A dilemma is a situation where a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives. Especially a case where both equals are undesirable. For the provided case, being a parent places one at a hard position where one has to decide if their baby is to sleep during the day then find it hard to get the her to sleep at night or not letting the baby sleep during the day but sleep comfortably during the night while in the process let Mayah have a long tedious afternoon have the teacher ignore all this (Kennedy 2009).
Either decision that I am to make as a parent has its undesirable repercussions that I have to accept. This makes the case an ethical dilemma since both decisions to be made have an undesirable outcome (Beckett, Maynard, & Jordan, 2017). The teachers have their responsibilities as the child’s instructor while the mother has the parenting responsibilities, on the other hand there is the child whose growth and development are at hand, sleep for the baby is very important for their physical development but the wrong sleeping patterns may interfere with this (Newman, 2002).
This leaves the case at a dilemma where a discussion and an agreement are to be arrived at. Further analysis of the scenario it is evident that this really is a dilemma! On the one hand we have a responsibility to Mayah to recognise her right to rest as determined by article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989). On the other hand, article 5 describes how we must support parents/guardians in their role.
Response
The legal aspect of the case supports why it is deemed aa dilemma. In relation to the ECA code of ethics, the teacher taking care of the child by allowing them to sleep is part of her responsibility since the child cannot be ignored while she is feeling sleepy and agitated hence ignoring the child would be legally wrong. As the responsible adult with the child, an instructor is expected to take full responsibility of the child without the presence of the parent. For a qualified teacher, one has passed the test on ability of taking care of the child.
This means the teacher can make the right decision for the baby. In this case the teacher makes the decision of letting the child sleep. But the parenting factor comes in. the parent is legally to be respected and their decision are to be respected as well (ECA 2016). So, the parent demands need to be embraced. As a parent I need to see the clear respect of the legal requirement but this also complicates the case, since as identified it is as per the law that the teacher is to be responsible on behalf of the baby while on the other hand respect and acknowledge me.
This leaves the entire case on the shoulders of the baby, what should the teacher do and do I as the parent approve of it? And what are the repercussions for each decision with the fact in mind that any decision impact me or the child (Kennedy. 2009).
Thinking about your experience and knowledge of EC education you would suggest your ideas that might shape this dilemma or similar experiences you might have experienced that relate to this dilemma (here you can all just speak as EC educators).
Response
As an educator, the interest of the child is at heart but the parents’ interest is also to be considered. It is evident that the child may need to rest in the afternoon but also this has an external impact on both the child and the parent. This makes it harder to pick the best approach for the situation at this level. The professional requirements stipulate that the parent decisions should be respected an acknowledged (Congress, 2017). But on the other hand, the professional requirement states that the professional s responsible for the comfort of the child as well.
This means that as the instructor, the child’s comfort is at my hands as well as the child educational progress but also the parents have a major role to play in the whole case (Krieg, 2011). The school curriculum can help and identify whether a slight change of the school curriculum can help the case. But despite the decision to be made, one party must be affected. But for any decision to be made both cases are to be filed up listened to a conclusion arrive at that has the less impact on the baby and the parent and at the same time manoeuvrable by the school and the instructor. With the child’s interest as the key point of consideration (Newman, 2002).
Professionally it is important to embrace the fact that children learning to recognise their own physical cues and develop autonomy in understanding their physical needs, I’m not sure if forcing them to ignore their need for rest helps them to develop autonomy in this area. The ‘Practice’ section of the EYLF (DEEWR, p. 12) also describes a holistic approach, supporting a child’s physical needs, such as their need for sleep or rest is definitely part of a holistic approach.
The case involves a number of ethical principles which make it more difficult to come up with a perfect response towards the dilemma. First, the case interferes with the ethical principle of responsibility, the teacher by allowing the child to sleep is being responsible since they see the child is really sleepy, the act of them not allowing the child to sleep and letting them struggle the whole afternoon ethically would be irresponsible (Newman, & Pollnitz , 2005).
It would be irresponsible for the teachers to look at the kids struggle to keep up with the afternoon exhaustion and do nothing about it. With me as a parent I clearly concur with the actions of the teacher deciding to let the child rest but this contradicts my main motive which is the child resting at night. This implies that the teacher is to goa against the principles of ethics on responsibility.
On the other hand, it goes on and challenges the principle of respect of other people’s rights and dignity, the teacher fails to respect the parent’s decision of not letting the child sleep and allows them to sleep (Howe & Boele, 2018). Ethically it is wrong to do against what is ethically expected of you. It feels bad as a parent to see the teacher disrespecting my decisions and letting the child sleep. But then the challenge comes in where the teacher does not disrespect you for any personal gain but for the benefit of you child. As a parent this contradicts and makes the case a much-complicated dilemma scenario. The situation challenges these ethical principles making the case much harder to resolve.
The case also challenges the ethical theories namely the utilitarian theory in respect to the parents understanding, as a parent I would agree that by denying the baby daytime sleep to have them rest enough at night is more of an utilitarian approach to the case. Despite the fact that the child wants to sleep during the day and have a comfortable day, I am willing to sacrifices this so that the baby- Mayah may sleep at light. Th good that will come out of the sacrifices will impact not only her but also us the parents and the teacher indirectly.
It is more of a sacrifice but for a better course which will be letting the baby sleep comfortably at night. The baby will also be able to comfortably wake up in the morning since they will have got enough rest out of the good night rest they had (Newman, & Pollnitz, 2005). During the day the child can the comfortably get used to the habit. But this contradicts the teacher since they apply the deontological theory by acting and behaving in a certain way which is purely directed by reason. The teacher cannot ignore the fact that the child is exhausted and needs to rest, reason state that the child is supposed to rest since his is good for their health and development.
The child for this case is expected to contradict their theoretical take on the matter and embrace the parent take on the case or this is to go the other way around (Shapiro, & Stefkovich, 2016). In return this leaves an ethical dilemma case that any step to attempt and address the matter brings in another variable to put under consideration.
Post 6 and 7informed inclination, Negotiation
Here you start to negotiate with each other the types of things that might happen to help with the dilemma. Make sure you are still discussing with each other in your roles (unless you are the child – you can still discuss things as an adult walking in the shoes of a child). Once you all post your ideas then you would come up with a final resolution/possible action. Everyone can post an idea of agree/ disagree with an idea here.
Response
As the parent, I understand how it is to spend time with the child all day and see her emotional change from one to the next throughout but there is one thing that remains constant, the child needs to abide to the parent rules, since the parent always has the child’s greater good at heart. A teacher on the other hand, should see to it that this is the same case since the minute the child is left to your care then you are more like a parent to this child. Also, the child needs to identify the authority in the room and respect that as well as the other children do.
But it is also important to view the matter in a different perspective, it becomes hard sometimes to control sleep even when you are all grown up (Shapiro, & Stefkovich, 2016). This makes it impossible to control the child’s sleeping pattern but it is evident one can engage the child in different activities that keep them distracted and avid sleep, the child can have free afternoons where they play around with toys or other children (Löfström, & Pyhältö,2017). This keeps the distracted all the way through and by evening time, they are exhausted and they get to sleep early.
The teachers are to come up with a school afternoon program or instance that engages the children and helps them not think of sleeping (Hurst, 2015). This is because back at home when they have slept all afternoon, getting them to sleep at night becomes next to impossible. This means that they end up sleeping late and waking up in the morning becomes another major challenge. This introduces another problem in the equation. It becomes hard to wake the child up since they slept late. This also affects me as the parent since I have to have sleepless night and affects my performance at work during the day (LaRossa & Bennett, 2018). This is where the application of the utilitarian theory applies, despite the fact that it is bad to restrain the baby from sleeping in the afternoon, it is for a greater god.
Here one person from your group posts a combined possible resolution/action that comes from the negotiation stage.
Response
From the negotiations the best approach has been the idea of engaging the children in physical activities in the afternoon, where they get to play with the other children or with their toys (Bowe, Ball, & Gold, 2017). This get Mayah’s mind distracted and she does not focus on the fact that she is sleepy. In return she ends up sleeping early when she gets home and wakes up early.
The approach is to be tried by the teachers while the parents try and monitor to see whether the process works. It will be the application of the utilitarian approach where the better good is at heart of the parents and the teacher (Parrott, 2014). The child will enjoy an afternoon full of activities and end up giving a peaceful evening. This becomes both productive for the parent and the teacher’s contributions to this makes it completely possible.
It also requires the application of some ethical principles such as the respect of the other persons rights which are the parents right as well as focuses on the child’s well-being as per the EC instructions (Harcourt, & Hägglund, 2013). The success of the approach though is determined by the teacher’s dedication to the program but without this it will become impossible and can be termed as the disrespect of the parent’s decision as the teacher.
References
Bowe, R., Ball, S. J., & Gold, A. (2017). Reforming education and changing schools: Case studies in policy sociology. Routledge.
Harcourt, D., & Hägglund, S. (2013). Turning the UNCRC upside down: A bottom-up perspective on children’s rights. International Journal of Early Years Education, 21(4), 286-299.
Parrott, L. (2014). Values and ethics in social work practice. Learning Matters.
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