Ethics and Critical Thinking
Is there currently a lack of focus on Ethics in the classroom? Are we doing enough to encourage our student to critically consider the ethics of the situations they are studying in our classes?
Mr Carl, ethics is often overlooked in classrooms today. I am a new instructor at UTI in California, which focuses on automotive technology education. Schools often teach ethics based on modelling, which relies on a distinct teacher-student connection to be effective. Professionalism is a key part of instruction at UTI, of which ethics is a large part. Situational ethics may be taught outright, or during anecdotal conversations with students. I do believe, however, purposeful courses/labs in ethical behavior could be used to build upon students' prior learning by using industry-specific scenarios.
Hi Jo Anne,
Excellent comments about the need to help students with the development of their ethics base. Many of the careers we are training students in involve decision making that impacts the lives of customers, patients and families. Our students need to realize the impact that they will be having on the lives of others and then develop the ethical base from which they can operate their careers.
Gary
I think that church attendance can be a big part of a person's ethics base, but there are many people out there who do not participate in formal religion. I think that ethics is first formed in the home environment...a child learns based on what is presented to them in the home, and that is what they continue to do...
But that doesn't mean we can't change the person who was not presented with a strong ethics base either at home or through faith. I think as an educator, not only showing students the consequences of certain actions, but to instructor/advise them to think out a situation before responding...that is the key. In advising students that there is a consequence to every action and to think before acting, we develop in the student the critical thinking necessary to grow and advance.
Hi Patrick,
I am strong on branding and that is what the successful companies like the Ritz Carlton has done with their image. We can do that with our teaching as well.
Gary
By getting them expelled from the school.
Yes, you can do so much on that issue . To create a culture in our schools similar to what the Ritz Carlton does with its employees. It would be so beneficial to the long term reputation of our name.
I think you're right (and I say this as a non-Christian), but of course you'll get savaged in a lot of situations for suggesting that religion has a valuable role in American society today. The current trend (over the last 20+ years) has been to minimize the productive and constructive aspects of religion, not to reinforce it.
I agree with this notion. Critical thinking about ethics in particular is problematic. I have discovered that many students are lacking in even fundamental ethical training. What I attribute that to is a lack of things like church attendance. Without religious training of any sort, many people have nothing upon which to base their ethical beliefs. Where do they get them? That is hard to say. But it is important to recognize that the common basis for ethical judgments that we used to take for granted has eroded significantly in the past 20 years or so.
Hi DaNae,
Good method of being real life into the classroom and giving examples to which the students can relate. In many of our classes we are not talking about ethics as much as we should since as evidenced by much of what is going on today in our culture we need to help our students to understand the ethics and professional requirements of their career area.
Gary
I give lots of examples. I always tie ethics to law. Start with a candy bar example and a store. Everyone should agree that this is stealing. It is against the law and unethical. Then talk about how people are paid for their thoughts and ideas. Books, movies, music are all examples. Keep the discussion going with additional examples that students generate. I then talk about how even if you don't agree with something, you still need to do the ethical or legal thing. I always ask students to put themselves in the opposite position and tell me how they would feel if they didn't get paid for something. It helps them to look at it from the other side.
Hi Susan,
The ethics of the situation has to be covered at the very beginning of the class and then reinforced continually. If this does not work then a plan needs to be developed where consequences of such actions are clearly spelled out. Then the polices need to be enforced. If the students can't understand or won't comply with such ethical practices then they need to be dismissed from the program. You can't let these students leave the program thinking that they can steal anything they want as a part of their program.
Gary
How can I get my students to understand that stealing computer software and other digital assets is unethical?
Hi Janet,
You are right about your assessment of student needs. It is critical that students develop a strong ethical base from which they can problem solve. I try to impress this on my students so they will "stand out" when it comes to entering the workplace. Critical thinking skills are essential and can only be developed individually but the problem with it is that it is work. Skill in this area comes only as a result of repeated opportunities to work through case studies, problem solve or trouble shooting. Development in these areas will continue to be a part of my efforts as long as I am in the classroom.
Gary
I agree, we need to continue to focus on doing the right thing in our classrooms...be role models and facilitate the process by being mentors.
Critical thinking appears to have lost its edge in education, and students struggle with what is ethical behavior and how do they critically analize what is right and or wrong. Students share alot of information with each other and they see little error in sharing information when most need to find the answer themselves and focus on learning verses getting the highestg grade.
Hi Timothy,
You are right on with your concern that students get information about ethics and then have an understanding of ethics as they complete their course work.
Two things are missing in a lot of course work today and these are soft skills and ethics. Students need to have both if they are going to be successful in their careers.
Gary
Many times ethics are at the beginning of a text and instructors gloss over it. Hitting ethics both at the beginning AND end of the quarter/semester after the subject has been delivered is the best way of impacting the students. Ethics only at the beginning of a subject is dumb, since the students frequently are not cognizant of the course subject, and they are worried about the subject matter more than the ethical issues.
Hi Robert,
You raise a good question. Many instructors feel we are not doing enough to teach ethics in our classrooms and labs. At all levels we need to make sure we are educating our students about the ethics of our fields and how they should conduct themselves in relation to the standards of the career.
Gary
