Congress, 1999; Hill, Glaser Harden, 1995; Loewenberg, Dolgoff Harrington 2000; Mattison, 2000; Robinson Reeser, 2000; Rothman, 1998 ). Within these models students, and practitioners, are(a) entreated to review the relevant code of ethics and know the applicable laws and regulations(Corey, Corey Callanan, 2003);(b) to reflect on their ethical preferences, isolate the ethical and technical aspects of the situation, and reflect on their choice of action(Mattison, 2000); (c)to Examine relevant personal, societal, agency, client and professional values, Think about what ethical standard of the relevant Code of Ethics applies to the situation, as well as about relevant laws and case decisions, Hypothesise about possible consequences of different decisions, Identify who will benefit and who will be harmed in view of social works commitment to the most vulnerable, and Consult with supervisor and colleagues about the most ethical choice( Congress's(1999) ETHIC Decision Making Model Chenoweth and McAuliffe(2005)observed that despite some merit in available ethical decision making frameworks, ethical dilemmas often masquerade as other things. In reality, problem solving is never a structured linear process of decision making: people are not always available for consultation and may not always give good advice; clients often do not understand the situation they are in; there is always the potential for unintended or unforeseen outcomes; and it may not always be possible to get all sides of the story. In reality, all we can do is work ith the incomplete information we have and do the best that we can. although we are expected to justify our actions drawing on available research(evidence), including agency policy and relevant ethical codes, ultimately ethical decisions are subjective and relational and depend very much on the situations in which they occur. They are complex. There are no right answers, only choices, and we are responsible for, and have to be able to live with, the decision or choices we make. Chenoweth and Mcauliffe(2005)believe that it is helpful to have a support network with whom to discuss ethical issues and reflection is critical. Every challenge creates opportunities for learning and for ones practice Learning Unit on Ethical Decision Making With this theoretical framework as a backdrop, the learning unit on ethical decision making will now be presented in the form that it is given to students However, before doing so, we want to draw attention to two important aspects of our pedagogical approach. First, we teach experientially through the medium of small groups, which Reisch and Lowe(2000)referred to as being especially useful for teaching material on ethics"(p. 27), and, second, students analyse an ethical dilemma drawn from their field experience, which, like Reisch and Lowe(2000) we have found to be a particularly useful teaching tool"(p. 28). The goals of the earning unit are toCongress, 1999; Hill, Glaser & Harden, 1995; Loewenberg, Dolgoff & Harrington, 2000; Mattison, 2000; Robinson & Reeser, 2000; Rothman, 1998). Within these models students, and practitioners, are (a) entreated to review the relevant code of ethics and know the applicable laws and regulations (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2003); (b) to reflect on their ethical preferences, isolate the ethical and technical aspects of the situation, and reflect on their choice of action (Mattison, 2000); (c) to Examine relevant personal, societal, agency, client and professional values, Think about what ethical standard of the relevant Code of Ethics applies to the situation, as well as about relevant laws and case decisions, Hypothesise about possible consequences of different decisions, Identify who will benefit and who will be harmed in view of social works commitment to the most vulnerable, and Consult with supervisor and colleagues about the most ethical choice (Congress’s (1999) ETHIC Decision Making Model). Chenoweth and McAuliffe (2005) observed that despite some merit in available ethical decision making frameworks, ethical dilemmas often masquerade as other things. In reality, problem solving is never a structured linear process of decision making; people are not always available for consultation and may not always give good advice; clients often do not understand the situation they are in; there is always the potential for unintended or unforeseen outcomes; and it may not always be possible to get all sides of the story. In reality, all we can do is work with the incomplete information we have and do the best that we can. Although we are expected to justify our actions drawing on available knowledge and research (evidence), including agency policy and relevant ethical codes, ultimately ethical decisions are subjective and relational and depend very much on the situations in which they occur. They are complex. There are no right answers, only choices, and we are responsible for, and have to be able to live with, the decision or choices we make. Chenoweth and McAuliffe (2005) believe that it is helpful to have a support network with whom to discuss ethical issues and reflection is critical. Every challenge creates opportunities for learning and for refining one’s practice. Learning Unit on Ethical Decision Making With this theoretical framework as a backdrop, the learning unit on ethical decision making will now be presented in the form that it is given to students. However, before doing so, we want to draw attention to two important aspects of our pedagogical approach. First, we teach experientially through the medium of small groups, which Reisch and Lowe (2000) referred to as being ‘‘especially useful for teaching material on ethics’’ (p. 27), and, second, students analyse an ethical dilemma drawn from their field experience, which, like Reisch and Lowe (2000), we have found to be ‘‘a particularly useful teaching tool’’ (p. 28). The goals of the learning unit are to: Australian Social Work 225 Downloaded by [Shanghai Jiaotong University] at 07:30 23 May 2012