Chapter 5: Professionalism in

Early Childhood Education

Authored by Brenda Boyd and Reviewed by Linda Felch

Image 2.1 "game" by Barbara Eckstein is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Learning outcome: Apply the professional code of ethics for early care and
education to resolve dilemmas.

In chapter 1 we introduced the practice of teaching and referred to the “field”

of early childhood education (ECE). In the last two decades, there has been
much attention paid to the difference between a “field” and a profession of
ECE (e.g., Goffin & Washington, 2007). While the intensity of attention about
defining ECE as a profession has increased considerably, this attention is far from
new. As early as the mid-1960’s Bettye Caldwell wrote about the relatively little
concern for defining the field apparent in discussion about how early childhood
education should operate (Caldwell, 1967). In this chapter, you will explore the
definition of “profession” and consider whether ECE fits that definition. You will
learn about a recent effort to move to finally position ECE to be recognized as a
profession. You will also become aware of the currently used and various
systems of standards and codes that define professional behavior and conduct
of the ECE practitioner. The goal of this chapter is for you to understand the
expectations of a professional early childhood educator as you prepare to
move into that role.

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Key points from this chapter:
• A profession is defined by criteria that guide professional practice.
• Current thinking suggests early childhood education does not fully meet
the definition of a profession.
• While ECE may not yet fully meet professional criteria, many systems of
standards exist to guide practice.
Terminology found throughout this chapter:
ECE Field: All programs, services and occupations that currently reside within
the boundary of what we call ECE.
Field of Practice: Specialization or a defined scope of work undertaken by
an identified group of practitioners.
Profession: An occupation that serves the public welfare and that requires
specialized educational training in some branch of learning or science.
Professional: The inhabitant of a role in that occupation—the person who
does the work of the profession.
Early Childhood Education: The title of the profession chosen by the Power to
the Profession Task Force.
Early Childhood Educator: The title of the professionals chosen by the Power
to the Profession Task force; those who provide direct service to children, birth
to age 8.
Unifying Framework: The final product of the Power to the Profession Task
Force. Reports on recommendations made by the Task Force to define the
profession and create infrastructure to support implementation of the
recommendations.
Scope of Practice: The responsibilities and authority granted to an ECE
professional.
WAC: Washington Administrative Code. Sets regulations for licensed
childcare.
Stackable Certificates: credentials granted by community and technical
colleges that build on one another and set the foundation for acquiring an
associate degree.
NAEYC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Prominent professional organization for early childhood educators.
Ethical conduct: Behavior following moral and right principles.

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 Ethical Ideals: Aspirational statements guiding behavior.
Ethical Principles: Rules for practice dividing ethical from unethical behavior.
Ethical Dilemma: Moral conflict that requires choosing between two
conflicting values and responsibilities.
Ethical Responsibility: A clear cut rule regarding moral decisions.
Ethical Finesse: Finding a way to resolve a problem that is acceptable to
everyone involved.
Advocacy: Action that argues for an issue or course of action; support or
defense of a group.

Defining terms: A vocabulary for discussing professionalism

Understanding terminology is a helpful way to start an investigation of
professionalism in ECE. The terms profession and professional are used frequently
in our everyday conversations. But our common usage of the term does not
ensure that we understand what these terms mean as we apply them to our
work as educators.
In our work life, we may use the term professional to refer to the fact that we are
committed to doing our jobs well, that we are good employees (punctual,
respectful to colleagues, dress appropriately), that we provide reliable and
competent service, or it may simply mean that we get paid for what we do
(Feeney, 2012). You might use the term professional as a compliment, indicating
that you see that person as being good at their job.
While we may use the term professional as a verb to describe how we behave
at our jobs, it is important to note that a body of scholarly literature exists in
which academics from various disciplines have discussed the meaning of these
terms.
In this section, we will further define terms that assist in understanding the
conversation about ECE becoming a profession.

Field
You have likely heard reference to the “field of ECE”. In fact, we use that
phrase in chapter 1 of this book. Calling ECE a field allows us to create a
boundary around what we mean by ECE; it allows for defining what fits into this
category. Similarly, you have probably heard mention of those who work in the
business field, the medical field, etc. As Goffin and Washington (2019) suggest,
the term ECE field describes all of the programs, services and occupations that
currently reside within the boundary of what we call ECE—childcare, either in

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centers or family childcare homes; preschool; and care for infants and toddlers,
for example.

Field of Practice
A field of practice refers to a specialization or a defined scope of work
undertaken by an identified group of practitioners. It is a term often used in
defining specialties in medicine or social work. Stacie Goffin has also applied
the term “field of practice” to ECE (Goffin & Washington, 2019; Goffin, 2015). A
field of practice, according to Goffin, indicates the roles that directly focus on
the learning and development of children. In other words, the ECE field of
practice refers to those who do the work of educating and facilitating
development. Calling ECE a field of practice allows for defining the focus—the
learning and development of young children. Naming it as a field of practice
also highlights that the field’s main objective is competent practice and
suggests that we understand what it means to competently educate young
children. In sum, the ECE field of practice is populated by those who do the
work of direct service to children, which also assumes a level of competent
practice to be successful.

Profession
The term profession is commonly accepted to mean an “occupation that serves
the public welfare and that requires specialized educational training in some
branch of learning or science” (Feeney, 2012, p. 6). Thus, a profession requires
specialized education not held by others, and serves a public good, as
opposed to serving one’s self-interest alone (i.e., simply getting a paycheck).

Professionals
If a profession is an occupation that serves a public good, and requires
education, a professional is the inhabitant of a role in that occupation—the
person who does the work of the profession. Applying the definition of
profession just shared, a professional is the person who has made a commitment
to serve the public good related to that field and has achieved the educational
requirement necessary to play that role. In the field of ECE, it is common to hear
about efforts to professionalize the field. This often refers to incremental efforts
to improve the practice of individuals, rather than being about system wide
efforts to meet the full definition of a profession.
A large body of academic literature has identified the defining features of a
profession. Although there is not complete agreement on these features, some
appear frequently and are accepted as critical markers. Feeney (2012)
identifies 8 criteria that are common in the literature about professions. Table 1
describes them.

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Table 1 Criteria for Defining a Profession

Criteria Details of Criteria

Specialized body of knowledge and • Evidence-based knowledge
expertise (grounded in research and
scholarship)
• Skillful application of knowledge
• Obligation to stay informed about
new information
Prolonged training • Acquisition of evidence-based
knowledge through
training/education that occurs over
time
• Includes study and practical
experience
Rigorous requirements for entry to • Admission to training programs is
training and eligibility to practice competitive
• Graduation from training may be
followed by an exam
• Go through background screening
required for licensure
Standards of practice • Follow standards to ensure
competent practice
• Make decisions on the basis of
standards (practice is not “cookie
cutter”)
Commitment to serving a significant • Dedicated to public interest
social value • Altruistic and service oriented
Recognition as the only group in the • No other group can perform this
society who can perform a function function
• Only those with credentials, training,
licensure can play this role
Autonomy • Self-governed
• Internal control over quality of
services provided—national
organization provides
Code of ethics • Obligations to society spelled out
• Moral behavior for practice
codified
• Instills confidence that public good
will be prioritized

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 Reflection

How do you use the terms profession and professional? Do they mean
different things to you? Do you see yourself as a professional in your work
with young children? Why is that?
Reviewing the list of criteria, consider if ECE meets enough of these criteria to
be labeled a profession. If you are not sure if ECE meets enough of them,
imagine what ECE would look like if it met all or many of these criteria.

ECE as a Profession
In recent years, many have questioned whether ECE meets the definition of a
profession (e.g., Feeney, 2012; Goffin, 2013, 2015). There seems to be a
consensus that it currently does not, and review of the list in Table 1 provides
evidence that this conclusion is accurate. While ECE has developed some of
the characteristics above, not all are currently in place. For example, a Code of
Ethical Conduct, put forth by the National Association for the Education of
Young Children (NAEYC, 2011), has been in existence for several years, though
there is no universal requirement that ECE practitioners are aware of or abide by
this code. Similarly, in terms of standards of practice, many states have
adopted a set of guidelines defining the skills and knowledge necessary to
provide quality childcare. However, each state can define these guidelines as
they see fit, and a wide variety of licensing requirements can be found across
the US. As guidelines, they carry no authority over the continued practice of a
practitioner who chooses not to follow them.
Moreover, these competencies are often set by the state legislature and
defined by the state agency responsible for childcare licensing, rather than
being defined and agreed to by the profession. This fact points to the absence
of autonomy. Having autonomy is another marker of a profession. Licensed
childcare, a central mode of delivery in ECE, is heavily regulated by the state,
rather than by the profession, providing notable evidence for the lack of
autonomy in ECE, another critical feature in a profession.
Further, prolonged training with rigorous entry requirements are not required for
entry into ECE with any consistency. Similarly, too many in the general public still
view childcare as “glorified babysitting” to all us to say that ECE is recognized as
being based on specialized knowledge, or that there exists a particular set of
practitioners who alone can do the work of ECE.
This analysis should make it clear that ECE has work to do before it can claim the
title of profession and before those engaged in this work can claim to be

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professionals. Identifying this reality has not, however, made it easy for ECE to
move toward the status of profession. While numerous efforts have aimed to
solve the problem, no large-scale success has been achieved. Early childhood
educators remain unrecognized for the significance of their work, remain
undercompensated, the field of early childhood education remains fragmented
and siloed with no clear definition of its boundaries, and little specialized
knowledge is required for entry (Institute of Medicine and National Research
Council, 2015).

NAEYC’s efforts: Power to the Profession and the Unifying Framework

IMAGE 2.2 UNIFYING FRAMEWORK FOR ECE PROFESSION (NAEYC, 2020)

A hopeful initiative has, however, recently emerged. Beginning in 2017, NAEYC

(the National Association for the Education of Young Children), the leading
professional association for those engaged in the work of ECE, made a
significant investment in achieving this goal. This initiative, titled Power to the
Profession and carried out by a task force representing 15 national ECE-related
organizations created a Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Education
Profession. According to the Power to the Profession Task Force (n.d.), the
framework is designed to “…set a vision for how to drive the significant and
sustained public investment that will allow all children, birth through age 8, to

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benefit from high-quality early childhood education provided by well-prepared,
diverse, supported and compensated professionals” (para. 3). The title of the
framework, including the term profession, as well as the focus on preparation
and support of the professionals illustrate the focus of moving ECE to this status,
while also recognizing the need for public funding to achieve this long-standing
goal.
Power to the Profession was a multi-year process that involved 8 “decision
cycles” in which decisions on the defining issues of the field were presented to
stakeholders for feedback. At each cycle, practitioners in the field responded in
writing to the proposal, engaged in focus groups, and other means of providing
feedback. After this process, each proposal was revised and ultimately
finalized. In March of 2020, the results of the 8 decision cycles were presented in
the Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Education Profession. The
recommendations in the framework are summarized in the table found in the
appendix to this chapter. In addition to summarizing the recommendations, the
table includes how they address the 8 criteria of a profession identified earlier in
in this chapter.
The recommendations that make up the Framework are notable in their effort to
address at one time as many of the issues facing ECE as possible.

Naming and Defining the Profession

The first issue addressed by the Task Force was what to call the profession. This is
a long existent problem with ECE (which you will note we have been calling
early childhood education all along—but many do not accept this and use
other names such as early care and education or early learning, and so on).
The difficulty was not just about agreeing to a single name but determining
which practitioners working with young children were part of the profession. A
long-held aversion to exclusion has made it difficult to draw a boundary around
who is “in” and who is “out” of the profession. But this decision is necessary to
define a field as a profession. After much deliberation, the Task Force chose to
call the profession Early Childhood Education and the professionals are called
Early Childhood Educators. Further, a boundary between the profession and the
larger field of early childhood was drawn, delineating the professionals from
other allied practitioners who, while still engaged in work that support children
and families, are not early childhood educators and not part of the profession.

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 IMAGE 2.3 UNIFYING FRAMEWORK ECE FIELD AND PROFESSION (NAEYC, 2020)

Image 2.3 presents the illustration from the Unifying Framework (Power to the
Profession Task Force, 2020) that depicts the relationship between the field of
ECE--everything outside of the profession–and the profession designated by the
orange section at the top of the circle. The profession as proposed, includes
three roles:
• Early Childhood Educators who provide direct service to children birth to age
8 and on whom the Unifying Framework is largely focused
• Professional Preparation Faculty and Trainers who instruct, observe, and
monitor the practice of aspiring ECEs
• Pedagogical and Instructional Administrators who guide the practice of ECEs
In addition to defining the profession and the professionals, the Framework
identifies three designations of early childhood educators (Early Childhood
Educator I, II and III) as presented in Table 2. Creating these designations
addresses a confusing jumble of titles and roles in the current field, creating a
uniform approach to defining responsibilities (scope of practice) and
preparation. The Task Force also recognized the current reality that the scope of
practice attached to a specific level of professional preparation differs by
setting. For example, in Birth to age 5 settings, a practitioner with an associate

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degree may hold the position of lead teacher in a classroom. That same level
of education would commonly be tied to an assistant teacher position in a K-
Grade 3 setting.
Table 2 Designations of ECEs proposed in Unifying Framework

Title Setting Scope of Practice—Role in Educational

Development and Delivery of Requirement
Educational Programming
ECE I Birth-3rd grade Assist 120 clock hours of
professional
preparation
ECE II Birth-Age 5 Lead ECE Associate
Guide ECE I’s Degree

K-Grade 3 Assist
Guide ECE I’s
ECE III Birth-Grade 3 Lead ECE Bachelor’s
Guide ECE I’s and II’s Degree OR
ECE Master’s
Degree

Defined Professional Standards and Professional Preparation Delivery

The Unifying Framework (Power to the Profession Task Force, 2020) also
addressed the need for a unified system of professional preparation for EC
Educators. The Framework recognizes the role of higher education in
professions, both in informing the content of professional preparation, and
delivering high quality preparation that successfully graduates competent
professionals. The Task Force selected the updated and revised NAEYC
Professional Standards and Competencies as the standards for professional
preparation. Given that a profession is defined partially by the existence of
standards for practice set and defined by the profession, choosing standards
developed by NAEYC rather than a state licensing entity is appropriate. These
revised standards were released at the same time as the Unifying Framework
and include a “leveling” of the standards, further illuminating the distinction
between the 3 designations. This “leveling” guides professional preparation
programs to pitch the content of coursework appropriately to the different
designations and further underscores the differences in scope of practice. To
some extent, this approach was used to address the current reality that many
practitioners have worked in the field for many years with no college coursework
and are not willing to undertake a college education but wish to remain
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employed in the newly named profession. These designations recognize the
contribution of all professionals regardless of scope of practice. The Framework
additionally recommends that all early childhood educators must first complete
a general early childhood education program before specializing in, for
example, a focus on an age group such as preschool or toddler aged children.
In addition to adopting professional preparation standards, the Framework calls
on institutions of higher education to be accountable through accreditation by
a governing body to ensure delivery of competently prepared early childhood
educators. Moreover, the Framework calls on higher education to work to
ensure seamless transition across educational systems, access to higher
education by an ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse population and
diversity in faculty that prepare early childhood educators.
Finally, the framework recommends that once all the requirements just
described are in place (i.e., higher education access to all who seek it, effective
higher education that produces competent educators, utilizing a uniform set of
standards) then early childhood educators should be licensed upon completion
of a program of professional preparation.

Professional compensation
The Framework also addressed the requirement for increased compensation for
the current and future ECE professionals. Using public school salary scales as a
minimum benchmark for comparable compensation is recommended. That is,
assuming comparable qualifications, experience and job responsibilities, the
compensation for an Early Childhood Educator should be comparable
regardless of setting (i.e. private childcare, state funded preschool, public
school kindergarten). The Framework also calls out the importance of a benefits
package for all EC educators regardless of setting. The Task Force was clear
that without increased compensation as described above, the other
requirements outlined for early childhood educators in the Framework could not
be instituted. In other words, any increase in education or responsibility resulting
from the Unifying Framework would necessitate a matched increase in salary.
The Task Force also recognized that employers that hire Early Childhood
Educators should be accountable for providing comparable compensation
(salary and benefits). The Task Force indicates that such accountability would
be impossible without a financial investment from the federal government,
which requires a recognition of ECE as a public good that serves all society.

Purpose of the Unifying Framework

As described here, the point of developing the Unifying Framework was to
address the issues that have kept Early Childhood Education for claiming its

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status as a true profession. By formalizing ECE as a profession, those who do this
work will be well-prepared and well-compensated, finally receiving the status
and recognition they have long deserved. While this is accurate, it does not
explain why doing so is important.
Those who have argued for defining ECE as a profession have claimed
effectively that the well-being of children is what is at stake. If ECE remains a
fragmented, unrecognized, under-compensated occupation, many children will
not have access to the early education that research has consistently shown
improves each child’s developmental and learning outcomes. NAEYC, the
association that originally called the 15 representative entities that made up the
Task Force has a vision. This vision, sometimes called an audacious one, is to
unify as a profession to argue for ECE as a public good which should be
supported by our tax dollars. The goal of these efforts is to ultimately have ECE
be recognized as a profession so that those that do that work are well-
prepared, well-compensated and supported so that the children who receive
their efforts will be set on a positive trajectory for their futures.

Reflection

Review the summary of the recommendations made in the Unifying

Framework (found in the appendix to this chapter). What seems most
beneficial about these recommendations? What will be hardest to
implement, in your opinion? How would implementation of these
recommendations affect your current work in ECE? Is the Unifying
Framework going to improve the lives of early childhood educators? The
children they serve?

Other Standards Defining Professional Performance

The work of the Power to the Profession Task Force is impressive and would
dramatically change the face of ECE if the Unifying Framework is adopted
across the country. This audacious vision would serve to address many, perhaps
even all, of the defining issues that the field has grappled with, especially in
recent years. However, the aspirational nature of the Framework should not
lead you to believe that early childhood education as it we know it today has
no established standards which could nudge it in the direction of
professionalizing. In this section of the chapter, you will be introduced to systems
of standards that define and regulate the work of early childhood educators in
the US and specifically in Washington state.

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NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies
As described in the previous section of this chapter on the Unifying Framework, a
new set of professional standards (Professional Standards and Competencies for
Early Childhood Educators; NAEYC, 2020) have been adopted by NAEYC and
are proposed as the unifying standards of practice in the profession of
childhood education. This newly adopted position statement represents the
core body of knowledge, skills, dispositions, and values that early childhood
educators must demonstrate to be effective teachers of young children. The
previous professional standards set by NAEYC were written as expectations for
higher education programs—what they must teach to successfully prepare early
childhood educators. The revised Professional Standards and Competencies
are written as expectations for the individual professional—what he/she/they
must know and be able to do as an effective educator.
The standards are organized into 6 core standards:
1. Child Development and Learning in Context
2. Family-Teacher Partnerships and Community Connections
3. Child Observation, Documentation and Assessment
4. Developmentally, Culturally, and Linguistically Appropriate Teaching
Practices
5. Knowledge, Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the
Early Childhood Curriculum
6. Professionalism
Each standard contains 3 to 5 key competencies that clarify the core with a
total of 22 key competencies.
Each of the standards has also been “leveled” to correspond with the three ECE
designations described in the Unifying Frame (ECE I, II & III). The leveling
documentation is presented as a first attempt to identify the differences in the
breadth and depth of content in the programs that prepare professionals with
differing scopes of practice. A sampling of the leveling descriptions for one of
the key competencies (1a—Understand the developmental period of early
childhood from birth through age eight across physical, cognitive,
social/emotional, and linguistic domains including bilingual/multilingual
development) is presented in Table 4.
Table 4 Leveling of Key Concept 1a (Understand the developmental period of
early childhood from birth through age eight across physical, cognitive, social,

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and emotional, and linguistic domains including bilingual/multilingual
development) by 3 levels of ECE Scope of Practice

ECE I ECE II ECE III

Identify critical aspects Describe brain Describe brain
of brain development development in young development in young
including executive children including children including
function, learning executive function, executive function,
motivation, and life skills learning motivation, and learning motivation, and
life skills life skills
Describe ways to learn Evaluate, make
about children (e.g. decisions about, and
through observation, communicate effective
play, etc.) ways to learn about
children (e.g. through
observation, play, etc.)

NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

Image 2.5 Code of Ethics Statement of Commitment NAEYC

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A common characteristic of professions is that they have a document spelling
out the moral responsibilities to society and guiding principles for professional
behavior. Because a profession is viewed as the group that can uniquely
perform an important social need, and because often the service is provided to
a vulnerable population, it is critical that there is a clear statement about how
ethical behavior is defined. Without that, the power that resides with the
professional role has the potential for exploitation of the population being
served.
Although the field of early childhood education is still striving to be viewed as a
profession, it has had a code of ethics since 1989, but began the work to
develop a code at least 10 years prior to that (Feeney & Freeman, 2018).
Beginning in the mid-70’s, NAEYC leadership was advancing efforts to develop a
code, with a code of ethical conduct adopted in 1989. The code was updated
in 2005 and most recently reaffirmed and updated in 2011. The code exists as
one of several position statements that NAEYC has adopted as guides to assist
early childhood educators in making informed decisions on issues facing the
field/profession and promote dialogue on the issues using a common language
provided by the statement. All NAEYC position statements, including the Code
of Ethical Conduct in its entirety, are available on the association’s website,
naeyc.org. The code is focused on early childhood educators—those working
directly with children and families. Supplements have been written to apply the
code to the work of Early Childhood Program Administrators and Early
Childhood Adult Educators as well. Multiple articles in NAEYC’s publication
Young Children have addressed the use of the code, providing professionals
with numerous opportunities to practice applying the code to real situations
faced in the work of early childhood education.
Structure of the Code of Ethical Conduct
The NAEYC Code is organized by several components:
• Core Values
o Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable state of the
human life cycle
o Base our work on knowledge of how children develop and learn
o Appreciate and support the bond between the child and family
o Recognize that children are best understood and supported in the
context of family, culture, community, and society
o Respect the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each individual (child,
family member, and colleague)
o Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues

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 o Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the
context of relationships that are based on trust and respect

• Conceptual Framework
The framework is an organizing structure for the code. It is divided into
four sections that address an area of professional relationships: with
children, with families, among colleagues, and with the community and
society. Each section includes an introduction to the primary
responsibilities of the professional in that setting. Each section also lists a
set of ideals and principles.

Ideals are aspirational. They represent what we strive for as we do our

work with children and families; they are our goals. Principles are more
concrete—they could be considered the objectives that allow us to
achieve our goals or aspirations (ideals). The principles guide conduct
and help professionals resolve ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas are
“moral conflicts that involves determining how to act when an individual
faces conflicting professional values and responsibilities” (Feeney &
Freeman, 2018, p. 19).

• The four professional relationship areas

o Ethical Responsibilities to Children
The first section focuses on the profession’s beliefs about the unique
and valuable nature of childhood and the vulnerability of this stage
of development. Consequently, early childhood educators have
responsibility to ensure the safety, health, and emotional well-being
of children. Moreover, this section of the code addresses the
profession’s commitment to respecting individual differences, to
helping children learn to cooperate with peers and to the
promotion of children’s self-awareness, competence, self-worth
resiliency and physical well-being.

The first section contains 12 ideals and 11 principles (note there is

not a 1 to 1 correspondence of ideals to principles). The first
principle is identified as taking precedence over all the others in the
Code:

“Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in

practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful,

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 disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitive, or intimidating to
children” (NAEYC, 2011).

o Ethical Responsibilities to Families

The second section addresses the responsibility to the families
served by early childhood educators. Given the belief that the
family is of primary importance, and that the family and the teacher
have a common interest in the child’s well-being, educators have a
responsibility to communicate, cooperate and collaborate with the
child’s family. The second section contains 9 ideals and 15
principles.

o Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues

The third section of the code addresses responsibilities to
colleagues. This section is divided into two subsections, one
focused on responsibilities to co-workers and one related to
responsibilities to employers. The responsibility to colleagues is to
establish and maintain relationships that support productive work
and professional needs. The focus here is on trust, confidentiality,
collaboration, and respect for the dignity of each human. It also
includes responsibility for holding co-workers and employers
accountable for their own professional ethical conduct. The first
subsection contains 3 ideas and 4 principles and the second
contains 2 ideals and 5 principles.

o Ethical responsibility to Community and Society

The final section of the code recognizes the responsibility of the
educator to provide programs that meet the diverse needs of
families, to assist families in getting access to needed services, to
work together with other agencies and professionals and to help
with developing programs needed, but not available. This section
contains 7 ideals and 11 principles.
Using the Code of Ethical Conduct
The Code of Ethical Conduct provides a tool to use in a variety of ways to
ensure ethical conduct and to resolve ethical dilemmas that arise as a part of
the complexity of early childhood education. While the code of ethics is a
guide, it is not a recipe for specific behaviors to be enacted in any particular
situation. However, the Code does identify a number of specific responsibilities.
These ethical responsibilities are either things we should not do, or things that we

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are required to do. Some of the responsibilities are presented as ideals, (I) some
as principles (P) and include the following:
I 1.1 To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and
education and to keep current through continuing education an in-service
training.
P 2.9 [To]…maintain confidentiality and…[to] respect the family’s right to
privacy…
I 3 A.1 To establish and maintain relationships of respect, trust, and cooperation
with co-workers
I 4.1 To provide the community with high-quality (age and individually
appropriate, and culturally and socially sensitive) education/care programs
P 4.7 [To]… be familiar with laws and regulations that serve to protect the
children in our programs.
P 1.1 [To] not harm children. [To]…not participate in practices that are
disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, intimidating, emotionally
damaging, or physically harmful to children.
P 2.1 [To]…not deny family members access to their child’s classroom or
program setting.
P 3C.8 In hiring, promotion, and provision of training…[to] not participate in any
form of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin,
culture, disability, age, or sexual preference….
These ethical responsibilities are clear cut. They communicate what must and
must not be done. So, one way the code serves your work is to provide clear
cut guidelines for how to behave. In addition, the code is meant to help in
navigating ethical dilemmas. In this case, the professional is faced with two
equally justifiable actions but often includes a conflict between the interests of
two involved parties. For example, it may require placing the needs of the child
above that of the parents or of a group over an individual. The code can help
sort out the best course of action in a situation, but the process requires
thoughtful consideration of the various interests, needs, and priorities of one
person or group over the interests, needs and priorities of another.

18
 Reflection

Consider this ethical dilemma (from Feeney & Freeman, 2018, pg. 52). Think
about how you might resolve this ethical dilemma, considering your
professional obligations and conflicting needs.
Kali, the mother of 4-year-old Chase, has asked his teacher, Sondra to keep
him from napping in the afternoon. She tells Sondra, “Whenever Chase
naps during the day, he stays up until past 10:00 at night. I have to get up at
5:00 in the morning to go to work, and I am not getting enough sleep.”
Along with all the other children, Chase takes a one-hour nap almost every
day. Sondra feels that he needs it to engage in activities and stay in good
spirits through the afternoon.

The authors of the Code suggest a process for applying the code to ethical
issues and dilemmas (Feeney & Freeman, 2018). As you consider the steps, think
about the situation described in the reflection above. The steps they suggest
are described here:
1. Determine if your issue/problem even involves ethics. Does it involve
concerns about right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, human
welfare, or an individual’s best interests? If so, it is an ethical issue.
2. Determine if your issue involves legal responsibility. If so, you must follow
the law. Issues involving child abuse are examples involving legal
responsibilities.
3. Next determine if the issue involves an ethical responsibility. Recall that
ethical responsibilities are clear cut expectations about how a
professional early childhood educator behaves. There is no question
about what must be done (or not done).
4. Determine if your issue is a true ethical dilemma requiring hard choices
between conflicting moral obligations. Consider the needs of all involved
and your professional obligations to each. Are there conflicting
obligations requiring you to prioritize one over another? Are core values in
conflict? If so, you have an ethical dilemma to resolve. Here are some
steps to decision making about an ethical dilemma:

a. Identify the conflicting responsibilities. Consider the people

involved and determine their needs and your obligations to them.
Then turn to the Code for guidance. Review the Core Values and
Ideals in the related section of the Code. You may need to get
more information if you decide you do not have the full picture. It
may also be helpful to refer to program policies or community laws.

19
b. Brainstorm possible resolutions. Now that you fully understand the
issue and the conflicting values, needs and obligations you can
think about how to solve the problem. Do not yet reject any ideas
but generate as many ideas as possible. Then go back and
consider the equity and feasibility of your ideas.

c. Consider ethical finesse. In some situations, it may be possible to

solve the problem without having to choose between two options.
This approach is known as ethical finesse and is characterized by
the ability to amicably resolve the situation, delicately maneuvering
without anyone feeling like they did not have their needs
addressed. For example, in the scenario in the reflection box
above, is it possible to resolve the dilemma in a way that both the
needs of the child and the parent could be addressed? Could the
teacher work with the parent to develop more effective bedtime
routines, or could they experiment with having the child go down
for nap a little later, sleeping less time in the afternoon to see if this
made a difference? Ethical finesse should be used sparingly (Kipnis,
1987). If we rely too often on ethical finesse, it is possible we are
avoiding ethical responsibility and not meeting our obligations.

d. Look for guidance in the NAEYC Code. If ethical finesse does not
result in a satisfactory resolution, utilize the Code to determine the
action you can defend morally and prepare to act. Look to the
Core values for guidance. Then review the Ideals and Principles to
clarify your responsibilities. Make sure you feel you have all the
necessary information. It may also be helpful to review your
program’s policies or discuss the issue with a trusted colleague.

e. Decide on a justifiable course of action. The next step is to make

the choice between the alternatives, basing your decision on the
ethics presented in the Code. In the previous nap-time example, if
the attempts to help the parent with bedtime routines and/or a
shorter nap did not solve the problem (i.e. the child became sleepy
at nap time and was grumpy in the afternoon without a full nap)
then the decision to reinstitute the nap procedure for this child is
necessary. The responsibility to meet the physical needs of the child
outweighs the need of the parent to get more sleep. It can be
difficult to take such a stand, but having the Code, and your

20
 knowledge of child development on your side of the decision can
be reassuring and affirming.

f. Implement your resolution and reflect. After making the decision

and putting it into play, it is important to reflect on the process to
determine what you have learned. Did you learn something about
how you communicate with families? Did you learn something
about how program policies are set and shared with parents? Or
did you mostly learn about your own comfort level with these kinds
of decisions?

Clearly, the process of applying the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct is not an
easy one. Nonetheless, this important marker of a profession is critical in the
work of early childhood education. Given the vulnerability of our “clients” and
the inherent power we wield in that relationship, it is incumbent upon us to be
aware of our ethical obligations and become proficient in the use of tools to
assist with carrying out our ethical responsibility. Numerous resources for
practicing the use of the Code are available from NAEYC.

Advocacy

Image 2.6 “Advocacy” by Nick Youngson is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

The role of advocate, both for the clientele professionals serve, and for the
profession itself, was not included in the list of commonly accepted criteria of a
profession presented at the beginning of this chapter. Nonetheless, advocacy is
identified as an important obligation for many professions, including early
childhood education. Note that both the NAEYC Professional Standards and
Competencies and the Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care
and Education Professionals include professionalism as a core standard area,
and both include advocacy as a competency area.

21
Advocacy is generally defined as any action that supports or defends a specific
cause or issue. The goal of advocacy is to cause change and can be
accomplished through a variety of activities. Often those of us in the early
childhood education field feel uncomfortable with the idea of advocacy. It
may feel too political, too aggressive, or require one to be able to speak
eloquently about an issue. None of those characterizations need be true about
advocacy. There are many ways for an early childhood educator to become
engaged in advocacy without experiencing any of this discomfort.

Advocating for children and families

Part of the advocacy obligation for early childhood educators is standing up for
the rights of those we serve—young children and their families. As members of a
profession, we have access to evidence-based information and have acquired
first-hand knowledge about what children and their families need to successfully
grow and develop. It is our professional responsibility to speak out against
initiatives that are counter to this knowledge and are not good for children or
families.

Advocating for the profession

Speaking out on behalf of the workforce that does the work of early childhood
education is another form of advocacy that early childhood educators are
called to. Advocating for recognition, for compensation that is comparable to
similar professions, for regulation that is not in opposition to what we know to be
good for children and families are all ways of advocating for the profession.
When advocating for the profession, it is important to recognize the difference
between one’s personal interest and the best interest of the entire profession.
Sometimes what is important for the profession may result in imposition of
requirements that may create a hardship for the individual professional. For
example, advocating that inclusion in the early childhood education profession
should require a certain level of educational preparation may mean that one
will need to pursue additional education. As a part of the profession, one is
called to advocate for what is best for the profession, rather than what one
wants to do as an individual.

Methods of Advocacy
One way of organizing the myriad methods of advocating is to divide it into
personal and public advocacy (Feeney, 2012).
Personal advocacy
Personal advocacy happens during your workday and includes speaking up
about what you know to be best practice for young children. When you share
information with parents, co-workers, or agencies you cooperate with, you are

22
advocating for children’s rights. When you refer your families to reliable
agencies within your community or provide them with written resources, you are
advocating. Too often early childhood educators feel reluctant to respond to
calls for advocacy. Advocacy does not have to involve a public event; it can
occur through the relationships you have already built as an educator.
Public advocacy
Public advocacy takes place when you speak out to address issues of concern
in the larger community. It might surprise you how compelling it can be to hear
the story of those working directly in the field. Policy makers need data and
statistics, but even more, they need to hear how real people are affected by
the policies they set. They want to hear from the front-line workers about the
reality of their days spent caring for and educating young children.
However, even public advocacy does not require a public display; it can
include voting with early childhood education in mind or writing to your
congressional representatives at the state or federal level. Public advocacy
can, however, involve engagement that is more visible to others:
o Testifying at a legislative hearing
o Attending a public rally for an early childhood issue or during the
state legislative session
o Participating in a community awareness event, such as Week of the
Young Child
o Writing a letter to the editor of your local paper on some specific
early childhood issue
o Visiting your state or federal representative or senator to share your
perspective on the importance of early childhood education.
As early childhood practitioners, we can feel isolated and consequently limited
in our ability to influence policy makers or the public at large. Luckily, at both
the state and national level, advocacy groups exist to provide support
individuals in their advocacy efforts.
Advocating on behalf of the profession and the children and families it serves is
part of the role of the professional early childhood educator. There are
numerous ways to become involved in advocacy efforts and opportunities
abound for both the new professional and those with more experience. It is
important to explore these opportunities and consider how you can begin or
expand your advocacy engagement.

23
 Reflection

Think about the way in which advocacy is described here. Were you
surprised to discover that you have been engaged in advocacy without
really calling it that? What were those advocacy efforts? Do you feel
encouraged to investigate new ways you can engage in advocacy? What
might more engagement look like for you?

Final thoughts
The current field of early childhood education has a long history of striving for
recognition as a profession. Your involvement in that ongoing effort requires you
understand what is necessary to meet the definition of a profession and what
that label means for your practice. Recognize that recent efforts involve some
of the most assertive and comprehensive steps ever taken to claim the title of
profession for the field of ECE. You can be a part of this effort, that when
realized, will provide a bright future for the profession of early childhood
education. This future offers new and exciting opportunities to change how the
world understands the importance of early childhood and those that support
the development and learning of all young children. We sincerely hope you
want to be a part of that future.

Chapter Attribution
“Chapter 2--Professionalism in ECE” by Brenda Boyd is CC BY 4.0

Websites you may wish to explore further

https://www.naeyc.org/
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/ethical-conduct
http://powertotheprofession.org/
https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/
https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/services/earlylearning-profdev/professional-
development-strategies
https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=110-300

24
 References
Caldwell, B. M. (1967). On reformulating the concept of early childhood
education—Some whys needing wherefores. Young Children, 22(6), 348-
356.
Department of Early Learning. (2009). Core Competencies for Early Care and
Education Professionals.
https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pubs/EPS_0023.pdf
Feeney, S. (2012). Professionalism in early childhood education: Doing our best
for young children. Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Feeney, S. & Freeman, N. K. (2018). Ethics and the early childhood educator:
Using the NAEYC code (3rd ed.). NAEYC: Washington, D.C.
Goffin, S.G., & Washington, V. (2019). Ready or not: Early childhood care and
education’s leadership choices—12 years later. Teachers College Press:
New York.
Goffin, S.G. (2015). Professionalizing early childhood education as field of
practice? A guide to the next era. Red Leaf Press: St. Paul, MN.
Goffin, S.G. (2013). Early childhood education for a new era: Leading our
profession. Teachers College Press: New York.
Goffin, S.G., & Washington, V. (2007). Ready or not: Leadership choices in early
care and education. Teachers College Press: New York.
Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Transforming the
Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
https://doi.org/10.17226/19401.
Kipnis, K. (1987). How to discuss professional ethics. Young Children, 42(4), 26-30.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2020). Professional
standards and competencies for early childhood educators.
https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-
shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-
statements/professional_standards_and_competencies_for_early_childho
od_educators.pdf
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2011). Code of
Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment.
https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-

25
 shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-
statements/Ethics%20Position%20Statement2011_09202013update.pdf
Power to the Profession Task Force. (2020). Unifying framework for the early
childhood education profession. https://powertotheprofession.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/03/Power-to-Profession-Framework-03312020-
web.pdf
Power to the Profession Task Force. (n.d.) Where we started: Power to the
profession. http://powertotheprofession.org/about/
Washington State Legislature. (n.d.). Washington Administrative Code.
https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/

CHAPTER 2 APPENDIX
Table 5 Recommendations for Defining the Profession: Power to the Profession,
Unifying Framework

Issue Addressed Recommendations How ECE is moved

to become a
profession
Lack of agreement • Distinguish between the Early • Created a
about a name (early Childhood Education bounded field of
care and education, Profession and the Early practice that was
early learning, etc.) Childhood Education Field not all inclusive
• Profession is Early Childhood • Increased clarity
Difficulty defining Education
who was “in” the • Professionals are Early
field and who was Childhood Educators
not • Those in the profession include
early childhood educators
(ECEs), pedagogical and
instructional administrators
(P&IAs), and professional
preparation faculty and
trainers (PPF&T)
• ECEs include those who
provide direct service to
children B-8 and who meet
the guidelines for the
profession

26
 Issue Addressed Recommendations How ECE is moved
to become a
profession
•P&IAs include those who
guide the practice of ECEs
and who meet guidelines
• PPF&T are a subset of higher
ed faculty and professional
development staff that
instruct, observe, and monitor
the practice of aspiring ECEs
and who have met guidelines
• Those in the ECE Field are not
in the profession, but are allies
of and support to the
profession (i.e. home visitors,
policy or advocacy
specialists, children’s
librarians, those who do not
meet the professional
qualifications)
Too many titles for, • Establish 3 designations of • Clarified
and little clear ECEs, each with a distinct distinction by
delineation of scope of practice position
positions and • ECE 1 | Helps develop and • Defined the
required preparation sustain high quality child necessary
development and learning preparation by
environment | Requires 120 position in the
clock hours of professional profession
preparation | Pay • Clarified
commensurate with level compensation as
preparation and responsibility commensurate
• ECE 2 | Assist or be with level of
responsible for developing education and
and sustaining high quality responsibility
child development and
learning environment
(depending on program
type) | Requires ECE
Associates Degree | Pay
commensurate with level
preparation and responsibility

27
 Issue Addressed Recommendations How ECE is moved
to become a
profession
• ECE 3 |Responsible for
independently developing
and sustaining high-quality
development and learning
environment | Requires ECE
bachelor’s degree | Pay
commensurate with level
preparation and responsibility;
comparable to pay for public
school teachers
Program standards • ECEs will hold necessary • Places authority
and accountability credentials to practice, meet for professional
lies with regulatory standards and guidelines and standards with the
body—not profession work within scope of practice profession—
• Professional preparation autonomy
ECE not viewed as a programs will maintain achieved
public good accreditation by recognition • Recognizes ECE as
requiring public body, provide preparation public good
investment programs aligned to served by a
standards and competencies profession
set by profession
• Employers/owners will hire
and retain ECEs by providing
compensation and working
conditions that support well-
being, ensure that workplace
and employees practice is
aligned with standards and
competences set by
profession
• Professional governance
body will hold the standards,
competencies, and
guidelines for the profession.
• Federal government and
agencies will focus legislation,
regulations, and funding on
implementing the Framework
recommendations, protect
and invest in ECE as a public

28
 Issue Addressed Recommendations How ECE is moved
to become a
profession
good, engage with and be
responsive to members of the
profession and the public
served by ECE
Professional • The Professional Standards • Universal
standards and and Competencies for ECE standards for
Competencies will serve as the core practice set for full
standards for the profession profession
No agreed upon set (revision of previous NAEYC (regardless of age
of standards that standards for professional or setting)
come with authority development)
to remove ECEs who • Standards will be “leveled” for
do not practice the 3 levels of ECE positions
within standards (establish the depth and
breadth of the competencies
required at these different
designations)
• ECEs will be licensed
(following completion of
approved preparation
program, pass national
assessment, gain licensure)
Professional • Compensation for ECEs will be • Compensation
compensation at least comparable to public recognizes
school salaries and professional status,
Practitioners in the comparable across all required
ECE field are settings preparation and
underpaid, not • Compensation will include competency
recognized as doing adequate benefits package
work that requires • Increases in compensation
professional commensurate with
preparation and increased preparation and
commensurate competency
compensation

Resources, • Recognize 3 primary types of Infrastructure will be

structures, and professional preparation built to allow
supports to advance (clock hours, associates movement to and
ECE profession degrees, bachelor’s degrees) maintenance of a

29
 Issue Addressed Recommendations How ECE is moved
to become a
profession
If ECE is viewed only • ECEs must first have a general recognized
as a service parents ECE education before profession
pay for, no societal specializing
investment—not • Professional preparation
viewed as a programs must be
common good—no accredited, ensure graduates
resources for are proficient in standards
improvement and competences and
provide seamless pathways
through postsecondary ed
• Employers must provide
compensation comparable
to public school
compensation and provide
supportive working conditions
• Create a semi-autonomous
professional governance
body to support
implementation of the
Framework and advance the
sustainability of the profession
• PGB will designate
profession’s guidelines, set
parameters for quality
assurance of individuals and
professional preparation, and
serve as liaison and
collaborator with state and
federal agencies and
regulatory bodies
• State governments and
agencies will adopt the
standards and competencies,
administer ECE licenses,
streamline regulations and
increase funding to support
ECEs, professional preparation
programs and employers

30