Activity 3.3 | Moving through Conflict

Sandra and Joan are both educators at Sunshine Child Care Centre. Sandra has been an educator for nearly twenty years, completing her diploma after high school. She has worked exclusively in caring for young children but in several different centres. She cares deeply about children and is very connected to their families. She feels comfortable with schedules and believes children need routines to feel safe. Joan is a more recent graduate and worked in outdoor programs before deciding to become an early childhood educator. She also cares deeply about the children and believes being outdoors as often as possible is important for their well-being.

The two educators are respectful about their differences in philosophy, but Sandra has started to feel resentful that Joan stays outdoors, allowing the children to continue to engage in free play and self-directed interests and disrupting the planned indoor activities.

Joan has noticed that Sandra does not communicate as openly as before and is often abrupt in conversations. The program manager has noticed that their relationship seems to be deteriorating but isn’t sure why.

Consider:

• How do their pedagogical practices differ in the image of the child/learner and the role of the educator? What are some shared practices?
• How does each educator appear to understand inquiry-based learning?
• Explore strategies to foster better collaboration. Who might be involved?
• How would you incorporate the Code of Ethics in this situation?

Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia. (2021). Code of ethics. https://www.ecebc.ca/resources-merchandise/code-of-ethics