Ethical Reflection on Personal and Professional Development Format: 10–12 pages, excluding references
The Final Project is an ethical reflection paper that will give you the opportunity to reflect on your personal and professional moral and ethical development.
You will also have the opportunity to reflect on case studies that you reviewed throughout the term. Topics from the case studies should come from the Stone (2017) textbook and should include; confidentiality, record keeping and reporting, boundaries, and vulnerable populations. You will also have the opportunity to apply content that you have learned throughout the course and reflect on how this course has contributed to your overall development as an ethical school counselor. Finally, you will have the opportunity to reflect on how becoming an ethical school counseling practitioner will allow you to engage in advocacy and to influence positive social change.
Ethical Reflection on Personal and Professional Development Major Section
There are four major sections to your Final Project:
- Influences on my moral and ethical development
- Case Studies and reflection
III. Enhancing Ethical Decision Making
- Summary Reflection
Section 1: Personal reflection: Influences on my moral and ethical development
Some examples of questions/issues that you can address:
- You may share how you developed a sense of right and wrong.
- Who/what influenced your moral and ethical development?
- What experiences contributed to your personal and professional beliefs? Are your personal and professional beliefs congruent?
- What is your idea of right and wrong? Are there absolutes or are there shades of gray? Do the same guidelines apply in all circumstances?
- What are some of your basic values that guide your work and your life? What experiences have potentially influenced your decision making?
- What aspects of your personality and work ethic are most compatible with the counseling field? Which aspects are the least compatible?
- Was there a time, in your personal or professional life, when you felt that your confidentiality was violated, that you were involved in a dual relationship in which you felt uncomfortable, or perhaps an issue resonated unexpectedly with you (e.g., transference)?
Section 2: Case studies and reflection
- Provide a brief overview of four (4) case studies that you read and/or discussed earlier in the term from the Stone, C. (2013) textbook. The cases reviewed should include the following ethical and legal issues; confidentiality, record keeping and reporting, boundaries, and vulnerable populations
- Reflect on your initial responses to the ethical scenarios making sure to highlight the strengths and limitations in your initial responses.
Section 3: Enhancing Ethical Decision Making
- Explain how you will enhance your ethical decision making and subsequent actions in future ethical situations. Make sure to explain how relevant ethical codes, laws, and policies will aid you in enhancing your skills. Also, be sure to discuss how supervision and/or consultation will enhance your ethical decision-making skills.
- Address the ethical and legal challenges in each case that you highlighted. Briefly discuss and apply an Ethical Decision Making Model (EDM), making sure to highlight relevant ASCA Ethical standards and/or ACA ethical codes, to the ethical challenges in each case. Explain the strengths and limitations related to your response to the scenarios.
Section 4: Ethical Reflection on Personal and Professional Development Summary Reflection
- Discuss how this assignment contributes to your overall development as an ethical school counselor. Explain how you have changed because of your work in this course. Describe personal and ethical values you have reexamined because of your work in this course.
- Discuss how practicing as an ethical school counselor will allow you to serve as an advocate for students and influence positive social change within schools and communities?
*Be sure to reference at least 4-6 resources other than the course textbooks*
The Final Project will be evaluated according to all four indicators in the Final Project Rubric, available in Final Project Information tab.
