Values and Ethics

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Values and Ethics
Lets take a look at what really matters to you.

• What do you believe in?
• Who do you care about?
• What motivates you?
• Are you a spiritual person?
• Why are you really in college?
• How do you tell the difference between right
  and wrong?

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What are values?

• They are the ideas and beliefs about life that
  guide us to do what we do and be what we are
• They can be about
• Politics Family
• Sex Friends
• Religion Dishonesty
• Being of service Taking Risks
• Education Respect
• Money Leisure
• Career And so on

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Different kinds of Values

• Moral Values
• Values you hold for yourself but dont force on
  others such as right vs. wrong, honesty vs.
  dishonesty, being of service to others
• Aesthetic Values
• Personal standards of beauty as seen in nature,
  art, music, personal appearance
• Performance Values
• Benchmarks you set for yourself such as accuracy,
  speed, reward for achievement, self-discipline
  and overall accomplishment

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Means Ends Values

• Instrumental Values (the means)
• Objectives used to reach goals such as being
  responsible, obedient, loving, ambitious,
  independent, honest
• Intrinsic Values (the end)
• Personal happiness, a comfortable life, personal
  freedom, true friendship, a successful career

Does the end justify the means? Only you can
decide...
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Values Checklist

• Having freedom and independence
• Being well educated
• Serving others
• Having peace of mind
• Getting recognition (being famous)
• Being a good citizen
• Being healthy
• Being intelligent
• Having strong family ties
• Being honest having integrity
• Being dedicated and committed

• Having good friends
• Having a positive relationship
• Having self-respect the respect of others
• Being financially secure
• Being spiritual
• Making a meaningful contribution to mankind
• Being a moral person
• Being a great athlete
• Being physically attractive
• Being creative
• Being personally responsible
• Getting along well with people in general

Feel free to add your own...
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Values for College Success

• Connecting your personal values to being
  successful in college
• Clarify your values to be sure you really
  understand them-
• As strange as it may seem, many people operate on
  values without thinking them through.
• Truly understanding your values is key to
  applying them successfully in college, in a
  career, or in life.
• Make a forthright self-evaluation-
• Are your values workable in college?
• Do you need to change or re-figure them?
• If necessary, change your values to make them
  more productive and effective

The ability to adapt and change are two primary
attributes of a successful student.
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Forging Academic ValuesParticipate Fully

• College takes much more time and work than high
  school.
• You also have much more freedom which requires
  much more personal responsibility.
• Avoid being unnecessarily frivolous, make
  yourself stay on-task!
• And, unless you honestly have no choice, DONT
  SKIP CLASS!

Cutting class costs you money, time learning!
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Forging Academic ValuesParticipate Honorably 1

• Lets be frank If you cheat or plagiarize, you
  are side-stepping the real reason you came to
  college to get an education.
• Academic dishonesty myths
• The risk of getting caught is small.
• It only takes getting caught once and you could
  be out.
• There is no other way to be successful.
• No? Then dishonesty should be the hallmark of all
  human endeavor.
• It doesnt matter in the long run.
• Not if you dont have a conscience.
• The penalty for getting caught wont be severe.
• Is this something you want to find out the hard
  way?

As clichéd as it may sound you are only cheating
yourself!
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Forging Academic ValuesParticipate Honorably 2

• If, on the other hand, you honestly give it your
  best shot
• Practicing academic integrity builds moral
  character.
• Theres nothing like having your conscience tell
  you did it right!
• Choosing moral actions builds others trust in
  you.
• Having people believe in you is a major plus.
• Making bogus grades masks real feedback about
  learning.
• How will you ever know what you are really
  capable of?
• Improving integrity in the classroom can rebuild
  national character.
• The college classroom is an excellent place to
  begin stemming the tide of corporate greed and
  corruption.

Your conscience is your truest source of
self-esteem.
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The Eleventh Commandment
Thou shalt not get caught!
Moses never said it! Don't you believe it!
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Challenges to your Values

• At college, you are going to meet new people
  whose values may be quite different, if not
  totally opposite, to your own.
• You may be politically liberal and find yourself
  befriending a staunch conservative.
• Are you going to pass judgment and walk away?
• Or are you going to be tolerant and try to see
  the person in a new way?
• Tolerance is a very positive trait, but even it
  can be carried too far.
• If you see your new friend show a really
  self-destructive tendency, like excessive
  drinking, it is probably best not to aid and abet
  them in their weakness, but rather to tell them
  what you really think.
• Your challenge is to balance your personal
  welfare, your tolerance for diversity and your
  freedom of choice.

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Values in Conflict Dualisms

• Values of a society are often in conflict
• Poverty vs. Rugged Individualism
• The Death Penalty vs. Deterrence of Major Crimes
• And so on
• An individuals values can also be in conflict,
  often personal values reflect the two-sided
  nature of our cultures unresolved contradictory
  values.
• Who is right? Who is wrong? These are a matter
  of individual choice, based on both conscience
  and careful critical thinking.
• Think on this duality
• Earning excellent grades in college is critical
  to success in life.
• The most important decision you make in college
  is about the kind of person you want to be.
• Grades? Or Who do you want to be? How do you
  resolve this enigma?

or
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Changing Society, Changing Values

• American values are changing, caused by
• Demographic changes caused by much immigration
  from other countries
• Globalization of the world economy
• Growing environmental concerns
• Political polarization
• Breakup of the family
• Computer technology and the Internet
• The Feminist movement
• Federal intervention in states rights
• Terrorism
• And on and on
• All of these, and many more, will greatly affect
  the values of the individual.

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Service Learning and Values

• Service Learning is a teaching method that
  combines meaningful service to the community with
  curriculum-based learning.
• Serving To be effective, it should serve a
  genuine community need, seen by a student-led
  assessment and it should serve a real need.
• Linking The program needs to have a strong link
  between the community need and classroom goals.
• Learning Reflection is a key element in service
  learning. The instructor sets time and methods
  for students to reflect on and analyze their
  service experience.
• It includes the best of both worlds into one
  community service and internships into one
  learning experience.

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Think about your legacy

• In order to aid you to understand if you are
  truly living up to your values, Stephen Covey,
  author of the bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly
  Successful People, suggests you ask yourself this
  question
• Imagine that you are attending your own funeral,
  looking down at yourself in the casket.
• After you sit down, four people
• A family member
• A friend
• A co-worker
• Someone from your church or community
  organization
• give a eulogy for you.
• What would you want them to say about you?

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth...
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Value Assessment Web Resources

• College Success Factors Index
• http//www.csfi-wadsworth.com
• Steps to Successful Career Planning
• http//career.asu.edu/S/careerplan/selfdiscovery/V
  aluesAssessment.htm
• Journal of College and Character
• http//collegevalues.org/center.cfm
• Rutgers Value Assessment
• http//careerservices.rutgers.edu/OCAvaluesassessm
  ent.html
• Ohio Learning Network Values Assessment
• http//www.oln.org/student_services/plan_your_educ
  ation/assess_values.php

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Values Ethics

• In the preceding presentation about values, the
  words morals and morality came up regularly.
• Is there a connection between morality and
  ethics?
• Generally, the words are used interchangeably.
  There is, however, a difference
• Morality is usually more theoretical it is a
  philosophical concept.
• Ethics are the practical application of morality
  in daily life.
• The difference is that of theory and practice.
• If a person has a moral character, he or she will
  generally deal with other people in an ethical
  manner.

A moral person will generally act ethically.
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A 28 Day Project

• In order to determine what you believe is the
  most important personal value of all, here is a
  method originally developed by the ancient Greeks
  for determining something really important.
• At the same time every day (for instance, upon
  rising in the morning or at bedtime) for 28 days,
  keep a journal and write down The personal
  value I consider most important is ______ Try to
  keep it to as few items as possible. One thing is
  best, but if you have several items, write them
  down. Limit yourself to no more than three.
• At about the 25th or 26th day of the procedure,
  one particular value should emerge as the
  predominant one.
• Enjoy, learn and grow!

Values are to our lives as maps are to
navigators, they determine our course...