Toward Ethical Practice

Reflections on Toward Ethical Practice by Ralph G. Brockett and Roger Hiemstra (2004)

To assist in creating a personal code of ethics and philosophy statement, I have been reading Brockett and Hiemstra’s book on ethical practice and I have to admit, I am hooked-on-ethics!!  (sidebar – how many of us remember the “hooked-on-phonics” campaign?) I am certainly not an “ethicist” after this short read, but I am an ethics enthusiast! Why the excitement?  Well, I am a sucker for models ;-) not the fashion variety, but the process variety.  Brockett and Hiemstra (2004) introduce a model for ethical decision making (EDM) that can be used to process a “dilemma” through a series of considerations “values, obligations and consequences” resulting in a “response”.

Brockett and Hiemstra, 2004

The book takes a practical look at how ethical decision-making should be practiced in all areas, but specifically in the profession of educating adult learners.  Brockett and Hiemstra (2004) offer a process to use (the EDM), they describe many examples of its use, and they challenge the reader to review and reflect on their own philosophies and practices.

I can relate to Brockett and Hiemstra first-hand as I deal with decision-making on a daily basis as a professional administrator in higher education.  Students who seek my guidance are in academic crisis.  They often have a decision to make; do they drop the class or tough it out.  Faculty, who seek out advice, are deciding to drop a student, fail a student, or keep trying to work with a student.  I am making the decision to support the student or support the faculty member… I can easily see how incorporating the EDM into my practice, and advising faculty and students to do the same, could be beneficial. 

In anticipation of my first teaching assignment, I believe I could easily apply the model (and the practice) as I work through the diverse situations that are sure to come up for my students along the way.

Finally, I plan to use what I have learned in the remaining assignments, throughout my blog, and in my final project.

I recommend this book (and already have) to anyone who works with people.  That’s just about ANYONE in any capacity, in my humble opinion (IMHO).