.
· Private-sector advocacy is designed to influence business leaders’ practices and policies. Some private-sector advocates work tomake the workplace more family friendly, while others focus on eliminating violence in toys and children’s media, or work to ensurethat toys are made from safe, nontoxic materials. Successful private-sector advocacy efforts have increased the number ofcorporations that offer employees flexible schedules, job sharing, telecommuting, and part-time employment. They also haveincreased the number of corporations that offer on-site employer-supported child care and have led to the removal of unsafe toysfrom store shelves.
We hope that you will continue the field’s tradition of advocacy by seizing opportunities to speak out for those who are most vulnerableand unable to speak out for themselves.
Application Activity
Identify an issue facing your center, your community, or your state. Identify who might help you resolve this issue. Should the targetof your advocacy be local policy makers, state-level legislators, or corporate leaders? Identify strategies likely to be most effective tobring attention and eventually action to remedy the problem or resolve the issue.
Becoming an Effective Advocate
Becoming an effective advocate is an important part of becoming a mature professional. However, many early childhood educators whoenjoy their work with children find it difficult to speak with authority to adults, particularly to public-sector or business policy makers. Thatmay be because working directly with children requires a different skill set than speaking out in a public arena. Nevertheless, we know thatif we are to attract the public support needed to create a robust, high-quality, and sustainable system of early care and education, we mustbe effective advocates.
One strategy that helps ensure success is to create coalitions of support and to network with other individuals or groups who share yourcause (Ellison & Barbour, 1992; Levine, 1992). That may mean linking with providers of special services such as speech or occupationaltherapists, or working with support groups for mothers such as Mom’s Rising, a grassroots effort designed to support family-friendlypolicies and practices. Review Figure 13.2, Characteristics of Effective Advocates. It may inspire you to take action about an issue relatedto children, families, and child care personnel.
Figure 13.2
Characteristics of Effective Advocates
Sources: Based on Blank, 1997; Robinson & Stark, 2002; Teles & Schmitt, 2011.
Application Activity
Learn about the career of a successful early childhood advocate. Consider the list below of advocates who championed the causesimportant to early childhood educators. You can probably identify others who have been successful speaking out on behalf ofchildren and families in a local, state, national, or international arena. Learn about the major accomplishments of the advocate youhave selected to research and identify how they contributed to the well-being of children and families. Be prepared to share yourfindings with your class.
· Susan Blow opened the first public kindergarten in St. Louis in 1873. Her goal was to give children experiences that would makethem love learning.
· Margaret McMillan and her sister Rachel opened the first nursery school in London in 1911 to provide the children of factoryworkers with opportunities to play outdoors in a safe environment.
· James L. Hymes, Jr. was one of the founders of Head Start in 1963. He spent his entire career teaching parents and caregivershow to support children’s learning, growth, and development.
· Marian Wright Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 to address inequalities created by poverty and other riskschildren face to their well-being.
· Susan Linn founded the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood in 2000 in response to concerns about marketing to childrenand the commercialization of childhood.
· J. Ronald Lally founded For Our Babies, an advocacy initiative focused on quality programming for very young children in 2014.
An Advocate’s Toolbox
Effective advocates are good communicators. They know what they want to achieve. They express the facts clearly, directly, and accurately,and are explicit about their goals (Jacobson & Simpson, 2007). Advocates sometimes need to be ready to act on short notice, such as whenthe legislature is preparing to vote on an issue affecting children and families. In other instances, advocates have time to set goals for whatthey want to accomplish in the future and can build coalitions around specific issues. In these instances, when time is not of the essence,they may become involved with political action campaigns and can take their time to identify candidates receptive to helping advance issuesin support of children and families.
Effective advocates have many tools at their disposal. Every advocacy effort must be tailored to meet a particular audience’s need forinformation about the problem you have identified and the role they could play to help you reach the solution you propose. Consider howeach of these advocacy tools might contribute to the success of your own efforts to advocate on behalf of children, families, and those whocare for them.
· Position statements are expressions of professional organizations’ official stance on issues related to their mission. NAEYC, the Division ofEarly Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA), and the Associationfor Childhood Education International (ACEI) have developed position statements addressing controversial or critical issues related to earlychildhood education practice, policy, and professional development. Sometimes two or more professional organizations develop positionstatements together. For example, Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings (NAEYC and the National Council of Teachers ofMathematics, 2010) is a joint position statement of NAEYC and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). In other instances,allied organizations embrace each other’s position statements, as SECA did when they endorsed the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct.
Position statements include extensive reviews of the literature and are a valuable foundation upon which to base your advocacy efforts.They can be extremely helpful as you prepare to testify on behalf of legislation or to meet with policy makers in other settings, but are notusually appropriate to share with legislators or other decision makers because they are too in-depth and detailed for their purposes.
· White papers are reports developed by organizations to describe a problem and propose a solution. These advocacy documents ofteninclude many facts and figures that can be used to support the solution you propose.
· A briefing paper or issue brief typically describes one problem, describes the policy you propose, and gives an example of how the policyyou propose is working in another locale. Legislators are particularly interested in policies in neighboring states, so provide close-to-homeexamples whenever possible (Robinson & Stark, 2002).
· Talking points are short and to the point. They include “‘sound bites’ telling why you support or oppose a particular policy or decision”(Robinson & Stark, 2002, p. 82). Advocates find talking points very useful then they meet with policy makers or talk to the media.
· Key facts handouts are an advocacy tool intended for the public, policy makers, and the media. They are short (one- or two-page) to-the-point summaries of the basic facts surrounding your issue and clearly state the steps that you recommend policy makers take based onthese facts. Any statistics you reference must be accurate and up to date (Robinson & Stark, 2002). See Figure 13.3 for an example of a KeyFacts Handout that advocates for changes to South Carolina’s child care regulations.
Figure 13.3
Key Facts Handout
Sources: AAP/APHA/NRCHSCC, 2011; Child Care Aware® of America, 2013; NAEYC, 2014; NAEYC, 1993; South Carolina Department of Social Services, 2005.
This Key Facts Handout briefly highlights research that supports low ratios and class size, provides information about neighboring states’child care regulations, and makes specific recommendations for South Carolina policy makers to consider.
· Concrete examples are compelling and often effective ways to demonstrate the importance of the policy or initiative you arerecommending. If you are advocating for quality programs for 4-year-olds, for example, you will want to give policy makers a glimpse into aclassroom with many authentic hands-on experiences, and you will need to identify what children learn when they build with blocks ordress up in the dramatic play center. You can do this by inviting policy makers to your center or by taking the center to them with photos,short videos, and real-life success stories (Jacobson & Simpson, 2007). Or your advocacy efforts might focus on efforts to make quality caremore accessible and affordable. In that case, you could give policy makers the opportunity to hear from a family struggling to gain access toquality care for their young children.
Watch this video to hear a father describe the challenges his military family,who was new to the community, faced when trying to find quality child care fortheir young child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRbfZr6Ty1k
· Action alerts mobilize advocates to take immediate action. They are typically emailed to supporters and urge them to contact theirlegislators immediately to ask them to support children and families when they cast their votes on specific legislation. You can expect actionalerts to include the phone numbers and email addresses of targeted legislators and specific facts advocates can use in their message(Robinson & Stark, 2002).
Application Activity
Find examples of a variety of advocacy materials online. Position papers are typically linked directly from organizations’ websites.Other advocacy materials can be found by searching on the Internet. Look, for example, for NAEYC’s current public policy talkingpoints, the American Library Association’s white paper, “The Importance of Diversity in Library Programs and Materials Collections forChildren,” or the National Art Association’s series of white papers describing the value of arts education. Evaluate how successful youthink the materials you find are likely to be.
Many organizations focused on young children and their families have become more active in the advocacy arena in recent years. It is likelytheir stepped-up efforts have been prompted by their hope that they can restore funding that was cut from bare-bones local, state, andfederal budgets in the aftermath of the 2008 economic slowdown. As the economy has recovered, some initiatives have been successful inincreasing support for programs focused on children’s issue, but the competition for these monies is intense. We recommend that you relyon advocacy materials created by national organizations that support your own local- or state-level advocacy efforts, whether you areconcerned with expanding infant/toddler or 4K programs, or increasing services to young children with special needs and their families.Some organizations active in leading advocacy efforts are listed at the end of this chapter. You may know of other advocacy groups thataddress issues faced in your own community.
Watch this Week of the Young Child video to see how one state effectivelyhighlighted the benefits of quality early childhood programming. Videos like thesecan be emailed to policy makers or used by television stations as public serviceannouncements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNy0nYtrtvU
NAEYC sponsors an annual Week of the Young Child in mid-April. This might be an ideal advocacy opportunity when used as a platform forinforming the public and elected officials about issues related to young children and their families; to spotlight a local champion forchildren; or to grow grassroots advocacy efforts by involving students, programs, and providers in high-profile activities (Advocates inAction, 2009). By coordinating advocacy efforts in your community, city, or state, you can increase the chances for presenting a unifiedmessage that is likely to have a greater impact than would be a single, isolated effort. The NAEYC website has many suggestions for how youmight take Week of the Young Child activities out into your community.
Watch this video to see how one community has engaged its local TV station intheir efforts to share information about the Week of the Young Child and thecontributions of quality early childhood programming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ECFiAsqKc
Important Reminders!
We hope we have inspired you to become an effective advocate for young children and families on the local, state, or national level. It isimportant to remember, however, that some agencies or organizations prohibit their employees from taking a public stand on controversialissues. Before you or members of your staff speak out publically, you need to be certain that you are following your employer’s policiesrelated to advocacy activities. You may not be permitted to participate in rallies or other demonstrations during work hours, and may beprohibited from identifying yourself as a public employee in a letter to the editor or a guest editorial in your local paper. It is best to find outabout any restrictions that might limit how you can speak out before your community is engaged in heated public debate. That way, you canbe assured that center personnel will appreciate that the limits you set are not intended to silence their weighing in on a particular issuebut are, instead, designed to adhere to the agency’s established policies.
You also need to be aware of limitations that apply to 501(c)(3) affiliates of NAEYC and other nonprofit organizations, and to your programif it has this nonprofit designation. It is not permissible, for example, for nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations to recognize elected officials whoare candidates for reelection with an award during an election year. That means that it would not be possible for your local NAEYC affiliateto honor your local state senator as a Champion for Children after she has announced her candidacy for reelection (NAEYC, 2004b).
If the kinds of advocacy efforts described earlier are not permitted by your employer, we encourage you to share information with yourfriends and family. Maybe you will inspire them to advocate on behalf of children and families.
A Better Way
Grace has become comfortable as a supervisor, mentor, and coach to the teachers in her center, and she is beginning to see herself as a leaderin the local early childhood community. She was not willing, however, to talk to the newspaper reporter who recently asked her to commenton proposed changes to the state’s child care regulations. She does not consider herself an expert on that issue and did not want to make amisstatement she would later regret.
After studying the guidelines describing tools of effective advocates, Grace decided that she needed to become better informed about how theproposed reduction in child–staff ratios for licensed centers could improve child outcomes. She attended public hearings on the issue andnetworked with the directors of other high-quality programs in her community. After checking with her board of directors to be certain publicadvocacy would not violate any established policies, she studied relevant position statements and prepared a key facts handout to summarizethe points she wanted to make. She called back the reporter and agreed to be interviewed on the topic. She knew she had done the right thingwhen the parents of the children in her program thanked her for speaking out publicly on behalf of quality.
13.3 INVESTING IN THE PROFESSION’S FUTURE
Supporting Developing Professionals
When you help others find their place in the profession of early care and education, you are engaging in a particular form of leadership.Some of the ways program administrators can help others find their place in the profession are by:
· being a resource for those who want to know more about career options for those who specialize in early childhood education.
· welcoming students enrolled in internships or other courses that require them to observe or interact with young children or families.
· mentoring and coaching novices to enhance their skills and knowledge of young children and early childhood education.
· encouraging emerging leaders to enhance their professional knowledge by enrolling in postsecondary degree programs; pursuingadvanced professional development opportunities; and participating in professional organizations, including attending and presentingat local, regional, and national conferences.
Supporting Research
One way your program can contribute to the profession is by serving as a practicum site for beginning students.
David Kostelnik/Pearson Education
Another way you can contribute to the future of the field is by inviting researchers with projects investigating topics related to children,families, teaching, or learning to consider conducting their research at your center. You will first want to be certain any research involvingthe children or teachers at your center is in compliance with NAEYC’s Code of Ethical Conduct. That means no research that could jeopardizechildren’s well-being would be permitted; and that potential participants in the study, both teachers and children’s families, are informed inadvance and have the opportunity, but are not required, to participate.
Then you will want to ask researchers if their project has been approved by the appropriate institutional review board (IRB). This reviewrequires researchers to have a plan to gain participants’ consent and to have procedures in place to protect the privacy of participatingchildren and adults. Once you are convinced those requirements have been met, we advise you, whenever possible, to grant researchrequests and invite researchers involved in expanding the field’s knowledge base into your program.
Teachers as Researchers
It is important to appreciate that research can be conducted not only by scholars such as university-based researchers, but also by teachersin their own classrooms (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). Teachers involved in this kind of action research (which is sometimes called teacher research) explore practical questions within their own world of work “to better understand teaching and learning and to improvepractice in specific and concrete ways” (Stremmel, 2007, p. 4). Teacher research supports reflective teaching, and has the potential tobecome an everyday event that informs practice (Paley, 1981; Murphy, Bryant, & Ingram, 2014).
When teachers become researchers in their own classrooms they move away from the view that they transmit knowledge to children andtoward the view that they construct knowledge and understandings with the children they teach (Moran, 2007; Murphy, Bryant, & Ingram,2014). Action research can also take teachers to the cutting edge of best practices and can give them opportunities to collaborate withcolleagues, university researchers, and preservice teacher preparation programs (Charlesworth & DeBoer, 2000; Cooney, Buchanan, &Parkinson, 2001; Moran, 2007).
Program administrators who are committed to action research often support their teachers’ inquiry by making it part of the program’sculture. They can help to build beginners’ confidence by giving novices opportunities to conduct research projects with a mentor or apartner. When two or more teachers work together, they bring broader perspectives to their inquiry, and the analysis of their findings maybe more insightful (Dietze et al., 2014). Directors can also encourage teachers to create study groups where they work together to“intentionally and systematically research and answer their own questions” (Murphy, Bryant, & Ingram, 2014, p. 29). When teachersembark on teacher research, directors often find that it has become a very powerful and effective form of professional development thatmakes room for in-depth, intellectual conversations during which teachers ask and answer their own questions (Murphy, Bryant, & Ingram,2014, p. 29).
SUMMARY
When you become a program administrator, you are taking the first step toward becoming a leader in the field. You will have increasedopportunities to contribute to efforts to enhance the quality of programming for young children. We hope you are looking forward to thechallenges and opportunities to come.
· Describe how the field of early childhood education has made progress achieving two of the eight criteria of professional status.
Professionals possess specialized knowledge, have rigorous requirements for entry, and have agreed-upon standards of practice. Practitioners meet a significant societal need, are altruistic and service oriented, provide an indispensable service, and are recognized as the only group insociety that can perform its function. Professions have autonomy and have a code of ethics that spells out its obligations to society. The fieldclearly meets the code of ethics criterion. NAYEC’s Code of Ethical Conduct was first adopted in 1989 and has been revised regularly sincethat time. And publically funded programs have, in recent years, raised the bar for entry into the field. As a result, more are coming intoearly childhood education with specialized training that prepares them to teach young children.
· Identify the advocacy tools that early childhood advocates should have at their disposal.
Early childhood educators engage in both individual and collective forms of advocacy, which may address either those who shape publicpolicy or decision makers in the private sector. They rely on position statements and white papers to develop a comprehensiveunderstanding of the issues, issue briefs, talking points, key fact handouts, and concrete examples to take their message to their audience;and action alerts to mobilize fellow advocates to take action.
· Discuss opportunities program administrators have to contribute to the field’s future.
Program administrators have opportunities to develop future leaders by being a resource to those considering a career in earlychildhood, by welcoming students into their centers to complete assignments, by mentoring and coaching novices, and by encouragingemerging leaders to enhance their knowledge and skills. They can also make their program available to qualified researchers and supporttheir teachers’ implementation of action research to promote reflective practice and to inform their teaching.
USEFUL WEBSITES
Websites for Professional Ethics Resources
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
· Follow the Position Statement link to the Code of Ethical Conduct and its Supplements:
· NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (2011)
· El Código de Conducta Ética y Declaración de Compromiso (2011)
· Supplement for Adult Educators (2004)
· Supplement for Program Administrators (2011)
Websites for Advocacy Resources
Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood
This nonprofit is dedicated to raising families’ and caregivers’ awareness of the pervasive influence of commercial messages targetingchildren and to support their efforts to raise healthy families by ending the exploitive practice of marketing directly to children.
Family and Work Institute
This nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization focuses on the changing workforce, the changing family, and the communities in whichthey live.
Moms Rising
This grassroots advocacy organization strives to raise the public’s awareness and build support for issues related to children and families.Its goal is to build more family-friendly communities.
NAEYC Advocacy Toolkit
This comprehensive resource addresses many facets of effective advocacy. It includes helpful information about the legislative process andeffective strategies for creating relationships with legislators.
Zero to Three
The mission of this nonprofit organization is to promote the health and development of infants and toddlers through training ofprofessionals, policy makers, and families.
Website for Reports of Teacher Research
Voices of Practitioners
The collection of teacher research reports found by following links from this website demonstrates how teachers conduct inquiry projectsin their own classrooms to help them understand their children, teaching, and learning. They are inspiring examples that might encourageyou to try similar projects in your classroom or center.
TO REFLECT
2. A class in administration is discussing collaboration. One student commented, “We always talk about all we can accomplish throughcollaboration, but doesn’t collaboration come at a cost?” What are the costs of collaboration?
1Versions of this discussion have been published in “The New Face of Early Childhood Education: Who Are We? Where Are We Going?” byN. K. Freeman and S. Feeney, 2006, Young Children, 61(5), pp. 10–16, and also in “Professionalism and Ethics in Early Care and Education,”by N. K. Freeman and S. Feeney, 2009, Continuing Issues in Early Childhood Education (3rd ed., pp. 196–211), by S. Feeney, A. Galper, and C.Seefeldt (eds.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
