CURRENT PRACTICES AND ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL ETHICS INSTRUCTION BY TECHNICAL EDUCATORS IN HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Ethics education and professional conduct are inextricably linked for people entering the labour market and professional practice in their professions. Despite the importance of teaching ethics, there is considerable uncertainty on how ethics and professionalism should be taught in institutions of higher learning, owing to a lack of directives and guidelines for instructors, delivery techniques, and instructor ability for teaching ethics. In this light, this article intends to investigate the current practices and issues in professional ethics instruction by technical educators particularly in the higher learning institutions. Relevant materials related to instructional activities practiced by selected technical educators are reviewed through document analysis. Successively, interviews are conducted with the technical educators to identify the issues pertaining to professional ethics instruction. The data collected are analysed and presented according to the common themes established. Review of pedagogical approaches in ethics education revealed that educators in higher education institutions adopted a variety of pedagogical approaches in teaching ethics, which include lectures, service learning, and project-based learning. Interviews with technical educators have clarified three main issues in professional ethics instructions: (i) instructional design strategy, (ii) content delivery and (iii) curriculum design issues, which resonate from the document analysis.