Teaching Ethics: An Exploratory Review of Undergraduate Public Relations Programs in Taiwan

數十年來公共關係從業人員屢為公關道德問題所苦，但公關教育工作者直到八○年代，尤其是在公關產業邁向全球化後，才開始在教育和研究上強調道德的重要性。相較於西方的公關教育，公關道德研究在亞洲是不足的。因此，本研究希望藉由檢視課程架構和深度諭談公關教師，來探討台灣的大學如何教授公關道德，並期盼找出未來的教學策略。大多數的台灣公關教師都強調道德的重要性。為了提升大學生的知識和技巧，學校更應該教授公關道德。除了提供美國公關協會的道德規章外，教師普遍會以本地案例來輔助教學。其中，並非所有的教師會將道德安排在教課計畫中，講課也仍然是主要的教學方法。少數教師擔憂教學方法和教材的缺乏會影響學生對公關道德的學習。於此，研究者建議提供輔助教材、設計多元教學方法、加強與其他國家和其他學術領域的交流、增加研討和動腦單元，並於學生畢業後持續提供諮詢等策略，以強化未來公關道德教學。

關鍵字

公共關係教育；公共關係道德

並列摘要

Public relations professionals have faced ethical dilemmas for decades. However, PR educators did not stress the ethical issues both in education and research until late 1980s, especially when the PR industry moves toward the global practice. This paper explores how PR ethics is taught in undergraduate programs in Taiwan through a curriculum review and in-depth interviews with educators to identify pedagogical strategies. Most Taiwanese PR educators recognize that ethics are important and need to be taught in undergraduate programs in order to increase students' knowledge and skills. Educators normally apply local cases as supplementary materials instead of relying on the Code of Ethics from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) only. A few educators are concerned about lacking the teaching methods and materials to facilitate ethics learning. Five recommendations were provided to improve PR ethics teaching such as providing supplementary teaching materials, applying multiple teaching methods, initiating dialogue with other countries and other academic disciplines, giving seminars or brainstorming sessions, and providing career consultancy after graduation.

並列關鍵字

Public relations education ； public relations ethics

參考文獻

Bivins, T.(2004).Mixed Media: Moral Distinctions in Advertising, PR and Journalism.New Jersey:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Google Scholar

DesJardins, J. R.,Diedrich, E.(2003).Learning what it really costs: teaching business ethics with life-cycle case studies.Journal of Business Ethics.48(1),33-43.