U.S. State Department English Language Programs

English Teaching Forum

Return to Main Page

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Comments

Business Ethics Volume

Navigation Bar

 

Chapter 3

Business Education – Ethics and New Professionals


Classroom Applications

Preliminary Lesson Planning

Materials:

  • Prepare a case study from one of the web sites identified at the end of this chapter (see page, "Internet Resources").

  • Prepare copies of Appendix A and Appendix B.

  • Review the Sample Student Evaluation form and prepare copies for the Cool Down (final evaluation) on this chapter. A tape recorder may be used in this section of the lesson.



Warm Up Activity (approximately 10-15 minutes)

Objectives:

To teach vocabulary and concepts critical to business education; to introduce students to new ways of learning about ethics

Procedures:

  1. Explain to students that today’s lesson will be on the topic of business ethics education. Tell the students that they will have opportunities to learn new vocabulary and will discover new information about ways in which business professionals learn about business ethics.
  2. Pair students. Here, it would be helpful to try to find two students who share a common professional or business interest (example: two students who are interested in accounting).
  3. Give students instructions. Students brainstorm lists of ideas in response to the following question: In what ways can a new business professional learn about the ethical practices of a company. The students create as long a list as possible with their partners.
  4. Student pairs share their lists with their classmates.
  5. Teacher ‘wraps up’ by telling students that they have come up with some excellent suggestions. These include the following: ask a person who works in the company about the ethical practices of that company; check the World Wide Web for information on a company’s ethical code and ways in which the code is maintained; survey members of the community about a popular company’s code of ethics; or, perhaps call or visit the company and ask for this information. Most companies have such a code and are likely to distribute copies of it.

Note: Encourage students to be as creative as they can be. The ideas presented above in #5 are just examples; your students will have many other ideas!

 


Activity #1 (approximately 20-25 minutes)

Goals:

  • To demonstrate the importance of business ethics education to students
  • To teach new vocabulary
  • To help students begin to determine their own ethical values
Procedures:
  1. Tell students that in order to better understand the importance of business ethics education, they will begin a series of activities in which they will follow a model in developing "A Guide for Teaching about Ethics."

  2. First, review the content of Appendix A, "An Incomplete Guide on Professional Ethics" Complete this step by distributing copies of Appendix A, one per student. Students can work in the same pairs here as they did in the Warm Up Activity.

    Note: Teachers may wish to adapt the content of Appendix A to accommodate either (or both) the students’ interests/background and language proficiency.

  3. Read aloud the items on the chart in Appendix A. Ask students to think of one additional item to add to the list (#4 or #5). Note that #1 to #3 will vary according to the context; these items are provided as samples, and should be used for brainstorming and creating one’s own "Guide for Teaching About Ethics."


Activity #2 (approximately 30-50 minutes)

Goals:

  • To offer students an opportunity to use information obtained through this lesson (Background Information, the Warm Up Activity above, and Internet Resources)

  • To expand students’ background knowledge on the topic of business ethics

  • To identify specific ways in which one can learn about ethical practices within the student’s immediate context
Procedures:
  1. Ask students to work in pairs, with pairings made on the basis of students’ professional interest and experience. For example, two experienced accountants would work together, or two newcomers to business are paired.

  2. Distribute Appendix B: "A Guide for Teaching About Ethics ". Have students fill in the specific location for which the guide will apply. For example, the experienced accountant pair of students may fill in the blank with "Accounting in Dakar." The less experienced students might fill in the blank with "the Business Program at X University" where they study.

  3. While students are working on the chart in pairs, the teacher circulates and tries to assist students in expanding their thinking on ways of getting information on business ethics. Please note that if students are currently employed (at the time of this English language course), the task can require consideration of the ethical context in which the student works. For those who are not employed in business settings, these alternative contexts might be considered: the school or institution where the course is being offered, a company in which the student previously worked or in which a spouse or family member is working or previously worked. The goal here is for students to have an authentic and relevant context on which to draw in order to complete the chart.


Activity #3 (approximately 10-20 minutes)

Goals
  • To provide students with an opportunity to reflect on learnings
  • To practice oral communication skills as those relate to this topic
  • To evaluate student understanding and concerns about ethics education

Procedures:
    1. Ask students to put away all work, and to take out their chart (completed in Activity 2).

    2. Tell students that in this third activity, they will work on summarizing what they have learned, and on learning what information that they now have (that they did not have previously) and what information they do not yet have about their company or professional work context.

    3. Ask students to share their charts with new partners. New partners are assigned here on the basis of English language proficiency. However, students should not be assigned to the same partner as in Activity 2.

    4. Students are asked to have a conversation with their partners (length: approximately 10 minutes). Tell students that they will be evaluated by you in the conversation. They should carry on the conversation as an authentic interaction, and they should, at minimum, obtain the information listed below.

      In the conversation, each student tells the partner:

      a. What they learned from the activity
      b. What additional information they would like to obtain on ethics in their work or study contexts
      c. What they liked about the activity

    5. The teacher’s role in Step 4 is to circulate and note the following: student participation and involvement in the conversation; students’ abilities to express their understanding of the concepts presented in the chapter and their ideas and opinions on the topic of business ethics education. Students should receive feedback on their oral communication in this activity. This can be done with a simple half sheet on which the criteria for evaluation are written. A sample student evaluation form follows. The "Note" section (right hand column next to the score given) should carry specific examples of student talk on which teacher has based the grade given. The "Note" serves as documentation for the grade. These conversations tape-recorded for later use. Taped conversations by students is a rich source of material from which teacher can develop later lessons. Such tape-recorded material is authentic student talk that contains their specific and current language abilities.
Sample Evaluation
Student name: ___________________________

Scoring Scheme

4 = clear, professional
3 = generally clear with some communication problems (see note)
2 = many communication problems (see note)
1 = needs to work more on developing skills to discuss business ethics education

 

Student Participation

Expression of Understanding of Concepts

Expression of Opinions and Concerns

 Score Note
Total Score: _____



Cool Down Activity (approximately 10 minutes)

Goal:

To wrap up the lesson.

Procedures:

  1. Tell students that they have now completed the lesson on business ethics education, and that their evaluation is complete.Tell them that you will return their evaluations with the grade and comments.
  2. Remind students that their work on this topic is only a beginning. The next task will be to get more information on their workplace or prospective workplace. In this final activity, students will participate in a brainstorm session to obtain some new information.
  3. Next, students brainstorm to create a list of items about business ethics that they wish to learn about from their present or future workplaces.

Teachers may wish to use their own ideas for effective brainstorms. Two possible brainstorming techniques that many teachers and students fine useful are listed here: For a written brainstorm (generally, this is an individual student activity, but may be done as a paired or small group activity): Students can provide a list of additional information needed about the company in a journal entry.

For a face-to-face brainstorm, students can brainstorm their ideas orally in a small group or whole class setting (with a student, not the teacher) recording students’ ideas on a blackboard or flipchart).

This discussion might be tape recorded for later use.

 


Possible Extensions to the Lesson

 

  1. In Activity 1 or Activity 2, send students out of the class to complete the charts.

    2. Note: Never send students outside the class to do an activity for which they are not fully prepared and confident in their ability to complete.

  2. Ask students to choose a company and do research outside the class using company literature and archives, library resources (newspapers, magazines, etc.) and professional literature and the World Wide Web.
  3. Visit one of the web sites listed in this chapter. Present a model case study. Ask students to create a case study for use in teaching about business ethics.


Continue to next page

Return to top of page
Appendix Bibliography Internet Resources Classroom Applications Background