Editorial: Ethics in and for Education in the Built Environment

In a thought-provoking article entitled ‘Ethics ‘in’ and ‘for’ Higher Education’ Scott (2004 p.439) confronts what he identifies as a “conspiracy of silence and/or culture of disinterest with regard to ethical issues in higher education”. In effect he suggests that the perceived relative absence of debate in relation to the nature of the ethics that underpin academic activities in practice on the one hand and the ambiguity of asserting specific normative ambitions for higher education on the other can potentially diminish the role that universities exercise in shaping and defending social values. Yet arguably in the context of the built environment where professional standards and ethics obtain values play a critical role. Perhaps any apparent void in this sphere stems from our individual values being too diverse to make an impact or being whispered rather than shouted loudly. In this editorial I begin to make the case for a more clamorous articulation of ethics in pedagogical research as a foundation for research integrity in built environment education.