Unpacking Fidelity: Competing Ethics of Early Childhood Education

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Perspectives in Early Childhood Practice: Rethinking Documentation, Assessment, and Performance

Abstract

Teaching young children in the accountability era is incredibly challenging. While early childhood teacher educators often focus on developing teachers’ professional knowledge, less attention is afforded to the ethical commitment that drive early childhood teachers’ daily practices. Furthermore, teachers are frequently expected to implement evidence-based programs and interventions with fidelity. This narrative inquiry illustrates the ethical commitments of two dedicated early childhood professionals who deviated from evidence-based scripts. They resisted the predominant accountability logic, and narrated an alternative ethical framework to describe their fidelity in teaching. Examining their stories of practice sheds light on how, and on what grounds, two teachers of young children challenge the technocratic reductionism that beleaguers the early childhood field.

Author

• Daniel J Castner, Indiana University