Week 7 – ETHICAL BEHAVIOR, DIVERSITY, AND CIVIL DISCOURSE

My degree is an EDD in Performance Improvement Leadership 

• Assignment Overview
  In the assignment this week, you will write a paper (7–10 pages), including a literature review, that examines ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse in the context of your particular focus and specialization.
• What You Need to Know
  Ethical Reasoning
  Morris (2016) tells us:
  In fall 2016, more than twenty million students enrolled across more than four million colleges and universities in the U.S. One in four students were members of a minority group, and approximately one million were international students. These students interacted with approximately four million administrators and faculty and staff members in a diversity of settings. Most of these students will easily transition into a life of academics and social interactions. For others, insults, aggressions, and lack of inclusion are a reality; and these experiences will shape their interactions and perceptions . . . on the challenges facing the nation and world and considering the role that post-secondary education plays in improving civil discourse nationally and creating safe spaces for dialogue and personal growth. (p. 361)
  Morris (2016) goes on to argue:
  First, [we must] identify resources to support conversations around civil discourse, social justice, and inclusion. Could we individually and collectively in every department, college, and administrative unit resolve to make a difference—to role-model and ask our students to be kind, show compassion, be inclusive and fair, and extend a hand of friendship? Maybe our academic words, like social justice, just do not resonate. Perhaps people forget that words have power and can cause long-lasting pain or can provide encouragement. While we may study and advocate for equity, perhaps we should say that this campus and my class will discuss challenging topics; but we will be characterized by the following values: to listen, to reflect, to show compassion, to think critically, and to care about this community of learners. I know: it sounds like Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (1988). However, sometimes simple guidelines work best. (p. 361)
  Use your Critical Thinking text to quickly review the following:
  • Chapter 14, “Develop As an Ethical Reasoner,” pages 345–365.
  • If you did not complete the Blooming Park: Ethics, Diversity, and Personnel Selection simulation last week, complete it now to begin work on the interviews relevant to your organization: P–12 education, higher education, business or corporate, or military. This activity will give you the opportunity to grapple with the ethical questions that frequently arise in professional contexts, which will be the focus of your assignment this week.
    Diversity and Multiculturalism
    Diversity in all organization settings can take many forms. We may consider differences across many criteria, including the following:
  • Ethnicity.
  • Ethnic identity.
  • Gender.
  • Gender identity.
  • Culture.
  • Ability and disability.
  • Developmental criteria.
  • Age and generation.
  • Other exceptionalities.
  • When taking account of this diversity, the principles of multicultural education encourage us to acknowledge differences, addressing the reality of each person’s experience and seeking the best possible outcomes for all.
    This week, you are asked how the diversity of the constituencies you serve within your organization need to be considered when planning and implementing education programming. Theories in the fields of diversity and multicultural education indicate that an important role of educators is to plan for and implement education practices that recognize the diverse needs of the people they serve. 
    Use the Capella library to read the following:
  • Banks, J. A. (Ed.). (2012). Encyclopedia of diversity in education. Sage.
    • Read “Introduction” (Volume 1, starting on page xlvii).
    • Scan “Index” (Volume 4, beginning on page 2383) for a comprehensive listing of terms and topics related to diversity.
  • Doubet, K. J., & Hockett, J. A. (2017). Classroom discourse as civil discourse. Educational Leadership, 75(3), 56–60.
  • Morris, L. V. (2016). Collective action for civil discourse [PDF]. Innovative Higher Education, 41(5), 361–363.
  • Use the Internet to read the following:
  • Gay, G. (1994). A synthesis of scholarship in multicultural education [PDF]. Eric. 
  • Teaching Tolerance. (n.d.). Civil discourse in the classroom.
  • Explore the following websites to learn about standards, definitions, and issues related to ethics and diversity:
  • American Council on Education. (n.d.). 
  • Council for Exceptional Children. (n.d.).
  • The National Association for Multicultural Education. (n.d.). 
  • Reference
    Morris, L. (2016). Collective action for civil discourse. Innovative Higher Education, 41(5), 361–363.
• Assignment Instructions
  ETHICAL BEHAVIOR, DIVERSITY, AND CIVIL DISCOURSE
  Overview
  Ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse are subjects not easily defined for study. We can point to perceived differences between people and cultures; however, that is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, ignoring the effects of those differences in a given context. Additionally, focus on ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse usually requires value comparisons and judgments, rather than a one-side-versus-the-other approach. For additional information on these concepts and how they tie into the assignment, see the Week 7 Assignment Background Information [PDF] document.
  In the context of the field of education, the effects of ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse on individuals and organizations are impossible to ignore. The challenges of adopting a broad view of difference and creating an equitable learning experience for all whom we lead are many, and they are not easily met. However, the professional literature of the field is a rich resource of tools, research, and practical experience and application.
  For this assignment, you will review the literature related to ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse in the context of your particular focus and specialization and choose one main concern for each of these domains to analyze in the literature review section of your paper. You will apply the skills you started building in the Literature Review assignment in Week 4. Similar to what you did previously, but focused now on the challenges relevant to these domains and inherent to your specialization, you will research and review scholarly, peer-reviewed literature. Going one step further, you will then choose and explain the main challenges in your specialization, as suggested by your review. Note that you are writing a condensed literature review for this assignment.
  Reminders
  Note that:
  Save Time On Research and Writing

  Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper.

  Get My Paper
  • The literature that you will select and discuss in this assignment is totally distinct from those sources that you searched and discussed in your Week 4 Literature Review assignment, but the skills you employed in that assignment will apply here.
  • Writing a literature review is a key part of academic work. A literature review is a piece of writing that describes what has been learned about a topic through previous research efforts. A literature review is essentially a report on work previously done in a field, to show an understanding of the context for your own writing. A literature review is not a summary of individual sources in a list, such as in the form of an annotated bibliography. Rather, the literature review paraphrases the findings from the scholarly readings you selected. You will seek the key themes from the different sources, and you will use in-text citations to support the information you learned from the scholarly readings.
  • Use Academic Writer for guidance in citing sources and formatting your paper in proper APA style. See the Evidence and APA section of the Writing Center for instructions on accessing and using Academic Writer. 
    Instructions
    Before you begin your paper, examine the grading criteria in the scoring guide. 
  • Use the Sample Course Paper Template [DOCX] as a guide for formatting and organizing your course papers.
  • Use the Week 7 Writing Revision Matrix [DOCX] template to address feedback you receive on this assignment from your instructor. Refer to the Writing Revision Matrix instructions below for further information. 
  • Paper Organization
    Start with a title page and organize your paper with the following guidelines:
  • Title page: Include a title page with the following title: Ethical Behavior, Diversity, Civil Discourse, and [Name of Your Specialization]: A Literature Review.
  • Introduction: The opening content should directly follow the title of the paper (repeated from the title page). In this section, list or summarize the issues you selected from the literature related to ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse, and provide a summary or road map for the content included in your paper.
  • Overview of issues: Begin the body of your paper with an overview of the issues related to ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse you chose for this review. Describe connections among these issues and their significance to education. Write in third person and include literature support.
  • Diversity issue related to specialization: Provide detailed descriptions and examples of how the issues you chose to review specifically relate to your specialization. Write in third person and include literature support. 
  • Ethical behavior issue related to specialization: Provide detailed descriptions and examples of how the issue you chose to review specifically relates to your specialization. Write in third person and include literature support.
  • Civil discourse issue related to specialization: Provide detailed descriptions and examples of how the issue you chose to review specifically relates to your specialization. Write in third person and include literature support.
  • Review of the literature: The literature review should include a minimum of five references from peer-reviewed journal articles related to your education specialization. Analyze this scholarly literature, focusing on the connections between your educational specialization and the issues of ethical behavior, diversity, and civil discourse you chose to research. Continue writing in third person and cite the literature for support.
  • Conclusion: Your conclusion should emphasize the main themes in your paper and provide a synthesis of the literature reviewed, with special attention to the connections and relationships among the issues you chose to research and your educational specialization.
  • References: Include a minimum of five different scholarly, peer-reviewed journals (related to your field of specialization) that are also cited in the paper. Your citations must have references and your references should be included within your paper as in-text citations.
  • Research Guides
    Refer to the EdD Program Library Research Guide and the EdS Program Library Research Guide for guidance on gathering scholarly resources. The topical tabs offer more advice for each specialization. If you have questions about gathering articles or other materials, see the Library Help page for personal assistance through chat, e-mail, and phone.
    Additional Requirements
    In addition to the requirements outlined above, your assignment should meet the following:
  • Assignment template: Use the Sample Course Paper Template [DOCX] for the assignment.
  • Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
  • Sources: A minimum five scholarly, peer-reviewed sources from at least three different scholarly journals for your field or specialization.
  • APA formatting: Follow current APA style and formatting for in-text citations. For more information on the APA guidelines for in-text citations, go to Academic Writer and use the Learn tab to find the Quick Guides on Citing Sources and Paper Format and Organization.
    • Include a title page with the following title: Ethical Behavior, Diversity, Civil Discourse, and [Name of Your Specialization]: A Literature Review.
  • Length: The paper should be 7–10 pages, in addition to the title page and references page.
  • Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
  • Portfolio Prompt: Consider saving this assignment to your ePortfolio. The work you submit for this course will only be retrievable for a limited time, and you may want or need to access these assignments in the future.
    Submit your paper as a Word document in the Week 7 assignment area.