An Approach to Discussing Ethical Business Issues in the Classroom

By Lindsay Anderson

The Foster College of Business, along with the Accounting Department, recently hosted a luncheon for local area high school business teachers.

During the luncheon, instructor Gail Petravick spoke about business ethics. She gave the high school business teachers ideas on how to approach ethics in their own classrooms.

“I thought the luncheon with the high school teachers was very nice and filled with good discussion,” accounting student Ashley Epping ’15, of Peoria, said.  “The ethics discussion, led by Gail Petravick, allowed both the high school teachers and the Bradley professors to gain other ideas for ways to improve their class discussions on the topic of ethics with their own students. It was interesting that although none of the high school teachers taught a course on ethics, the topic still came up in all of their classes.”

“It was also nice to be able to make connections with the high school business teachers to set up future visits,” Epping continued. “As the Illinois CPA Society Ambassador at Bradley University, I am working on setting up visits to local high schools to share information with potential accounting students. Although the teachers that came were not necessarily accounting teachers, they offered some advice on what their students may be interested in and ways to connect with them. It seemed like all of the high school teachers who attended the luncheon were interested in having someone from Bradley come visit their classes and speak to their students.”

“This is a new collaborative effort,” Foster College of Business Undergraduate Recruiting Coordinator Amy Fairfield Doering said about the luncheon. “Events like this help us continue to build relationships with business teachers and also discover opportunities to visit prospective students in their classrooms.”