Category: Weekly Reflections

I have completed and posted all of my assignments now so I thought I would reflect a little bit on the class as a whole.  I think this class was one of my favourites although it was not easy and there are a lot of self reflection pieces it was a class that I feel like I needed at this time in my life.  Through lots of tears and research I believe I have found my voice more then I have in any other class so far.

Although I had lots of trouble with the technology piece of this course it did get to be easier near the end and I learned a lot of new technological things.

I found it hard to keep up on commenting on my classmates posts I would do one or two days that I commented a bunch but other then that between trying to figure out the technology and completing the weekly activities I did not find the time.  Commenting more was one of my goals I set at the half way point and I did not achieve that goal.

I am happy to be done this portion of the program and I am excited for the next steps of practicum (what ever that may look like).

On the website Focus on Ethics: Ethical Issues-responsibilities and dilemmas I thought the questions of “Does it concern right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, human welfare, or individuals’ best interests?” very helpful.  When answer no to these questions it is not an ethical dilemma but if yes is answered to one of those questions then there is an ethical dilemma.  This is laid out nicely and easy to understand and to put it into practice.  Also the step by step to ensure the best decisions on the website CECE- Ethical Decision Making was also very helpful.  A couple of points within the steps that stuck out to me was:

• Avoid making assumptions about the motivations of others
• Document your decisions

This step by step process seems like a long process to go through when faced with an ethical dilemma but I think it is valuable.  I especially like this because I like to think about things before I react.  This website will be very helpful for me as I continue my career.

The example of the ethical dilemma of a child needing to nap during the day vs. keeping that child awake during the day so it accommodates their family life at home was an interesting example as I have always viewed this as a philosophical view rather than an ethical dilemma.  I’ve in the past viewed ethics as common sense.  Asking myself throughout my practice if I am protecting the individual’s privacy or rights.  I would proceed based on how I would like others to treat me and my privacy.  Through my learning in this class and this program I have learned the importance of having a code of ethics written down and unified.  Everyone has different comfort levels.  The idea of whatever I am comfortable with is universal to all individuals is not a very good ethical code to work by.

I found the definition between ethical responsibilities and dilemmas and what the difference is very informative as I was considering them the same.  I’ve learned that responsibilities are mandates ie. Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia Code of Ethics and dilemmas are a choice between two actions. The needs and interests of an individual must give way to those of another when in an ethical dilemma.  When I was providing family childcare I was always finding myself in ethical dilemmas or examples of ethical responsibilities.  Lots of my families were already existing family friends or new friends as we got to know each other.  Sometimes the professional and social lines can become blurred and that was hard to navigate.  I am finding that it is easier to navigate the ethics within the work place now that I work in a centre.  This is because of a few differences one being that my hours are shortened so I am rarely at work for the drop off and pick up times so I do not have that same connection with families, the second being that my own children are not involved with the children in the centre so that is easier to keep the two worlds separate.

This week has been stressful in terms of keeping up on my school work.  Me and my family were off the grid this week so it was not easy to complete my weekly assignments.  Prior to the vacation I was having a lot of trouble with my website not only did I have trouble logging in but I also realized that what I thought I had been posting actually had not posted.  I wanted to retract my very first post where I said “I (am) excited about creating this website and it seemed pretty easy and straight forward to do” (spoke too soon) but I’ve got it figured out now and flooded my website today with all the posts I needed to complete up until today.  I think also the pending Program Models and Approaches Assignment and knowing that the people in my group are counting on my part being completed before class on Monday has been another stressor.  I am definitely feeling better now to have it all figured out and things up to date.  Because I have been having so much trouble with my own website I have been neglecting commenting on other’s posts so that is one of my goals moving forward is to be more engaged in my classmates posts.

When I was reading this weeks readings I was immediately having some strong anxious feelings when reading the definition for philosophy.  The idea that “(I) define (myself) by it” (Dietze & Kashin, 2016, pg 86) seems very restricting. I get this image in my mind of having to put myself in a box and that there is very little flexibility within my philosophy.  When I read on and read about what “Early learning professionals’ philosophical approach is influenced by” (Dietze & Kashin, 2016, pg 86)  it was a little bit easier for me to think about my philosophy and how my philosophy can be a fluid idea.  I believe that in the field of ECE we are always learning new things whether in practice or in professional development so philosophies should be reflecting that new learning.  Maybe putting new learning into practice is a part of my philosophy.

While working on my philosophy project I’m finding it hard to put it in words what my philosophies are. It is similar to the question of what do you feel passionate about?  I sometimes have a hard time answering that question because it is just things that I gravitate toward or things that I love to do. It is more of an action rather than a theory to be written about or talked about.  I also have realized I have a hard time talking about myself or my views and values I like to let my actions or how I present myself speak for itself.   “… your practice reflects it” (Dietze & Kashin, 2016, pg. 86) is the part of the definition of philosophy that I can relate to a little bit better.

I do think it is important to have you philosophy and to reflect on your philosophy often.  If you don’t have a clear vision of who you want to be as a childcare educator than you may be swayed too easily from who you feel you are.  Sometimes this could be a good thing and sometimes this could be a bad thing.

When I was watching and listening to these CBC clips on the history of childcare I noticed that from the very beginning of childcare in Canada dating back to WWII there were not enough spaces for the families that were in need of childcare.  I don’t know why I thought that the current state of the childcare crisis was a new problem.  I find it hard to be positive about changes within the field of early childhood education when there seems to have been little to no acknowledgement of a need for change since child care began.  The first clip that we watched was aired in 1966 and now over fifty years later we seem to be in the same spot in terms of the importance of the early childcare field.  The new bursary being offered to early childhood educators in the province of BC is a sign of progress.  This will hopefully create more qualified ECEA’s, and ECE’s in the field which should be the first step in creating more available spaces in centres for families.  It is progress but still seems slow moving.  The fact that in the last sixty years the progress in solving the limited quality childcare spaces is only just in the very beginning stages is staggering.  It seems to be an ongoing fight to get government officials to acknowledge the early childcare educator as valued professionals.

I wonder if Quebec’s five dollar daycare plan, that was described in the CBC clip from 1997, has been improved.  The system that was described seemed like it had many flaws and was not improving the childcare experience on either side.  It did not seem to work for childcare providers because the five dollars a day even when subsidized was not enough to cover their running costs and most were running at a deficit.  Neither did it work for many, many families who were on very long waitlists to get a space within those subsidized centres.  How can we improve upon this model? What is a fair amount for families to pay for quality childcare? What is a fair wage for ECE providers to earn?

When meeting with my group to discuss this case study I think we were mostly all on the same page with a lot of what was being discussed.  Although there were some conflicting interpretations when reading the case study when we expressed how we were feeling about what we read we were able to come to a conclusion that suited all of us. Here are some things that me and my group discussed when answering the four questions about this case study:

1. Examples of ethical behaviour over the course of the morning?  When Gupal asked to talk to Dory at a later time in my mind I was thinking that she had arranged that so she could talk to Dory privately about her behaviour. I thought this was considerate of Dory’s feelings not to make a public example of her behaviour.  Within my group there was some discussion on the stress and anxiety that this impending discussion might have on Dory wondering “why does she want to talk to me?” “what have I done wrong?” and also will she even remember the initial incident when it comes time for the private discussion.  I completely agree with the points that were made by the group.  I think it all depends on the child you are speaking with and the connection you have with the child.  Those things would determine, for me, how this incident of sharing would be addressed.
2. Were there any instances of questionable practice?  All of us in the group thought that losing the attendance sheet was an example of questionable practice.  I think that things do go missing sometimes especially when working in a busy, fast paced environment, but the attendance sheet should be a priority to be found.  It seemed like from the reading of the case study that there was never an effort put in to locate the attendance sheet.  I think that when Gupal arrived at work it might have been a good opportunity for one of the employees to search for it while the other was supervising the children.  In case of an emergency the attendance sheet should always be on hand especially when going outside of the centre as they did.
3. How do you think practice could be improved?  There were two major topics that we thought could be improved one being a filing system for the attendance sheet and the other being communication with the children and between co workers.  If the attendance sheet has a “place” either in a binder or an envelope and it is always put back in that spot and it would be easier to keep track of.  When the mornings are busy it can be hard to keep track of things but if there is a place where it belongs and it becomes a habit to keep it there it is easier.  The group thought that if there was a more concrete schedule of when the children go outside it may have helped Dory to know that it was outside time now.   When I was reading the case study I really liked the fact that when the children were showing signs of wanting to go outside the educators picked up on that and decided to take them out rather then having a scheduled time.  After we discussed it as a group we decided that if there was more communication between the educators as well as educator to children it would not matter if there was a concrete schedule or not.  If there was a “five more minutes and we are going to clean up and get ready to go outside” announcement that may have helped Dory to understand what was expected of her and she may have not been left behind.
4. Do you think Dory’s parents should have been notified? There were lots of different opinions about this question in our group.  There was one opinion that although the incident could have been a serious situation Dory was safe the whole time and did not leave the premises so it was not a situation where her parents needed to be informed about.   Another opinion was the fact that Dory was visibly upset by the incident required a conversation with her parents at pick up.  While having the conversation with her parents it would be emphasized that she was completely save the whole time but she was pretty upset by what happened. Everyone agreed that it was not something that needed an immediate conversation.  I think as a parent I would agree with this second opinion because if I was not informed on what happened and then heard later that evening from Dory that she was upset about being left behind I would be very concerned.  I also think that it depends on the child and what her regular temperament is.  If she is an emotional child that has multiple times a day where she is crying maybe I would not bring it up with her family but if it was an obviously upsetting situation for that child and it was uncharacteristic for her to be upset during her day then I would definitely mention it at pick up.