Teaching Ethical Decision Making: Designing a Personal Value Portrait to Ignite Creativity and Promote Personal Engagement in Case Method Analysis

Though case studies are extremely effective in introducing students to the ethical issues inherent in professional work, traditional case studies have the drawback of distancing students from the story line, and not giving them a chance to articulate and defend personal value assessments in addressing the ethical dynamics reflected in the case. This article describes teaching exercises that encourage the creation of language to form that conceptual framework and help students develop the ability to not only identify ethical issues but also recognize and more effectively communicate the struggles by molding a personal values portrait to apply to such cases.