Brendan Passmore

Early Childhood Australia’s 'Code of Ethics', 2006, provides educators with a framework for 'ethical responsibilities' of early childhood professionals. The code is underpinned by respect, caring and open communication (Ewing, R., Le Cornu, R., & Groundwater-Smith, S. 2014). Respecting children is central to the code, the ideas put forward largely resonate with Ginott's philosophy of behaviour management (McDonald, 2013, p.31).

 

Whislt on placement at Middle Indigo Primary School I learned the significance of community in schooling. Middle Indigo Primary school is a small rural community with parents and carers who have active involvement in their children's education. Consequently I was immediately aware of most of the children's home situations. In my foundation to grade three class there were three young sisters who had a very unique home life. The girls lived with some of their uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. The girls were all different ages, all showing different levels of academic and social abilities. Two of the girls were leaving the school at the end of the year to attend a special needs school. When one of my lessons required the students to write autobiographies I was sure to use inclusive language for all students. Before sharing we discussed families and the students could not have been more supportive of eachother. As a component of the lesson I facilitated a conversation about respect and aknowledgement of unique family cultures, structures and customs (NSW DEC, 2014, p.24). As an educator I understand it is my responsibility to respect children's family relationships (NSW DEC, 2014, p.24) and incorporate this perspective in my teaching (AITSL, 2014).

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Whilst on placement at James Fallon High School, I took part in the school's Code of Ethics training as a component of a staff development day. I worked alongside a team of teachers to complete a quiz based on the code.