Teaching and Training in Ethics:

Course Structure & Objectives

The links to the left of this page contain an outline of the core content that we suggest must be part of any ethics training course.

Or, click this link to see more detailed articles on teaching ethics.

1. Build Ethical Sensitivity and Moral Cognition

Courses in ethics with case problems and lectures on ethical theory increase students’ or attendees' ability to reason through moral issues. Verified through numerous research projects, this practice is an essential aspect of a course design, and one of the principal objectives. The ability to tell right from wrong, especially on unclear or conflicting issues, is an essential requirement for professional or managerial staff members in any organisation wishing to strengthen ethical practices.

2. Teaching applied ethics relevant to the organisation

The second objective consists of four areas that strengthen the teaching of ethical practices in organisations:

(a) Build the course on the ethical issues found within the discipline, profession or organisation.

A new graduate entering a profession or organisation may encounter entrenched unethical practices that will be near to impossible for a new entrant, without basic knowledge and skills, to tackle alone. Prior classroom encounters with the issues he/she is most likely to face, however, will help clarify the new entrant’s ethical assessment and will provide a core of new graduates with the motivation and skills to resist entrenched unethical practices.

At times the ethical acceptability of some issues within a discipline or profession can be unclear. Examination of the issues within a teaching environment will do much to clarify industry or professional ethical issues and establish conventions and build skills that will help resolve these issues. The trainer or teacher therefore needs to undertake sufficient research to identify the issues in the profession and to translate them into teaching vehicles for the classroom. Tackling these issues within the course will provide participants with insights into their own ethical positions and those of their work colleagues, as well as identify possible approaches to their resolution.

This teaching practice can be extended to training courses within industry. The ethical issues within an organisation can be identified prior to the course, either from semi-structured in-depth interviews, or from early workshops, or from an extensive examination of the industry literature. As discussed below, the issues that are identified also provide the underpinnings to a code of ethics for the organisation or profession.

(b) Codes of Ethics

Codes are widely perceived as window-dressing. In addition, many observers believe that corporate codes are directed towards internal, rather than external issues, designed to stop wrongdoing by staff that is detrimental to the organisation. In short, codes designed to stop theft or misuse of the organisation’s assets, or to reduce the incidences of interpersonal or inter-group conflict are more intended to benefit the company than to stop the company‘s wrongs. The Illinois Institute of Technology’s web site, with an on-line collection of over 850 codes of ethics of professional societies, corporations, government, and academic institutions gathered over twenty years describes codes as “controversial documents”.

We advocate a six phase approach to developing a code

1. Involvement of staff
2. The active contribution of senior management
3. Identification of and countering the organisation’s ethical issues
4. An independent whistleblowing system
5. Establishment of a system of sanctions for breaches of the code
6. Assignment of staff to manage the code, whistleblowing system and ethics related activities.


The process of developing a code is crucial to the sense of ownership and observance of the code by staff. High levels of staff ownership and contribution toward a code provide a more effective code. This issue is repeatedly acknowledged in code studies. An effective code, nevertheless must also have the support of senior management, In addition a good code also reflects the moral dilemmas that employees experience, and provides assistance in their resolution. This endorsement extends to codes developed by a profession or industry association. For an academic review of our method of developing a code, click here.

Institutional sustainability theory supports this approach. Placing responsibility for the development of any work change in the hands of staff or recipients rather than solely with management or an implementing agency is a powerful means of ensuring acceptance and adoption.

Generally, codes aim either to promote aspirations in terms of values, or to control behaviour. Our answer for strengthening codes is to make them less of a tool of management, written by management for their own purposes, but a set of guidelines developed by staff or members of the profession to identify and clarify their ethical problems and to provide guidelines for possible responses. Classroom teaching of existing professional codes of ethics should note those that do not reflect the findings of research into the ethical issues of the profession.

Our sections on whistleblowing reflect the now extensive set of legislation and guidelines which require internal whistleblowing systems. These requirements would be identified in a code of ethics.

We also believe that the sanctions that are attached to the breaking of the provisions of a code should be also developed by the members of the organisation or profession.

(c) Public Interest Disclosures

The most effective way to stop wrongdoing in any organisation is to create an open, stress free method of exposing wrongdoing in the workplace. Any wrongdoing in an organisation is usually known to several people, any one of whom could bring the problems into the open. Such disclosures, referred to as whistleblowing, are an effective way to ensure honesty and ethical behaviour. Public interest disclosures therefore, need to be an obligatory component of any ethics course. Topics would include the legislative protection available to whistleblowers, the limitations of that protection, as well as approaches that help ensure success without incurring the wrath that usually descends on whistleblowers.

The motivation for exposing wrongdoing has several interconnected sources. One is that it is engendered by peoples’ preference to work in an ethical organisation. Support for this preference is found in several studies. See our paper link to last website item There is also strong support in the evolutionary biology literature to the effect that we are intrinsically cooperative, and to some extent, altruistic.

Employees, however, are subject to the prevailing culture and thought processes within the organisation. The problem of groupthink - a phenomenon where people tend to think the same on issues where in fact diversity of thought needs to be encouraged - creates a tendency not to question the organisation on moral issues.

Bringing unethical actions into public view will bring retribution on the person who revealed the unethical or illegal action. To minimise retribution, governments in the industrialised world have established legislation designed to protect people who reveal wrongdoing. Teaching the processes of stopping wrongdoing in organisations would include approaches to working with the legislation, and with its particular characteristics (the legislation varies widely from country to country). The training also would provide knowledge and skills in using the legislation so that success would be maximised, as well as approaches for the whistleblower to adopt to minimise the possibility of retribution. Whistleblower support websites are provided under Government Accountability Project; Public Concern at Work).

Training programs within industry need include the whistleblowing systems that are used internally by the industry or organisation. Link to …Whistleblowing in the private sector web page

(d) Organising for ethical behaviour

Staff must be assigned by the organisation (or industry association, professional body, etc.) to develop the code of ethics, to manage that code, to design and operate an internal whistleblowing system, and recommend sanctions for ethical transgressions. The teaching of this requirement and of the possible organisational approaches is a regular component of any ethics course.

(e)The Role of Ethical Theory

The teaching of ethical theory –ways we can distinguish right from wrong, good from bad - is necessary in ethics courses, but we suggest a modest, not a major role for theory.

The principal reason is that most unethical behaviour in an organisation is clearly identifiable. As much of it is self evident, the student or staff member can often assesses the rightness or wrongness of an action on intuition. Also much wrongdoing is captured by legislation, where the issue comes down to knowing those aspects of the legislation that apply to the profession.

There are, nevertheless, ethical issues which are complex and difficult to resolve, cases where the student or the member of the work force is uncertain of the best way to resolve issue. In such instances students, or staff in organisations, need knowledge of ethical theory. An example might be a whistleblowing decision where the whistleblower will suffer, along with perhaps his or her family, and even other staff, on account of their actions. The whistleblower has to choose between damage to themselves and associates and revealing a wrong. Distinguishing between bribery and extortion or, again, the cultural acceptability of gift-giving can be complex, as are the frequent conflicts between management objectives, owners’ desires, workforce needs, and the wishes of customers. In business also there is always the constant battle between minimising costs and issues about safety and concern for the environment. Capabilities in ethical reasoning are required not only for these many current issues, but also for those that may arise in the future.

We advocate minimal theory, sufficient for the student or employee in the workplace to reach most ethical decisions. Our approach adopts some of the simplified ethical decision making methods developed over recent years. Most combine elements of Utilitarianism and Kant’s Categorical Imperatives. We suggest Cohen’s Moral Reasoning, a short book which outlines the three principal theories and then advocates a top-down, bottoms-up approach to thinking through the options and issues until reaching a point of moral equilibrium. Other approaches are Beauchamp and Childress’ four principles: (i) Respect for the autonomy of others (ii) Non-maleficence (Do no harm), (iii) Beneficence (prevent the occasion for harm) and (iv) Ensure justice (fair treatment for all). Or William Frankena’s listing, in priority order, to: (i) not inflict evil or harm; (ii) prevent evil or harm; (iii) remove evil or harm; and finally (iv) promote good. The harm could be assessed in all its variations, including the potential for harm, or even the requirement to balance one harm against a lesser harm.

We can sum-up in a simple rule “Be good when you can, but above all do no harm”. Whether that harm is direct or indirect, against us as individuals or as a society, either now or as a possibility into the future.


3. Teaching Ethics Effectively

This section examines five pedagogical issues particular to training/ teaching in ethics that we believe warrant emphasis. The concerns are relevant whether the ethics course is taught within an organisation, be it public sector or private, or an industry association, or when taught at college or university classes. For details click the left column menu.

(a) Skills of the teacher(s)/trainers
(b) Small Class Sizes
(c) Teaching Ethics Across the Curriculum
(d) Use Experiential Learning Techniques

4. Build the Discursive / Negotiating Skills of Individuals

Advocating change in ethical practices will need communication skills and a persuasive ability of a high order. Other requirements are an understanding of one’s ethical values, and a degree of moral courage in resisting unethical conduct. These capabilities can be strengthened through an appropriate choice of experiential learning techniques.

For a young graduate entering the workplace, raising concerns about ethical practices will require considerable confidence and all the skills that a course can impart. The interactive training sessions, the presentation of group and class findings, the defence of a chosen position in the classroom, will assist the new graduate. Such training will also help those advocating change in the work day world.