Ethical Transformations: Developing Ethical Competencies for the Social Professions through Action Research

Results from an educational action research project – aimed at bridging the gap between the micro and macro levels of ethical and values-based practices in welfare work – enquire the organisational role in professional ethics. This article advocates that ethical responsibility is not only an individual concern, but equally collective and organisational. The research findings indicate that ethical issues tend to be individualised, while the organisational responsibility is not yet fully incorporated in the professional codes of ethics, the educational curriculum, nor in the ethical intervention in work practice. Based on Nordic research in educational programmes, involving practiced-based internship periods in welfare institutions, the research results advocate for several prospective developments of professional ethics for the social professions. The following elements are apparent: continuous training at workplaces, further exploration through action research in collaboration with labour unions, and novel didactic approaches to ethics-based education. The most important prospect is research and educational policy work; hence ethics-education must involve specific methods of supervision, incorporated in educational programmes that involve cooperation between all agents and institutions which affect learning trajectories and professionals’ work-life.