ethics in multilingual and multicultural contexts: spanish community service learning

Ann Abbott, UIUC; [email protected]; @AnnAbbott; http://pinterest.com/abbottbarbieri/

1. Match each community service learning (CSL) situation with the corresponding ethical information.

CSL Ethical value

1. You have worked the required 28 hours in the

community for the course. Another student has

bragged that he sometimes skips his work in the

community and another student signs the volunteer

work log for him.

a. It is important to be trustworthy and keep

your commitments, even when it costs you.

2. There is a pile of client files on the volunteer desk

when you get to your CSL work with this note on top:

“Please file carefully.” Filing is not what you signed

up for. You race through the pile.

b. It is our obligation to report ethics

violations, and there should be protections in

place for whistleblowers.

3. This week you have midterms, a team project due,

and your parents are visiting. You decide to skip your

CSL work and just double your hours next week.

c. A professional code of conduct outweighs

personal beliefs.

4. Because you have experience as an interpreter, your

CSL supervisor asks you to accompany a client to her

medical appointment. When you get to the clinic, you

discover the appointment is for emergency

contraception, which is against your religion.

d. Work ethics include doing your job well,

to the best of your ability.

2. Making ethical decisions requires us to think about the consequences of our decisions. In this activity,

match the same CSL situations with the possible consequences.

CSL Unintended consequence

1. You have worked the required 28 hours in the

community for the course. Another student has

bragged that he sometimes skips his work in the

community and another student signs the volunteer

work log for him.

a. Your supervisor may schedule an out-of-

office appointment based on your weekly

work schedule. The entire organization loses

credibility and trust when appointments are

cancelled or the office is unattended.

2. There is a pile of client files on the volunteer desk

when you get to your CSL work with this note on top:

“Please file carefully.” Filing is not what you signed

up for. You race through the pile.

b. A client’s documentation regarding an

application for asylum could be lost,

resulting in the client’s deportation.

3. This week you have midterms, a team project due,

and your parents are visiting. You decide to skip your

CSL work and just double your hours next week.

c. You could violate one of the professional

codes of conduct: “Interpreters and

transliterators should not interject or reveal

their own feelings, moods, attitudes, or

beliefs while performing their professional

duties.”

4. Because you have experience as an interpreter, your

CSL supervisor asks you to accompany a client to her

medical appointment. When you get to the clinic, you

discover the appointment is for emergency

contraception, which is against your religion.

d. A culture of dishonesty can develop.

Community partners may discontinue their

partnerships with a CSL program that is not

deemed reliable.

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3. The ethical choices you must make in your CSL work often reflect similar decisions you will

eventually make in your career. Working in pairs, read the following situations and answer the questions.

1. You are new on the job, and you have already witnessed several employees taking home office supplies

from the work supply cabinet. You want to say something to your manager, but you don’t want to be

labeled as a snitch.

What would you do?

What experiences in your CSL course are related to this work situation?

2. You fly to Lisbon to service a $400,000 high-tech, scientific instrument the clients bought from your

company a few months ago. You are excited to visit Portugal and pick up some Portuguese. When you

get to the laboratory, you quickly realize that the clients are irate. They claim the instrument doesn’t

work, and they want to return the instrument and get their money back. You are upset because your

manager told you that you only needed to adjust the lasers in the instrument. What do you do?

What would you do?


3. You are on the R&D team of a small high tech business, and you pour your creativity into your

engineering and design projects. Your manager tells you about the paperwork you must frequently file to

comply with ISO standards (ISO is quality management system). You hate paperwork and would rather

be doing the fun stuff that actually utilizes your talents and generates revenue for the company. What do

you do?

What would you do?


4. You manage several employees, and one of them recently padded his travel expense report. You

resolved the problem, but now you must decide if you trust him enough to send him to Chicago for the

regional tradeshow by himself. What do you do?

What would you do?


5. Your buddies are organizing a ski trip that you don’t want to miss. Your vacation days for this year are

gone, but you still have sick days that you are considering using for this trip. What do you do?

What would you do?





4. Take the Business Ethics/Integrity self-test developed by Dr. Denis Waitley (Empires of the Mind). Use

the following scale:

5 = strongly agree 4 = agree 3 = uncertain 2 = disagree 1 = strongly disagree

_______ 1. I don't give in to the temptation to pad my expense account.

_______ 2. I do a full day's work for a full day's pay.

_______ 3. I never take office items, even small ones, for personal or family use.

_______ 4. If my fellow workers were as honest as I am, our company would never have to

worry about white-collar crime or lack of business ethics.

_______ 5. Those who know me consider my word my bond.

_______ 6. "Loyal and faithful friend" is one way my friends would describe me.

_______ 7. Recognizing how readily we influence the behavior of others, I strive to set a good

example of business ethics in all my endeavors.

_______ 8. Each day I work at remaining honest in all interactions, both in and out of the office.

_______ 9. If my spouse's emotional and physical fidelity were equal to mine, I would be

satisfied.

_______ 10. In general, my approach toward others, both at home and away from home, is to

treat them the way I would like to be treated.

Discussion questions. Are you surprised by any of the results? Do you think the test is an

accurate way to measure a person’s ethics and integrity? Do you think the ethical concepts we

need to follow when working with vulnerable and marginalized communities are covered in the

test? Do you think the test has any cultural biases?




5. In your community service le arning (CSL) work for this course, you work with vulnerable and

marginalized communities. You have also been trained to protect the privacy of all client information. But

surprising and unsettling situations can arise. Read the following situation and then reply to the questions.

(Questions adapted from Michael Davis [1999] Ethics and the University, New York: Routledge, p. 166-

167.)

For your community service learning work this semester you have worked at the Refugee Center. Now

you are at home, sitting at the table, enjoying the conversation with your large, extended family. You are

sitting across from a cousin who you know from previous conversations has anti-immigrant feelings.

During a lull in the conversation, he asks you, loud enough for everyone to hear, “So are those people you

work with at the Refugee Center illegals? Shouldn’t you report them?”

1. In your own words, what is the ethical dilemma in this situation?

2. Pair up with another student and brainstorm at least three ways that you could respond in that situation.

Be creative—explore the options beyond answering “yes” or “no.”

*

*

*

3. Run the following tests on each option above.

*Does this option do less harm than the other options?

*Would you want this response to be published in the newspaper?

*Can you defend this option before your supervisors at the Refugee Center? Your professor? Your

classmates?

*Would you still think this option was good if you yourself were adversely affected by it?

4. What is the best option on your list? Why?



ethics in multilingual and multicultural contexts: spanish community service learning

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