Amber Burke
Teaching and Facilitating
Human Centered, Action Oriented Communication
Ethical Considerations
The capstone project, a training guide on conflict communication, is designed with several ethical considerations. Many trainings around conflict communication focus neatly on the emotions that spring up in conflict, how to identify and manage them. Other trainings focus on how to efficiently arrive to a resolution that is mutually agreeable to the parties involved and usually framed as a framework between two individuals or groups. The training concept in this guide is to provide learners with the underpinning philosophies and theories that allow for a more expansive view of how conflict arises. The intention is to provide learners with a holistic ethical approach to conflict that could lead to conflict prevention and more fulfilling relationships.
The project is also informed by experience in peer counseling, restorative justice dialogue, conducting social work in a team setting, conducting motivational interviewing with youth exhibiting harmful or addictive behaviors, and my overall identity, social standing, and influence of corresponding personal, professional relationships.
Key Ethical Influences
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Standpoint theory illuminates how individuals or groups could arrive to different perspectives,vattitudes, or behaviors, giving rise to eventual conflict. (Wood, 1997). Relational dialectics is another theory that examines the constant tension in relational communication and uncovers that learning to manage these tensions can enhance interpersonal relationships (Baxter, 1998). The phenomenological approach from Buber (2010), that spirit is encountered when communicating with the other in an I/Thou oontext, is a core theory that embraces all other efforts in the training design.
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Universal Values and Being
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The concept of competing values as a reason for conflict is a particularly beneficial starting point for learners as it is ripe for self-reflection, has many cultural touchstones, and will not be a completely foreign concept. Schwartz (2012) introduces a framework of universal values which can be applied for greater understanding and awareness of how values interplay with each other. It can also serve yet another opportunity to remove the concept of blaming an individual for behavior, separating the deed from the doer, and cultivating an understanding that values as a motivator is a human response, simply an approach to achieving goals of getting basic human needs met (Schartz, 2012). What is more, the preservation of life is the singular most important goal that all share. Humans have a duty and responsibility that is nonnegotiable to make strides to preserve life in order to preserve the wholeness of their being (Christians, 1997).
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Leadership and Diversity
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The learners expected to come to this training will be those that are interested in improving their ability to lead others and develop effective, meaningful relationships. This translates to the need to convey that leaders hold a great deal of responsibility to enhance ethical behavior and to serve as a model to others for how to generate appreciation for, and support, diversity. Gini (1997) highlights the importance of ethical leadership in business settings and Wood (1997) highlights the various tools an individual can employ to generate appreciation and understanding of differences in interpersonal relationships.
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Summary
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This project came from a commitment to the development of human potential and that there is a potential future for humanity in which peace can flourish. It takes work and a constant turning towards universal truths and acceptance of a spiritual flow that cannot be seen when focusing on differences or objectifying others. The hope is that illuminating these underlying concepts will help people have a depth which informs when to apply specific tools or give more motivation for doing such things as reflection, listening, and negotiating.
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