Learning Outcomes and Assessment

Learning Outcomes

LO1 Critically examine the nature and importance of ethics in everyday teaching

LO2 Critically analyse the ethics of everyday teaching relating to rights, equity, and social justice

LO3 Critique ethical issues in the context of early childhood education, and the development of teacher agency with regard to these

EC742 The Ethical Teacher

Part Two: Short Essay

Construct an essay, drawing from relevant literature that provides responses to the following questions:

• What is meant by the notion of the ‘ethical teacher’?
• What are some of the practices of the ethical teacher?
• How does being an ethical teacher benefit the teaching profession, learners, families and whānau and society?

LO1, 3

(1800 words)

Part Three: Responding to Scenarios

Choose one of the two scenarios and work through the ethical dilemmas for a satisfactory outcome with reference to Feeney& Freeman’s (2013) six-stage process.

• With regards to the situations below, what do you think an ethical early childhood educator should do? Should the teacher honour the wishes of the family or continue their practices as normal?
• In each situation, consider how you might use Our Code Our Standards and The Code of Professional Responsibility (Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand/Matatū Aotearoa, 2017) to inform your decision-making.

LO2

(750 words)

In the short essay, you are being asked what is meant by being an ethical teacher. At the heart of being an ethical teacher is the understanding of the way in which the teacher’s own values and sense of morality interact with those recognised by the teaching profession. One suggested approach would be to discuss the importance of ethics of care as both a pedagogical strategy and moral response to looking after and caring for young children. In this discourse, ideas of the teacher’s own subjectivity are important, as well as the profession’s code of ethics. For this task you need to account for both the teacher’s own subjectivity and the influence of Our Code Our Standards. Consider the implications of being guided by ethical concerns for the profession, learners, family and wider society. This might be best achieved if considering alongside particular practices and strategies that might be included. So when considering the significance of ethics for the profession, you can illustrate with an example, e.g. how being collaborative will raise the quality of the learning for the child and their families.

For responding to the scenario, choose just one of the ethical dilemmas given. Then with reference to the reading in section 2.1, use the headings of the six stages suggested by Feeney and Freeman to identify the problem, identify applicable core values etc. See the example ‘response’ by Feeney and Freeman in section 2.1 to inform how you might address those headings. While the Feeney and Freeman response refers to the NAEYC Code, it is imperative that your response reflects engagement with Our Code Our Standards, and the accompanying The Code of Professional Responsibility. A brief introduction and conclusion is necessary, headings can be used, and you can use first person.