Aims

•       to critically discuss ethics and their relation to planning practice;
•       to review ideas about responsibility, professional duty and professionalism, with particular regard to planning;
•       to critically review the ways in which planners contribute their knowledge, skills and values in different contexts;
•       to critically review the organizational contexts in which planning is practised.
The Reflexive Practitioner is a Module which links planning practice, as an example of broader professional practice, to theoretical concepts of ethics and professionalism in a real-world context. In this module students learn about responsibility, about differences between reflection and reflexion, between morals and ethics, between the right and the good as applied in a variety of circumstances. By increasing our understanding of our own (and other actors’) views on the ethics of different types of behaviour in different situations, we may be able to become better human beings and better professionals.

Outline Of Syllabus

Introduction – reflective and reflexive; morals and ethics.
Epistemology – knowledge, fact and value.
Deontological and consequentialist ethics.Planning’s changing focus
Planning for whom?
Planning with respect for nature.
Planners identity: missionaries or chameleons?
Planners and their clients
Professional Codes of Conduct
The organizational context for planning

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures: to convey knowledge of field and discursively explore arguments with students in discussion groups debating practical application

Reading: to support and develop lecture material

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Criteria for Assessment:
- understanding of relevant theories                  
- ability to connect theory and practice            
- ability to make insightful, analytical comment      
- construction of logical argument                  
- evidence of theoretical reading                  
- clarity of expression, use of English and correct referencing