Teaching professional ethics in counsellor education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

One mark of a profession is that it articulates a shared vision of the responsibilities involved in professional relationships, generally expressed in a Code of Ethics. But what are the processes involved in inducting new members into a profession and offering them opportunities to translate and grow personal ethics into professional ethics? The study on which this article reports aimed to investigate the practices employed by counsellor educators in Aotearoa New Zealand in ethics education. The study asked two organising questions: what is taught, and how is it taught? In reporting on the study, this article seeks to offer a contribution to dialogue about how ethics might be learned and taught in initial counsellor education. The article raises questions for further discussion. To what extent should the how and what of ethics teaching be woven together? How do we educate for a practice where we cannot know ahead of time whatambiguities will emerge? How much theory of ethics is needed for ethical practice? When do we begin to teach ethics? How well are we teaching an ethics of partnership that is relevant for Aotearoa?