I’m very much looking forward to seeing you all in person. See you either Tuesday or Thursday.

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

In week five, we will focus more on reviewing the code of ethics. This week continues last week’s discussion about the evolution of the code of ethics. It will also begin some introspection on our own values and biases. Ruby and I are doing joined synchronous sessions for this class this week. Whether you are in her section or mine, if you generally attend classes in Toppenish, we will meet on Tuesday (9/22) at 5:30 in RAU. You are generally scheduled to be with either Claudia or Chris for SOWK 312 or 316 during this time, and they have graciously allowed us to come in and take over their sections for the evening. If you generally attend classes in the Tri-Cities, we will be meeting on Thursday (9/24) at 5:30 in the same classroom Liz uses for 316. You are normally in her class, and she has graciously agreed to let us take over her section as well. You only need to attend one day (depending on which campus you attend). We have some activities and instruction we’ll go through.

The learning objectives for week five are:

• Identify key concepts in the NASW Code of Ethics Preamble
• Explore personal values systems
• Discuss ways in which values systems vary

Unit Assignments

Read/Watch

• Read Chapter 1 in Reamer (2023), Ethical Standards in Social Work: An Introduction
• Browse the current NASW Code of Ethics, paying particular attention to the Preamble and the six ethical principles

Attend Class

We have a synchronous session on Tuesday 9/22 in Toppenish or Thursday 9/24 in Tri-Cities.

W-05 A-01: Asynchronous Class Engagement and Participation

The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can relate to the prompts or build on conversations your peers share. There are three forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least 2 replies across any of the forums and read all of your peers’ replies. I’ve reduced the expectation for this week as we are doing some of it in class. These forums include the following:

• Reamer’s (2023) first chapter is the starting point for Discussion of Readings and Furthering Knowledge (Sec 0 or Sec 2), which asks what the chapter added to your understanding and what you are still left wondering about.
• NASW Code of Ethics Preamble (Sec 0 or Sec 2) reproduces the preamble in full and asks you to pick the single word or phrase that matters most to you, and say why.
• Students can reflect on their Own Guiding Principles (Sec 0 or Sec 2), considering how they relate to our cardinal values as social workers.

Unit Resources

The textbook for this class is Reamer (2023), Ethical Standards in Social Work: A Review of the NASW Code of Ethics (rev. 3rd ed.). You can find the book on the publisher’s website: NASW Press. This week you read the first chapter, which is Reamer’s introduction to the code — where it came from and how the current version is put together.

A reminder about my textbook podcast: it is meant to be an option resource for you. It does not replace the reading, but if you find it helpful, you are welcome to listen. You can listen to this week’s episode for this week’s reading Deep Dive on Chapter 1: How the NASW Code of Ethics Evolved, or listen to the entire series Deep Dive: Reamer (2023).

The forum NASW Code of Ethics Preamble includes the text of the published code of ethics. You can find it on the NASW website: https://www.socialworkers.org/about/ethics/code-of-ethics/code-of-ethics-english. If you would prefer a printed copy, the NASW Press sells it for $6.99. It is also reproduced as Appendix A in your textbook.

To-Do List

• Read Chapter 1 in Reamer (2023)
• Browse the current NASW Code of Ethics
• Attend one of the in-person class sessions
• Make two replies across any of the discussion forums