Kailee Brinkmann

Ethical Dilemma Assignment (stories taken from NAEYC.org)

1. “Make sure my child drinks her milk”

Kristen is student teaching in a first grade classroom. One of the first duties she takes over is
recording the lunch count. Jane is one of the students who always has school lunch.

As required by licensing and the USDA food program, the school serves milk at lunch. Like a number
of children in the class, Jane refuses milk and drinks water instead. Kristen allows children to make
this choice. One day Jane’s father tells Kristen that he and his wife do not want her to allow Jane to
drink water until she has drunk at least a full cup of milk. Kristen assures them that she will
encourage Jane to drink her milk.

At the next meal, Kristen tells Jane that her family wants her to drink milk so she’ll be healthy and
grow strong. Jane sobs uncontrollably. Kristen comforts her and allows her to drink water. She tells
Jane she will talk to Jane’s father about letting her drink water. Jane’s eyes grow wide, and she sobs
even harder, saying, “Don’t tell Daddy! Don’t tell Daddy!”

Should Kristen honor the wishes of the family or allow Jane to continue to drink water
instead of milk? How could she use the NAEYC Code to guide her thinking and decision
making in this situation?

I feel that this teacher wants to do what the child insists, but the parents feel strongly about this
situation. I can understand why this is a problem because it would be difficult to ignore the child as it
clearly makes her upset. According to the NAEYC ideal I-1.5 says “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”. So, by following this code I would say Kristen should
continue to offer the milk, but not force her to drink it. Forcing her to drink the milk is obviously causing
some major distress. This isn’t fostering a healthy relationship with the child nor is it maintaining a safe
and encouraging environment.
3. Standardized Testing

Darla is a kindergarten teacher at Harborview, a public school in a community where most families
have low incomes. Third grade reading scores at Harborview have dropped dramatically in the last few
years. The state and district offices of education have placed considerable pressure on Harborview’s
administrators, as well as administrators of other low-performing schools in the district, to implement
strategies that will raise third grade reading scores. In order to get children ready for higher academic
expectations and the federally mandated third grade test, district administrators have decided that
teachers will administer a standardized test of reading and math achievement to all kindergarten
children in the district to demonstrate that they are making progress toward reaching the district’s
goals for what children know and are able to do.

Darla prides herself on providing many opportunities for the children she teaches to have meaningful,
hands-on learning experiences and to feel good about themselves as learners. When she administered
this test for the first time last year children started the task with enthusiasm, but as they worked on
the test they became restless and showed signs of discomfort. Darla observed behaviors that seemed
to indicate that the testing situation was undermining children’s confidence and that it was causing
them unwarranted stress.

Darla’s school still requires that the test be administered to kindergartners. Since test data are used
for the purpose of demonstrating program accountability, the test does not provide information about
what individual children have learned that could help to inform Darla’s instruction in the classroom.
She also is convinced that the paper-and-pencil format of the test is not appropriate for
kindergartners—particularly children like those she teaches, many of whom are dual language learners
who are still building their skills in English and may not be able to read and answer the test’s
questions.

Darla knows that for some children the test-taking will be stressful, and at the same time she
understands her obligation to follow the district mandate. What should she do? How can she use
the NAEYC Code to guide her thinking and decision making?

I honestly hope that a district would never ask a kindergarten student to sit down and take a
standardized test. I feel that Darla should follow her instincts and be an advocate for these students. I
understand that testing needs to be done, but this type of testing isn’t developmentally appropriate for
this age group. According to the NAEYC, ideal I-1.6 says, “To use assessment instruments and strategies
that are appropriate for the children to be assessed, that are used only for the purposes for which they
were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children”. This testing goes against this code of
ethics therefore it should not be happening. Darla should go to her administration to seek out other
ways of assessment that could be used for gathering data for the district.

4. The Birthday Cake Dilemma

Olivia, a program director, is committed to serving nutritious foods and providing healthy choices for
children. For that reason her center does not regularly serve cookies, cakes, or other foods full of
sugar, fats, or preservatives. The program’s family handbook describes these policies. It states clearly
that birthday cakes are not allowed. Policies strongly encourage families to celebrate special events
with healthy foods such as sliced fruit, vegetable plates, and veggie pizza.

Another important part of the program’s philosophy is developing close relationships with all the
families. Olivia strives to warmly welcome children and families each day. One morning a mother who
is new to the center, who has been shy about participating, and whose mastery of English is limited,
arrives with a large, elaborately decorated cake to celebrate her child’s birthday. On one hand Olivia
wants to avoid violating the center’s policies, but on the other she wants to strengthen her
relationship with this mother and make her feel that she and her family are important members of the
program community.

What should Olivia do? How can she use the NAEYC Code to guide her thinking and decision
making?

I have witnessed something like this happening at another program when I was part time student
teaching in head start. It is difficult because building those relationships with the parents is extremely
important. Since there is a language barrier at play, I wonder if the parents were not informed of the
“treats” policy? Maybe it wasn’t presented to them in a way that they could fully understand the
expectations. Either way, I believe that Olivia should take the opportunity to communicate with the
parent face-to-face after the party is over. The parent has already spent the money, as well as shown up
in the classroom with the cake. According to NAEYC Code, principle P-2.2 says, “We shall inform families
of program philosophy, policies, curriculum, assessment system, cultural practices, and personnel
qualifications, and explain why we teach as we do—which should be in accordance with our ethical
responsibilities to children”. This is a great opportunity to remind the parent about the policies, so this
situation does not arise again. Interrupting the celebration and refusing the students the cake will not
only cause a disturbance with the students, but it will also discourage this family from participating in
their child’s classroom.

5. Teachers Pay Teachers

Sarah, a student teacher, is eager to collect all sorts of resources from her mentor teacher and the
rest of the teachers in the school. The whole second grade team has developed a system of sharing
lesson plans and activities. Usually one teacher will purchase and download a unit plan from an online
source like Teachers Pay Teachers and make copies for the whole group. Sarah thinks this might be
unethical, but the rest of the teachers are happy to take advantage of the resources. Sarah is also
afraid to offend her mentor teacher and doesn’t want to “make waves” in case a job opens up in the
future.

What should Sarah say or do? Support your answer with information regarding copyright
laws.

This is a tough situation to be in, especially as a student teacher. It is difficult to stand up to those that
are supposed to be a mentor and a leader that you can look up to. I feel that Sarah needs to bring this
situation into prospective with her mentor teacher. If one of the teachers on the team was the one to
create these plans to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers, none of the teachers would try and take advantage
of this system. If the mentor teacher becomes hostile, or refuses to acknowledge this issue, Sarah needs
to go to the administration as well as request a new placement. According to the Model Code of Ethics,
“Taking responsibility and credit only for work actually performed or produced, and acknowledging the
work and contributions made by others” is a code that educators must abide to. This is situation where
ethics are being questioned, so these educators need to be approached about the issue.
 Works Cited

Association for Childhood Education International and Southern Early Childhood Association. (2011,

May). Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment.

NASDTEC. (2021). Model code of ethics for educators (MCEE) documents - NASDTEC. National

Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Retrieved March 9, 2023,

from https://www.nasdtec.net/page/MCEE_DOCS