The Nature of Values in Early Childhood Education: An Analysis of the AECA Code of Ethics

Abstract

This paper discusses the findings of research which is examining the nature of the values embodied or intended in the Australian Early Childhood Associations Code of Ethics (1990). In order to determine the nature of these values a meta-ethical analysis is adopted. Philosophical discourse on values in Australian early childhood education needs to be asserted in the face of current discourses where values are considered to be relative, or where education is considered to be a value-free or neutral activity. This discussion should be grounded in an understanding of the nature of the values which underpin early childhood education in Australia.