I-1.3—To recognize and respect the unique qualities,
abilities, and potential of each child.
~Each child is unique. I respect them by addressing each of them as individuals. In my experience I feel this raise the child’s self esteem and self worth. Most of the foster youth I work with has been either labeled or completely neglected by their care givers. I try and make a difference in their lives by acknowledging that I recognize their good qualities and abilities.
I-1.5—To create and maintain safe and healthy settings
that foster children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and
physical development and that respect their dignity
and their contributions.
~I believe the most important quality a child care setting has is safety. It does not matter how great a curriculum and program you have, if the children are not in a safe environment to learn, it will be difficult to accomplish much. I have helped many new foster and adoptive parents in creating a safe environment at home for their new toddler or infant. For an example, I have relayed the concepts of age appropriate materials. Many caregivers buy toys because it is what is sold as the most sought out toy of the year by children. Sometimes these toys may not be appropriate because of the small pieces that come with the toy which may cause the child to choke easily. If a child is safe and not thinking of how to survive in a hostile environment, their minds are able to focus on learning.
I-1.10—To ensure that each child’s culture, language,
ethnicity, and family structure are recognized and
valued in the program.
~We must respect the dignity of families and their culture, language, customs and beliefs. A program should not have the right to impose personal holiday customs and traditions on children and their families. Some family’s cultural beliefs may sometimes prohibit the celebration of dominate-culture holidays. An example is a child whose parents do not support the promulgation of myths such as the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause living in the North Pole with his flying reindeer. A respectful way to include children and their families in the program is to have a policy that is inclusive of their customs and cultures. I would engage the parents in the making of a policy directed to holiday celebrations. Together we would make a policy that honors the ethical foundations of my program as well as the families’ cultural beliefs. This policy can reduce the incidence of a parent who is mad at the teacher for letting his child participate in an Easter egg hunt where a person is dress up as an Easter Bunny.
Parents and I have appropriate back up material ready and procedures teachers can follow in the case parents who definitely do not want their children to participate in certain celebrations. Another solution I have used is to invite parents to share their own family celebrations and traditions so the children are exposed to a wider view of other cultures in a manner appropriate to their developmental level. I remind parents that celebrating a specific holiday is a form of learning about other cultures and could lead to children being able to be acceptant of others with different beliefs. By applying this ideal to my profession, I can resolve and reduce the incidence of a dilemma that would focus on not to single out particular children and make them feel segregated from the group.
