Know

"Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny."- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), Indian political and spiritual leader

As a staff member working in child-care and after-school care settings you may be faced with ethical situations. Being a reflective staff member who lives your core values is a critical trait, because you work with our country's most precious citizens: Young children. Protecting the privacy of children and their families should always be foremost in your mind. Your program should have written procedures for addressing complex situations, as ethical dilemmas can occur in your classroom, on the playground, and out in the community.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the largest professional organization in the field of early care and education has developedThe Code of Ethical Conductto guide professional behavior. The National After School Association (NAA) has developed a Code of Ethics to guide professional behavior for those working with school-age children and youth.

为了更好地了解我们的伦理和专业行为守则的意思，我们转向斯蒂芬妮福伊，国家幼儿行为教育教育协会作者之一.Feeney，在伦理在今天的护理和早期Education(2010), describes terms that are often used in discussions of personal and professional ethics (p. 73):

The Importance of Being an Ethical Staff Member

负责任和道德实践

作为工作人员，参加专业发展机会有助于确保您在与家庭和儿童的工作中了解负责任和道德做法。工作人员会议可以包括审查案例研究或角色游戏情况的机会，以解决道德困境。您应该始终觉得与您的培训师或教练有关您不确定如何进行的任何情况，请致意。寻求这一指导将有助于促进建立信任和沟通的计划中的氛围。其他工作人员还可以从您的榜样中学到难度情况下该做什么。

Being part of a program that fosters these types of exchanges and communication between direct-care staff, trainers, and managers, provides a supportive environment as you become familiar with ethical decision-making. If the program leaders (managers and coaches) build relationships and maintain a positive, nurturing environment, then when difficult situations arise, you will ask yourself, "What is the most positive way I can address this situation and maintain relationships with all who are involved?"

In your work with families you will encounter different parenting practices and cultural beliefs. Situations may arise where you will need the guidance of your trainer or coach to learn how to work in collaboration with families who may have different beliefs and child-rearing practices from your own.

Professional Ethics Lived Day by Day

职业道德没有审查，然后放在抽屉里;他们每天都在与儿童的讨论中，在与各种文化中的家庭与同事合作，参加社区伙伴关系。作为一名直接关注的工作人员，秉承高质量的专业标准对儿童，青年和家庭至关重要。你有义务act responsibly and ethicallyat all times. You are accountable for your actions and maintaining high professional standards should be your priority at all times. You should look to your Service's code of conduct to guide you in decision-making and remember that you should always refer to your coach or trainer for guidance on difficult decisions or when you are unsure about something. The following two examples of Codes of ethical conduct can be valuable resources for you. The first one is the NAEYCProfessional Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment(https://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Supplement%20PS2011.pdf），第二个是National After School Association Code of Ethics(https://naaweb.org/images/naa-code-of-ethics-for-aferschool-profestmants.pdf.). Your core values and philosophy will guide professional behavior.

As a direct-care staff member, it is important to get to know the standards that apply to your program. You should take the time to find out about competencies, standards, or position statements that serve as guides for expectations when working with children, youth, and their families. Knowing this information should be of particular importance to you and your work. Your program may already be in the process of accreditation or re-accreditation through a professional organization and you can learn a lot by being involved in this process.

Maintaining Confidentiality: Children and Families

Maintaining confidentiality is a crucial part of professionalism. State and federal laws (e.g., the Privacy Act of 1974) ensure and protect individuals' right to privacy. As a direct-care staff member, you should respect and protect the privacy ofallchildren and families. When you work so closely together on behalf of children and families, you may become friends with one another. You may also encounter friends and relatives of children enrolled in the center when you are out in the community. When you socialize and attend events outside of the center, you may be asked confidential information about a child by someone who is not a staff member directly working with a child. You may only share confidential information about a child only with the child's family members and those professionals for whom the family members have signed a release of information form, such as a school district special educator, a social worker, etc. Always check with your trainer or program director if you are unsure about how to handle any situation that involves information sharing.

In the above example it would be a breach of confidentiality for Nia to tell Lani about her plans for addressing Millie's challenging behaviors. As a direct-care staff member, Nia knows she must uphold the rules of confidentiality and not share personal information about a child with someone who is not directly involved with that child. Nia knows she must model this professional behavior at all times and ask her coach or trainer questions when unsure about something.

You should also be very careful about how you handle social networking. Photographs or information about children and families in your program should never be shared on social media. You should always think about how new technologies can affect children and families and maintain confidentiality at all times. You should also consider how information you share about yourself may affect you and be careful about what you post on social media.

您的计划中的教练和计划管理人员有特别义务秉承儿童的隐私，只与那些直接参与儿童，青年或其家庭成员的工作人员分享机密信息。教练和计划经理观察并了解所有孩子和青年的知识，因此对于他们只与直接教孩子的工作人员谈论个人的行为或家庭情况尤为重要。

It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with your program or service's requirements for confidentiality as they pertain to children and families. Check with your trainer or director about where and how you can access written policies about confidentiality. They may be included in staff and family handbooks, or made available on your program's website. Depending upon your service's requirements, as a new staff member you may have to sign a confidentiality agreement, indicating that you have read and understand the program's policies.

有关保密的坚持法律可能涉及新和经验丰富的工作人员的服务培训。您的计划经理非常可能希望在全年工作人员会议期间重新审视机密性规则。在专门致力于专业实践的员工会议和服务期间审查这些政策，有助于审查这些政策。

授权记者

Another aspect of professionalism is reviewing your program's child abuse and neglect policies. As a new staff member you must complete training on child abuse and neglect identification and reporting procedures. Your program manager will make sure that these procedures are reviewed with all staff members as part of the hiring process. Some programs may require staff to sign a form each year stating that they have reviewed the child abuse and neglect warning signs and procedures for reporting.

See

Ethical Practices

Do

负责任地和道德方式应作为直接护理人员的练习核心。在与儿童，家庭，同事和监事的日常互动中，参与以下内容：

• Keep information about children and their families confidential. This refers to reviewing child and family records, having conversations with other staff members at school or in the community, or engaging in conversations with other people you know in the community.
• When you know confidential information about a child, family, or fellow staff member, use that information to help them and not judge them.
• If individuals ask you for confidential information about children or families in your program, refer them to your program trainer or director.
• Treat each child, youth, and family member with respect, and acknowledge and honor individual differences in terms of gender, cultural background, family income, abilities, or family composition. Get to know the children and families in your care and incorporate those interests or practices in your daily work as a direct-care staff member. Plan for bias-free experiences and materials.
• Recognize and celebrate the contributions of fellow staff members in your program.
• Act in a responsible, reliable, and dependable manner. Be at work on time, be prepared, and communicate clearly with children, families, colleagues, and supervisors.
• Support practices that are ethical, responsible, and developmentally appropriate and speak out when they are not. Familiarize yourself with your service's regulations, standards, and expectations for professional behavior. Remember to always look to your coach or trainer for guidance on difficult situations.
• Develop and cultivate a collaborative spirit as you work with colleagues on a daily basis. Ask a more experienced fellow staff member questions about her practice or offer ideas to a staff member who may be newer than you and may need assistance.

Note: The contents of this Do list are also available in the Learn section attachments section. You may want to print out this information and refer to it in your daily work.