Blog 4
Dorothy Thompson
Date: 2/28/12
I volunteered in an infant/toddler multicultural classroom and spoke with the director, teacher and parent. There was a lot of language in the classroom, both Spanish and English. There was music in both languages. Parents had to spend an hour a day in the center. I was told that this was to help young parents gain parenting skills. As I sat in the classroom playing with a couple of children the teachers were sharing information about a child that needed a helmet for his head. His head was slanted in the back. He was a very intelligent child and was on task developmentally. I was surprised to hear them say that the child had a flat head because of him laying on it too much. I watched as children were taken care of by caregivers, student aids, and parents. I was able to help provide care for a child also as I volunteered in the classroom, I read books, sang to them, and provided basic care.
I was surprised at how the staff talked about the child in the classroom with all these people in the classroom. I feel that only the director and teaching staff should have discussed this in private. I feel that this breached the confidentially of the child and his family. I feel that confidentiality is very important. Information about children and families should not be discussed in front of people that are not staff directly in contact with the child. They treated confidentially too casually. I ask the director if they valued confidentiality. She answered, yes why? I mentioned that I was concern about confidentiality of parents and children and wanted to know what to do if it occurred if I was in the room. She said that it should be reported. I later asked the teacher in the classroom, do you all value the confidentiality of families and she said, all the time. She then looked at me with a look of surprise. I was surprised because of what I had heard between her and other teachers and parents in the classroom. I learned not to take families for granted. I learned that if I am to be an advocate for families they have to be able to trust me with information that is very sensitive to them and that I must earn that trust.
The insights I want to share is the confidentiality of families and how it felt to be in an environment different from the one that I am accustom to. I know how it must feel for those Spanish speakers to be in a country and not understand the language. I felt very uncomfortable in the classroom with so many Spanish speaking people. Half the time I did not know what was going on. I just interacted with the children and observed as I would with all English speaking environment.
Dorothy,
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you about the confidentiality. I often have interns that get upset with me because I do not discuss some concerns openly in the classroom and they are not included. Sorry, you are not staff and even then I do not tell all staff everything. If it is going to effect how they do their job with the child, such as a change in bus stops or who may be picking the child up, then I will tell. Also, if a child may be having a difficult time and a higher number of behavioral issues are occurring I may share, with staff members only, that there may be some changes happening at home but that is all.
I agree, that parents do realize and appreciate when the staff respect them enough to not talk about them so openly.
I applaud that you brought the concern to the director and the teacher.
Confidentiality is very important always. When I first started working in early child care we had to sign confidentiality contract that forbidden us from speaking things about the children and staff. A teacher can be terminated for breaking the terms of the contract. Confidentiality protects the child as well as other partied involved, people sometimes don't realized how they words can be hurtful and who the child can be connected to in the classroom. They didn't know if you were related to the child or not. That could have created a major problem for the classroom.
ReplyDeleteConfidentiality is something that I value, however it does not surprise me that the teachers were talking. As a director I have come accrossed this on several occasions and find that teachers often do not think they are breaking confidentiality. For some reasons when someone is in the room like a volunteer they almost feel compeled to share information.
ReplyDeleteWe have a contract that staff sign each year on confidentiality along with a mandatory training. Yet it is only a piece of paper, teachers have to buy into the importance of confidentiality and why it is in place.
It's sad that teachers and staff are discussing the child in front of the child. You think they don't know what you're talking about but they do.
Delete