A Pedagogy for Integrating a Value Congruence and Ethics Connection into Course Work: The Nine Dots Exercise

Value congruence, i.e., the agreement between personal and organizational values, may be viewed as the foundation for one’s ethical well-being on-the-job. Yet, the linkage between value congruence and ethics is not soundly addressed in college classrooms. This article describes the pedagogy used to successfully incorporate the value congruence-ethics connection into course work. The author first provides a theoretical introduction as a backdrop for developing the pedagogy including research on value congruence and ethics, the rationale for strengthening the role of “values” in ethics education, and the teaching strategy applied.  Thereafter, the author describes steps to teach value congruence and ethics, including learning objectives and an instructional model. The learning objectives and instructional model can be modified to apply within ethics training programs in the workplace.