Ethics and Leadership
Lab I, 1059            Wednesday's 6-10 pm

In this course, we will examine the ethical dilemmas of leadership, the foundations and context of moral choice, the moral implication of decision making within public organizations and the impact upon staff, morale, personal integrity and citizens. In doing so, our purpose is to make visible the ethical challenges and decisions criteria facing leaders, to explore the leadership role in sharing the organization's ethical culture, and to examine governmental alternatives in a post-Enron world.

An emphasis will be made on critical thinking, normative decision making, and the role of values in public policy and management. Ethical theories and principles commonly used in public administration and policy will be explored, as will theories related to leadership in public, private, and non-profit organizations.

This course will challenge students to craft their own ethical perspective strengthened through critical examination of ethics theory utilizing case studies, workshops, readings and local public leadership who will share their own ethical perspectives.

 "those who set themselves up as moral experts are those of whom we need be most suspect."
                                                                                    -  H.V. O’Gwin
 

General Objectives

This course looks at the basis of moral choice, the manner in which leaders make these choices and the moral implications of decision making. This course reasonably presupposes several alternative systems rather than the naïve belief that there is only a single absolute point of view to be uncritically adopted and unquestioningly followed. Thus, this is the opportunity to explore, to "try on" different ways of knowing. The overall goals are:

1. To raise our general awareness of ethical issues and dilemmas, leadership models, and challenges of social responsibility.
2. To place conflicts, leadership styles and social challenges in the unique context of ethics.
3. To enhance our awareness of the benefits gained and successful strategies used by leaders when engaging in ethical or socially responsible actions or through leadership approaches.
4. To gain exposure to other individuals’ opinions, reasoning processes and alternatives when resolving ethical dilemmas, demonstrating effective leadership or practicing social responsibility.
5. To introduce the successful exhibition of ethical reasoning, effective leadership and social responsibility.

Critical Thinking: Building on established knowledge and skills to promote principled leadership, students will consider theological and philosophical fundamentals that present a sound philosophical base for ethical understanding and behavior. Special attention will be given to ethical issues, theories and skills of effective public leadership.

Reflective Thinking: Develop reflection skills for professional growth and development. Through this course you will reflect upon your own leadership values, visions, and ethics and how you might better align these key areas to improve your leadership effectiveness and organizational performance. This graduate course is intended to guide each student through the complex and often contradictory issues related to ethics and leadership in the public sector.  What this course does not intend to accomplish is to require you to change your values and belief system (unless, of course, you choose to).

Writing and Articulation: Develop the skills to formulate, analyze, write, present, and critique successful ethical leadership in various types of situations and organizations.
 
 

Assignments

1. Active participation in class and seminar activities. Please review the "Seminar Expectation" handout.
2. Intellectual Journey Reflection Papers    Due each class

 
• Your Reflective Journal Papers are to be completed by the beginning of class and must be exchanged and discussed with a fellow co-learner prior to the next Seminar. These personal intellectual journals/reflections or cognitive maps should summarize the major message and concepts of the readings in a format that is useful to you and fellow co-learners. Journals are not a book report, but rather a representation of what is important in understanding the context of the readings. The intent of the journal/reflection papers is to capture your thoughts about several particular ideas, facts, or issues presented that warrant seminar discussion and summarize these concepts and theories in a form that will be useful in your intellectual journey. The papers should demonstrate your mastery of thecourse material and its application in your work life in a thoughtful, clear and well written narrative. Proper citations should be used. Peer reflections on your writing will be incorporated into your journal before the following class.

 
• Peer Reflections

There is a form of poetic writings popular locally, where one author starts by writing a poem, the reader then writes a paragraph of reflection on the poem, then writes their own poem and circle goes on until they call it complete. I am asking that we follow this format somewhat. That you read carefully your peer's reflection, you respond with a paragraph that is directly related to their topics, and then you move forward with what the paper brings to mind to you personally. You will be required to read a different peer's reflection each week and respond the following week to a peer's writing.
Please maintain these papers in a loose leaf binder and should include: 1) your original paper, and 2) your peer's reflection on your paper for each week.

Submission of loose leaf journals to faculty is required twice during the session.  (4/30 and 5/28.)

Learning Objective: Critical thinking and expression, reflective thinking and shared responsibility for co-learning community opportunity.
 
 

3. Selection of Text for Oral Presentations    Text list

 

 

You will be selecting a text from a list of options, please assure you have checked the options on line and emailed your selection.. After reading it you will present concepts the text is proposing and critiquing it within the context of the course materials. Each presentation will be limited to 10 minutes.
 

Learning Objective: General knowledge, critical assessment and evaluation, integration of subject matter, and oral presentation skills.
 

4. Self-Assessement Paper Due 6/4

 

 

Each of you will be given the opportunity to review what they have learned in this course regarding "Ethics and Leadership." This 2-3 page reflection paper will include how you may view your world, or "constructs", differently. This reflective process can also be a means to create your self-evaluation.
 

Learning Objective: Self-Evaluation and critical exploration of where you have traveled on your journey.

Badaracco Jr.,  Joseph L. (2002). Leading Quietly. Harvard Business School.
ISBN: 1578514878

Bok, Sissela. (1999). Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. Vintage Books. ISBN: 0375705287

Bruce, Willa M.  (Editor). (2001). Classics of Adminstrative Ethics. Westview Press.
ISBN: 0813398118

 Other readings, either articles or materials from websites, to be arranged.
 

Expectations and Evaluation

The course is designed as an active/experiential learning community. Much of what will be learned in this program comes from what the myriad guest speakers bring and the work we do together to weave this knowledge with the readings. Therefore, attendance and engagement are required.

Credit for the program and a positive evaluation are contingent upon the following:

1. Attending and participating fully in every class session;
2. Submitting assignments on time;
3. Demonstrating progress on learning objectives, as evidenced by classroom and assignment performance.

Plagiarism: To plagiarize is to take  ideas and writings of others and pass them off as your own.  Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Forms of plagiarism include:

•  Word for word copying of another’s written work
• Paraphrasing another’s work with a failure to properly attribute the idea, thought, or mosaic to the author
• Fabricating sources
• Neglecting quotation marks when a direct quote is used, even when the material is otherwise acknowledged.

In turn, students can expect the faculty member to be prepared for classes and seminars, to be available for office hours as posted and for scheduled meetings outside of office hours, to respond to telephone or email messages in a timely manner, and to provide timely feedback on assignments.

All students will receive a written evaluation of their academic performance by their faculty. Each student is expected to participate in the end of quarter evaluation conference with faculty. For the end of quarter conference, each student is expected to complete and bring to the conference a written self-evaluation – no conference will be conducted without the self-evaluation. Students are also expected to provide a written evaluation of their faculty member. These two evaluations are part of the requirements of the course and must be completed to obtain full credit.
 

Covenants

In furtherance of our learning community, we expect students and faculty to:

• Act in accordance with the Evergreen Contract and Student Conduct code.
• Promote a cooperative, supportive atmosphere within the community; give everyone opportunity for self-reflection and expression.
• Use high standards in reading the text and preparing our papers, lectures, and comments in seminar.
• Handle all disputes in a spirit of goodwill.

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E-mail:bantzj@evergreen.edu
Last modified: 05/16/2003