Ethical Issues of Adult Education - Case Study Example

Cervero (1989, p. 110) holds the view that "ethical choices are not some abstract ideal but are embedded in the very fabric of practice". This means that the implementation of ethical issues in adult education is more embedded in the general academic program. One ethical issue that stands out in most adult education programs is the issue of confidentiality. “Educator’s anticipation of times when they may be faced with a possible need to breach clients' confidentiality may prevent the breach from occurring.” Confidentiality continues to remain a major ethical issue because of the circumstance under which most clients register for adult education problems. Some of the reasons are social, whiles others are economical. In some cases even, some of the reasons are psycho-social. Due to these situations, most clients expect that details about them be kept as confidential as possible. Sadly enough, this has not always been achieved.

The outcome of this problem includes legal litigation against educators. This could be discussed as the worse form of the outcome but it does happen in some cases. The implication to adult education institutions has been the distraction of their academic programs to pursue cases in court. There has also been a financial loss for some institutions.

Ethical issues in adult education can be controlled. To curtail this problem, it is recommended that models be created to serve as benchmarks for conducting confidentiality issues among adult educators. To this end, Brockett (1988, 1990) has proposed a three-dimension model, which includes a personal value system, consideration of multiple responsibilities, and operationalization of values.