Ethical Solutions
Case Study 1:
The school has been buzzing all week in preparation for the upcoming multicultural parade. As the supervisor, you are thrilled with the wonderful classroom and hallway displays that represent how your school embraces and values each and every culture. As you are outside one of the kindergarten classrooms looking at the display, you overhear a conversation between the teacher and her teaching assistant. In the conversation, the teacher expresses her unhappiness about having to teach about other cultures, and how she feels that children should have to embrace the American culture.
As the supervisor you are not only surprised, but concerned that this teacher’s personal belief will impact her conduct with her students. Your school’s mission is deeply rooted in an anti-bias education, so you realize that you will have to discuss this issue with the teacher.
Case Study 2:
As a school supervisor you conduct observations on your staff three times per year. In preparation for your upcoming observation of Mrs. Cady, you decide to review your notes on previous observations of her. In your review, you observe several notes regarding Mrs. Cady’s impatience with several boys in her class, along with numerous notes on how well Mrs. Cady handles all other members of the classroom.
During the current observation of Mrs. Cady you begin to note again that Mrs. Cady appears impatient with the boys in her class. You observe how children are paired for their stations, with two girls and one boy in a group. As one group is working at their station, an argument breaks out between Trevor and Alia. Mrs. Cady walks across the room and places Trevor in the time-out corner and reminds Alia to continue her project. In another station, after having Stella take his glue, Dominic (who had been raising his hand for some time) begins to yell for Mrs. Cady. She reprimands him for talking so loudly, and requires him to return to his table and put his head down. In the block station Amare is so excited that he was able to build the tallest tower that he begins to jump up and down, knocking over Kira’s tower. Mrs. Cady reprimands Amare for being “mean” to Kira and sends him to his table where he is instructed to put his head down.
As this is her third and final observation of the year, you begin to see a trend with Mrs. Cady and the need to address this issue.
Assignment Directions:
For this assignment you will pose an ethical solution to one of the chosen case studies. Your assignment must include the following:
- 1. State which case study you chose and your rationale for choosing it. (0.5 points)
- 2. Summarize your role as the leader of this school in fostering the knowledge and skills of your staff. (1 point)
- 3. Explain how you will handle the delicate nature of this topic. How will you stand firm in your expectations while still showing respect and care for the teacher? (1 point)
- 4. Explain, from a leaders perspective, how you will incorporate the principles from the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct into your discussion with this teacher. (1.5 points)
- 5. Integrate current research as support for why it is important that adjustments are made in this classroom, and the overall impact those changes will have on children’s growth and development. You must include at least two scholarly peer reviewed resources to defend your stance on why adjustments must be made. (1 point)
- 6. Propose specific, evidenced-based strategies that can be used in the classroom to promote either an anti-bias or gender-neutral approach to teaching. (2 points)
- 6. Generate a goal for the teacher for the implementation of these strategies and adjustments. Include a time-frame for the teacher’s implementation of the strategies, and how you will support the teacher in making these changes. (1 point)
Research and Resource Expectations:
- Source Requirement (.75 points):
At least two scholarly peer-reviewed sources
At least one professional credible source