Integrating Values and Ethics into Post Secondary Teaching by Dr. Paul Tl Begley

1. Integrating Values and Ethics into
Post Secondary Teaching
38th Annual PRTESOL Convention
Friday November 18, 2011
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Paul T. Begley
UCEA Center for the Study of Leadership and Ethics
Nipissing University
Ontario, Canada

2. Presentation Plan
 Purposes:
- The Nature of the Problem We Confront
 Processes:
- Terms and Concepts
- Some Special Issues and Problems
- Being an Ethical Person / Ethical Professional
 Context:
- Values and Ethics in Teaching
- Strategies and Resources

3. Part 1: The Nature of the Problem
 Dr. Alejandro’s view
 Important Social Trends
 Dipali’s Lament

4. Our Purposes ?
 Provide students with the knowledge and
processes needed to navigate life.
 Do this by:
– Provide a vocabulary for articulating values
– Sustained dialogue about purposes
 Outcomes:
– Increased self-awareness
– Sensitivity to perceptions of others
– Capacity for self-actualization (moral compass)

5. A Moral Compass

6. Part 2: Processes, Terms
& Key Concepts
 Values are:
– A conception of the desirable with
motivating force,
- characteristic of individuals & groups,
- that influence the choice of ways and
means leading to actions
Hodgkinson (1978)

7. Part 2:
Processes and Concepts
 Where Values Come From
 The Nature of Value Conflicts

8. Formation of the Self :
- influences
- values
Transcendental
- conflicts Culture
Organization
Profession
Group
Self
Begley, 2006

9. How Values Influence Actions
(Begley 2006)
Action
Attitude
Value
Understandings
Motive
Self

10. How it works in the real world
 How we make professional decisions
using values and ethics
 The four motivational bases
 Special nature of ethics

11. Ethic/Principles
(trans-rational)
Consequences
(rational)
Educator Decision
Situation Consensus
(Accountability) (rational)
- memory
- experience
- comfort
Preferences
(sub-rational)

12. Some Problems
 “Hardening of the Attitudes”, the
negative effects of time & experience.
 The culture-based nature of ethics
 Distinguishing between personal,
professional & social values

13. More Problems
 Articulation versus commitment
 Using ethics versus being ethical
 Does environment trump character?
 Externally derived values versus
self-actualization

14. Summary: Being Ethical
Strive for Authenticity & Moral Literacy:
A synergy resulting from:
– Self-knowledge
– Sensitivity to the perspectives of others
– Professional knowledge and skills

15. Part 3: Context of Teaching
 Expert Advice; Piaget, Kohlberg, Nucci
 The Purposes of Education
 Three ways ethics relate to teaching
 Strategies and resources

16. Expert Advice
 Piaget (1965) says:
Individuals reconstruct their
knowledge of the world as a result of
interactions with the environment.

17. Expert Advice - Kohlberg
 Six Stages of Moral Reasoning
– Moving from egocentrism to reasoning
grounded in principles
– Similar to motivational bases
– Consider developmental stage with
curriculum design

18. Expert Advice - Nucci
 Three Principles:
– Focus on issues of justice, fairness &
human welfare
– Integrated within curriculum, not add-on
– Incorporate dialogue

19. Purposes of Education
 Aesthetic Purposes – be all that you
can be
 Economic Purposes – learn to earn
 Ideological Purposes – socialization,
citizenship and transmission of social
values

20. Ethics and Teaching
 Three ways ethics relate to teaching:
– Influence on cognitive processes of
individuals and groups
– Guidelines for actions & resolving
dilemmas
– As a strategic tool to build consensus

21. Strategies and Resources
 Where this information comes from
 Three Strategies
 Four specific resources

22. Three Teaching Strategies
 Emphasize and articulate Intents,
Purposes and Goals
 Use a Multi-Ethical Analysis Process
 Case Study Approach – 3 P’s Process
(personal, peer, professor)

23. Resources
 Begley’s Value Audit Process
 VEEA Journal and JALE Journal
 CSLE Annotated Resource Lists

24. The Value Audit Procedure
An Integrated Problem Analysis Resource
 Combining:
– Hodgkinson’s Value Paradigm
– Leithwood’s Problem Solving Framework
– Shapiro & Stefkovich Multi-ethical analysis

25. Value Audit Guidelines
 Step 1: Interpret the Problem
(ethic of critique)
 Step 2: A Humane Response
(ethic of care)
 Step 3: Ethical Action
(ethic of justice)

26. Value Audit Guidelines (Begley)
 Step 1: Interpret the Problem (ethic of critique)
– Who are the stakeholders? Are any unrecognized or
without voice? Hidden influence?
– What arenas of practice are relevant? (self, group,
profession, organization, community, culture)
– Does the conflict exist within one arena or
involves several? (e.g. personal vs organizational)
– Can the values in conflict be named?
– How much turbulence are the values creating?
(Degree of risk to people, organizations, or community)

27. Values Audit contd .
 Step 2: A Humane Response (ethic of care)
– What motivations and degrees of commitment
are apparent among stake holders?
– Levels of motivation among the actors?
– Is the conflict interpersonal or intrapersonal
– What are the human needs, as opposed to
organizational or abstract philosophical
standards?

28. Values Audit contd.
 Step 3: Ethical Action (ethic of justice)
– What actions or response would maximize
benefits for all stakeholders ?
– What actions or response would respect
individual rights ?
– Do competing “ends” or “purposes”
interfere with the selection of a “means”
or solution ?

29. Other Resources
 CSLE Centre website
http://www.nipissingu.ca/csle/
 Values and Ethics in Educational
Administration (VEEA)
 Journal of Authentic Leadership in Education
(JALE)
 CSLE Annotated Resource Lists

30. Thank you !
Paul Begley ptbegley@gmail.com