This digest addresses the importance to professional practice of ethics and shared values, focusing on the fields of health, physical education, recreation, and dance (HPRD). Practitioners in these fields routinely deal with situations that call upon moral reasoning and the articulation of values such as instruction about personal health, sexual behavior, use of alcohol and tobacco, fair play, and how one spends leisure time. While a unified code of ethics, covering a host of different specialties within HPRD does not exist, specializations share certain fundamental values, such as promotion of cooperative systems for self-expression (e.g., sport as an instrument for cross-cultural understanding), harmony between people and their environments, development of good character, familiarity with ethical concepts, and an interest in moral reflection. These shared values can be fostered in professional preparation and inservice education. Codes of ethics can reflect the moral foundation of professional life, provide an opportunity to instruct beginning practitioners in professional responsibility, and serve as a reminder to those in the field that continued practice is dependent upon compliance with specific expectations held by colleagues. (LL)