Our project relates to communication ethics and diversity by taking into consideration the diverse cultural, ethnic, and various other diversity factors when planning specific activities.
Assumptions about moral character differ across cultures because of different influences such as parental and geographical location. Communication ethics for us can be defined essentially as treating individuals as you would like to be treated and respecting all individuals with their views because after all, everyone is diverse.
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Communication ethics and diversity are related in many ways. Our textbook defines ethics as a way of deciding whether a particular statement or form of communication is right or wrong. Our personal decisions on whether the communication is right or wrong depends in part on different values, morals, and other diverse factors. Each person has a different set of maxims, or rules that helps determine what we consider to be ethically right or wrong. An ethical person strives to be virtuous. According to our book, virtues are tendencies to act in certain ways under certain conditions. Each person’s unique and diverse upbringing alters what is considered to be ethical in different situations of communication.
Communicating ethically has a lot to do with how communication can be interpreted when speaking with various diverse cultures and individuals. When communicating with diverse individuals ethics are related to communication by first, being conscious of what you are saying and how it affects someone else. Second, communication ethics are concerned with what is the truth or right in speaking. So when communicating ethically when dealing with diverse cultures it is best to be respectful and essentially treat the individual or group as you would like to be treated which is similar to Kant’s second categorical imperative. Also, when listening to others that are diverse speak you should keep an open critical mind and be overall respectful.
We are all diverse whether it is our beliefs, likes, dislikes, color of our skin, choices of music etc... Diversity is related to ethics because as stated in our text ethics is deciding if a particular statement or form of communication is right or not. We then make the conscious ethical decision to determine how we interact and speak with people different from us. We can use the three characteristics of the foundation of ethical behavior to break the communication down. What we know affects what we choose to say or do and therefor the decision to act upon our knowledge and choice. Each person completes these steps differently. In addition a virtuous person is a person that strives to make ethical decisions and to balance those virtues in a way that is honest and ethical to effectively communicate and interact with diverse people. Lastly the relationship between ethics and diversity is shown through the idea of Utilitarianism because despite differences in race, gender, likes and dislikes-a decision is made based on the greatest good for the greatest amount of people as the definition of Utilitarianism.
When it comes to communication ethics I think that diversity is extremely important. Throughout different cultures and groups of people there are many different values and beliefs that are held, many of them being very opposite of each other. I personally think that human nature goes along with how you grow up and are taught what you know. Where you come from and what beliefs your parents held are mostly likely the ones that will be instilled in you, which is very important to remember when working with different groups of people. At the same time situations differ within communication ethics and diversity as well. Knowing how to communicate with people of different values and doing it ethically at the same time is something we should all strive for.
In order to communicate ethically with others we must be respectful of their diversity. When reasoning about communication ethics, our textbook uses the approach of defining ethical issues. An ethical issue is a situation where one party may question whether a particular communication has been right or wrong. Ethics in general refers to a systematic approach for evaluating the voluntary actions of other people. When dealing with those from other cultures, the idea of cultural relativism is a useful one to keep in mind. Essentially, cultural relativism accepts that cultural values and traditions are different, or may be perceived differently, across cultures. To keep cultural relativism in mind means to be open-minded and to be a seeker of cultural knowledge for a better understanding of others. In the chapter that spoke about tokens and token representation, a similar method is mentioned for dealing with the issues of token representation. The central idea was to get to know them on an individual basis so that they became a person to you rather than a token. These ideas when combined will allow one to be respectful of diversity and communicate ethically with individuals from other cultures.
Communication ethics and diversity are closely related in everyone’s day to day life. More often than not the people that we find ourselves interacting with and speaking to are diverse from ourselves in one way or another. Because of this diversity, the ways that we communicate ethically may alter from person to person. Since ethics are clear ideas on what is wrong and what is right, they may change depending on the background, culture, or relation of whoever you are dealing with. Even so, it should always be a maxim, or rule, to be polite and courteous in your communications with others. In that way you’re ensured communication should progress smoothly regardless of the diversity you encounter.
In evaluating terms and theories used in Blog 1 for Madison Elementary Fall Family Fun Night, I believe definitions to be well thought out and explained with valid examples and opinions. Whether the term be communication ethics, diversity, maxims, or other terms used within each individual blog, it helps to enhance the group blogging as a whole. I was able to clearly understand and interpret individual ideas and concepts into my own standpoints and agreed with them almost in entirety.
There were a couple links I found that may help to enhance the blog- even though it was well written and can stand well on its own. The following website gives information on ethics and manners in children and the teaching of these things within school-oriented organizations and family situations:
• http://www.saferchild.org/morality.htm
This next website deals with more of a diversity standpoint and how teaching children from an early age about diversity, prejudice and how to respect the differences in others.
•http://www.adl.org/issue_education/hateprejudice/Prejudice3.asp
I believe these website have some valid points that relate to this project because of dealing with children and families in such close quarters and knowing how to handle certain points of ethics and diversity within an elementary school.
I believe that communication ethics played a big role when it came it interacting with the diverse group at Madison Fun Night. I think that one of the reason’s why this event worked out so well is because ethics played a big role in our group project. The ethics of dialogue in interpersonal communication is one thing that I took into consideration when communicating with the children. This kind of dialogue requires both talking and listening on both sides. Our book also states that it is a give-and –take situation. Although I had a specific outcome in mind for this project, I knew that I had to compromise on some issues in order for the project to be a success as a whole. We had to let some of the children stand closer to the fishing wall because they were not tall enough to place the poles over the wall. Another part of this concept is trust; in order for the children to trust us we had to listen to their needs at the time. Showing that we were interested in what they had to say showed them that we trusted and valued their opinions. Character when communicating ethically in interpersonal relationships was another term that I took into consideration during this project. In our book the authors say that a person with good character will be virtuous and have integrity. I felt that this concept was important because the children were not going to listen and respect us if they felt that we were not virtuous and coming from a place of high integrity. If we were to lie and cheat the children would see this and then not listen to our directions. They would feel no trust between us, and trust is very important when communicating with others. While doing this project I also kept in mind that each culture is diverse in how they act and what they find ethical. We recently talked in class about how different cultures handle specific situations differently. I felt that this was important to keep in mind when interacting with the children because I knew that not all of the children would have the same cultural beliefs that I have. By remembering that I was working with a diverse group of children it helped me to not get upset with some of the kids. There were a couple of times when I saw the children doing things that I did not feel were appropriate. I also noticed that their parents were close by and had no issues with the way their children were behaving. I decided that this could possibly be a difference in cultures and what each finds to be acceptable. I believe that ethics played a large role in making Madison Fun Night a success.
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