Transcript UNIS Template

Values education in the
school curriculum
Associate Professor Lesley Harbon
Faculty of Education & Social Work
The University of Sydney
International Conference for Teacher
Professional Development,
Suratthani Rajabhat University, Thailand
6-10 Dec ‘11
Overview
•This keynote talk will
•(i) discuss the notion of values
•(ii) examine developments for values
education in Australia
•(iii) outline some current recommended
strategies to embed values education in
the school curriculum and
•(iv) posit some thinking for the future.
2
What are values?
›"broad tendencies to prefer certain states of
affairs over others”
›"something (as a principle or quality)
intrinsically valuable or desirable" (Merriam
Webster Dictionary Online)
›A value is a construct ‐‐ “a construct is not
directly accessible to observation but inferable
from verbal statements and other behaviors”
(Hofstede, 1998)
3
Values are constructs
›Constructs do not exist in an absolute sense:
we define them into existence.
›Constructs such as values are mental
programs; like computer programs, we cannot
observe them directly; we can only observe
what they do. In the case of people, we can
observe their behaviour, their words and
deeds, from which we infer the presence of
stable mental programs (Hofstede, 1998)
4
Values - part of a nation’s culture
› Values are part of the culture, or “the collective
programming of the mind which distinguish the
members of one group or category of people from
another” (Hofstede, 1998)
› A value system is the ordered and prioritised set
of values that an individual’s culture upholds. A
value system refers to how an individual or a
group of individuals organise their ethical or
idealogical values. A well‐defined value system is
a moral code. Each individual has certain
underlying values that contribute to their value
system.
5
Why do things matter to people?
›“In everyday life we regularly engage in
reasoning about how to value things – about
how children should be brought up, whether a
certain kind of behavior is acceptable, whether
the tax system is fair, or whether people are
becoming too selfish, and so on.” (Sayer,
2011, p. 23)
6
Why do things matter to people?
› Values inform not only how we evaluate others but
how we evaluate ourselves, and they influence how
we act, albeit often imperfectly. They therefore
become part of our character, so that we are likely to
feel upset if they are criticized; indeed radical
challenges to them may feel like a violation. It is this
quality which lends support to the view that values
are subjective and private, indeed perhaps even
sacred. … Values and valuations guide our actions,
and our actions have consequences for our wellbeing and the things we care about” (Sayer, 2011,
pp. 26-27).
7
A Good Childhood
›“So the first key role of the school is to
develop the powers of the mind. But the
second key role is equally important – to train
the habits of the heart.” (Layard & Dunn, 2009,
p. 106)
›“Second, it is equally important to help
individual pupils to manage their emotions.”
(Layard & Dunn, 2009, p. 108)
8
A Good Childhood
›cite a survey of teachers in 2008 who reported
“disruption in their lessons… answering
back… abusive or insulting comments…
damage to property… persistent and malicious
disruptive behavior, including open defiance,
and … pupil threatening violence to another
pupil… pushing/touching or other unwanted
physical contact… violence by a pupil to
another member of staff… violence to
teachers from parents.” (Layard & Dunn, 2009,
pp. 106-7)
9
A Good Childhood
› “What can be done about this? The solution is
two-fold. First schools must act as values-based
communities promoting mutual respect between
all members of the school and involving parents
closely. Unless parents are intimately involved in
the life of a school, it is not possible to improve
the ethos. School councils have a role to play.
Schools need to work really hard with parents,
teachers and children to reach agreed standards
of behavior and aspiration…. (Layard & Dunn,
2009, p. 107)
10
new book – Gilbert, 2011
›Why do I need a teacher when I’ve got Google?
›The notion behind Gilbert’s work (2011) is that
we may have lost our values now in an age
when every bit of knowledge and more is
available at the click of a button on a computer.
Have society's values disappeared in this
electronic age? If a teacher is no longer "the
font of all knowledge" and has been replaced
with unlimited access to information on the
internet and on our mobile phones, what is the
role of the teacher?
11
Emotional Quotient
›In his chapter about EQ (emotional quotient),
Gilbert posits that therefore EQ will make far
more a difference to our learners’ lives than
what Google can assist them with – pure facts.
›“The basic premise is, in a nutshell, your
‘softer skills’ such as dealing with yourself and
others at an emotional level, are far more valid
in today’s world than IQ alone.” (Gilbert, 2011,
p. 39)
›Teachers are essential for students’ EQ
development
12
What teachers say is important
›“What you say, as a teacher, can have farreaching consequences in terms of both a
child’s academic success and their overall
well-being now and in the future.” (Gilbert,
2011, p. 181)
13
The role of the teacher
› to deliver Values education complete with values,
purposes and goals that provide a firm foundation
for providing students with a quality education.
› How schools enact these is guided by dialogue
between the school and its community. They will
be seen in the school’s curriculum programs,
philosophy, classrooms and relationships.
› “Values guide decisions about the curriculum.
They support students, teachers, parents, carers
and the community.”
› (source: Tasmanian Department of Education)
14
National Framework for Values
Education
› (i) care and compassion
› (ii) doing your best
› (iii) a fair go
› (iv) freedom
› (v) honesty and trustworthiness
› (vi) integrity
› (vii) respect
› (viii) responsibility
› (ix) understanding/tolerance/inclusion
15
evidence of these values
› My research in West Sumatran schools in 2004 to
see evidence of….
-“belas kasih / empathy”
-“hormat/menghormati / mutual respect”
-“kemurahan hati / gotong royong / interdependence”
-“kerja sama / cooperation”
-“percaya diri / self worth”, and
-“tenggang-rasa / consideration of others”
16
Strategies adopted to “own”
values education
› continual communication with parents
› explicitly overt collaborations between staff, modeling
core values, especially seen in the fortnightly “gugus”
meetings
› helping others was a key to the classrooms, with
more competent students placed alongside less
competent students and peer tutors to assist in
remedial work in the classroom
› seen too in the playground, with some students
considered “little doctors” to assist sick or hurt peers
17
my own data from a school in
West Java, 2011
›“Jagalah kebersihan” – Ensure cleanliness
›“Dalam tubuh yang sehat, terdapat jiwa yang
kuat” – In a healthy body is a strong soul.
›“buanglah sampah pada tempatnya” –
Dispose of rubbish in the proper place
›“bersih itu indah” – Clean is beautiful
18
Values taught in each Subject
English
›History
›Mathematics
›Science
›Social Science
›Geography
›Visual Arts
›Sport and Physical Education
›Health Education
›
19
Freakley, Burgh & MacSporran (2008)
5 steps in making values education the focus
›Step 1 – introduce a problematic situation
“students read the stimulus material and think
about what might be puzzling or disagreeable.
›Step 2 – identify the problem. Students
discuss and say what they find problematic by
asking questions and answering others’
questions. They try to link notions and
questions by identifying underlying themes.
20
5 steps continued
›Step 3 – offer suggestions. Students offer
suggestions in response to a central question
by expressing their opinions. There will be
agreement, disagreement, uncertainty and
confusion.
›Step 4 – analyse concepts and use reasoning
to develop arguments. In this step students
need to demonstrate “reasoning”. Developing
an argument and justifying it. They should
uncover assumptions in their own and others’
thinking that might be impacting.
21
Step 5
›Step 5 – evaluate and conclude. It may not
mean unanimous agreement but students will
all come to a better understanding of different
points of view.
›The students will need to practice the method
before embarking on the real content.
22
The importance of learning from one another…
23
References
› Education Services Australia. (2010). Giving voice to the impacts of values
education: The Final Report of the Values in Action Schools Project.
Carlton South, Vic.: Commonwealth of Australia.
› Freakley, M., Burgh, G. & MacSporran, L.T. (2008). Values education in
schools: A resource book for student inquiry. Camberwell, Vic.: ACER
Press.
› Gilbert, I. (2011). Why do I need a teacher when I’ve got Google?: The
essential guide to the big issues for every twenty-first century teacher.
London: Routledge.
› Hofstede, G. (1998). A case for comparing apples and oranges:
international differences in values. International Journal of Comparative
Sociology, 39 (1), 16‐32.
› Layard, R. & Dunn, J. (2009). A good childhood: Searching for values in a
competitive age. London: Penguin.
› Sayer, A. (2011). Why things matter to people: Social science, values and
ethical life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24