Professional Ethics

Global Forum for Rural Advisory

Services (GFRAS)
Part of the New Extensionist Learning Kit
Professionalism in extension
 Agricultural extension and advisory services
are dynamic professions
 Extensionists are encouraged to become
professionals
 Professional
extensionists
require a variety
of technical and
soft skills
Study Unit 1

Ethics
Overview
 Study unit 1 is about:
• The basics of ethics
• Ethical behaviour in the workplace
• Importance of ethics
• Codes of ethics
• Codes of conduct
What is ethics?
 Ethics are the moral codes or
principles that guide behaviour

 The study of ethics is subdivided

into several branches ranging from
highly theoretical branches to less
abstract branches such as applied
ethics
What is ethics?
 Applied ethics
• The application of ethical theories to help
choose the most appropriate action given a
specific ethical problem in a specific field

• E.g. environmental ethics, clinical ethics,

business ethics, professional ethics
What is professional ethics?
 The ethical values and principles used to
make decisions within a professional
organisation

 Governs relationships with and

responsibilities to colleagues and anyone
who uses one's professional services or who
these services might affect
Ethics in the workplace
 Ethical behaviour in the workplace
will mean:
• Acting in a way that shows your belief in the
basic values of ethical behaviour

• Conducting your daily activities objectively,

uninfluenced by your emotions or personal
prejudices
Ethics in the workplace
 Ethical behaviour in the workplace
will mean:
• Providing objective and constructive help or
information to all people, regardless of your
personal feelings

• Helping the public understand how they can

help achieving objective and ethical behaviour
in the workplace
Why is ethics important?
Increases
credibility of
organisation

Improves
Creates mutual
decision
trust Importance
making
throughout of ethics
throughout
organisation
organisation

Improves
financial
performance
Code of ethics
 Guidelines for behaviour during
difficult situations
 General and non-specific
• Members make independent judgements
about most appropriate behaviour in a
given situation
 Aspirational standards of
behaviour
• Not necessarily easily measured
Code of ethics
 Importance of a code of ethics:

• Promotes reputation and enhances trust

• Encourages and provides guidance for

ethical decision-making

• Makes social integration easier

• Legitimises ethics
Code of conduct
 Can be used as a legal agreement
 Outlines specific behaviours required or
prohibited by the organisation
 Clearly defined and specific
• No independent judgement of members
 Mandatory set of
standards
• Failure to comply can result in
disciplinary action
Code of conduct
 Importance of a code of conduct:

• Ensures that all the stakeholders are aware of exactly what

is expected of them
• Protects all the stakeholders
involved in the organisation and
enhances trust

• Ensures standard behaviour

throughout the organisation
Study Unit 2

Professions and professionals

Overview
 Study unit 2 is about:
• The definition of profession and professional
• The characteristics of a profession
• The qualities of a professional
What is a profession?
 A profession performs
an essential service to
the public, requires
extensive knowledge,
is governed by a code
of ethics and
emphasises close
relationships amongst
colleagues
Characteristics of a profession
Specialised
knowledge and skills Regulatory bodies Governed by a code
gained through that oversee entry of ethics or code of
extensive education and compliance conduct
and training

Some form of
examination,
High degree of work
certification or
autonomy
licensing
requirements
What is a professional?
 A professional is a person who is qualified to
pursue a certain profession
 A professional has to
meet extensive
educational, ethical and
regulatory requirements
set by their profession
before they can provide
their service to the
public
Qualities of a professional
A professional will:

Pay attention to detail and take pride in doing a

job well

Be dissatisfied with substandard results, and will

try to put things right as soon as possible

Always try to be polite and remain calm when

interacting with customers, superiors or co-workers
Qualities of a professional
Always be prepared to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them

Show respect to those who consult them in a professional capacity

Always uphold the reputation of the profession

Respect authority and the rules of law when managing or

employing others

Develop and improve their skills and remain up to date with the latest
developments in their field
Study Unit 3
Professionalism in the
workplace
Overview
 Study unit 3 is about:
• Features of professionalism
• How professionalism is judged
• Importance of professionalism
• Basics of personal development
• Benefits of personal development
What is professionalism?
 Professionalism is a specific style of
behaviour and combination of qualities
Features of professionalism
Specialised
knowledge and
competency

Continuing
Honesty and
education and integrity
lifelong learning

Respect and
Communication
courtesy

Accountability
How is professionalism judged?

Attitude and Communicatio

Behaviour n

Image and
Competence
Appearance
Why is professionalism
important?
Maintains Promotes Minimises Establishes
accountability respect conflict boundaries
• Ensures that • Ensures that • Minimises • Ensures clear
organisations all members conflict boundaries
take are treated between between
responsibility with respect, members what is
for their regardless of with diverse appropriate
actions no their backgrounds behaviour
matter what background and what is
the outcome or position not
What is professional development?
 The process of improving and increasing
the knowledge and capabilities of already
qualified professionals through access to
continuous education and training in the
workplace
Personal benefits of PD
 Helps to uncover and highlight gaps in your
knowledge and skills
 Creates awareness of trends in your
profession
 Helps with career development
 Helps you improve your CV, interview skills
and future employability
 Improves your professional standing with
clients and employers
Study Unit 4
Competencies required by
professional extensionist
Overview
 Study unit 4 is about:
• The definition of competency
• Core competencies needed by extensionists
• Continuous professional development
Competency
 The ability to integrate and apply your
knowledge, skills and values to perform the
activities required by an occupation to a
defined standard

 Core competency
• Fundamental
competencies essential
for the success of
extension services
 Programme
planning and
implementation

Programme
Communication
monitoring and skills
evaluation

Core
competencies
Sensitivity to
diversity and Leadership skills
multiculturalism

Knowledge about
Organisational
education and
management
informational
skills
technology
Guiding documents
 A constitution
• Outlines fundamental rules governing the conduct of
organisation
 Operating procedures
• Operational guidelines for the management of the board
of directors and various committees within organisation
 Bylaws
• Regulations that provide a framework for the operation
and management of organisation
Bylaws
 Common bylaws of agricultural extension
• Membership, codes of ethics and conduct, field of
practice, discipline

 Some bylaws are in place to

help improve the
professionalism of their
members
• Continuous Professional
Development
What is CPD?
 Continuous Professional Development
• Internationally recognised method professionals use to
maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills

 Different categories of learning activities

 Many CPD activities carry CPD credits

What is CPD?
 Active learning activities involve structured,
participation-based study
• Attending a training course, conference, workshop,
seminar, lecture, e-learning course, etc.

 Passive learning activities are less structured

• Reading relevant news articles, case studies and industry
updates and listening to podcasts


Importance of CPD
 Allows you to stay relevant and up to date
with new agricultural technologies and
innovations
 Allows you to develop your technical skills
 Allows you to develop important non-
technical soft skills you need for agricultural
extension
• E.g. project management, conflict resolution,
professional ethics, technical writing
Acknowledgements
This module was made possible through the support of the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The contents of this module are the responsibility of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect the views of GIZ or their
government.

All work by Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services is licensed

under a CC BY-NC 3.0 Unported License.