PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES OF VALUES EDUCATION INSTRUCTION Vanessa Oyzon, M.A. College of Education, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, DISP 2009

Values are personally held, internalized guides in the production of behavior. They consist of cognitive units that are used in the assessment of people, things, behavior along the dimensions of good/bad, appropriate/inappropriate, and right/wrong.

Principles and Practices in Values Education

Honesty in your presentation of views. Be aware of your own feelings and opinions about an issue. If you decide to express your opinions on an issue, make it clear that this is your personal view and that it is ok if pupils disagree.

Teach about complexity of many issues. Do not try to protect pupils from difficult questions, but recognize the difficulty of issues, and that the way we teach needs to be developmentally appropriate.

Provision of a safe environment. Classroom culture should foster equality, active participation, respect and inclusiveness. Values learning require an environment which ensures safety, enables risk-taking, and encourages the expression and reception of ideas without fear of judgment.

Teach multiple perspectives on all topics - by ensuring that the quality of evidence from all viewpoints is as objective as possible, and that its presentation reflects the aspiration of balanced learning.

Being congruent and consistent. Young people learn values in multiple ways and for values to make sense to children they need to see them in action. They need to see that the values being espoused to them are the same values evident in behaviors around them.

Engagement with parents and the whole school community.

Methods for Teaching Values Education

CREATE A CLASSROOM CONSTITUTION. Pupils can collectively come up with rules or a code to live by in the classroom and they all sign it.

CREATE A POSITIVE CLASSROM ENVIRONMENT. Have set rules of your own for what behaviors will be allowed in class. This could be facilitated through the following:

–hang pictures of heroes in the classroom –resolve conflicts in nonviolent ways –use and require respectful language –have pupils work together cooperatively in heterogeneous groups

–analyze critical events –compose value based songs/poems –thought/quote for the day –read aloud or post a two minute story everyday to begin or end class, keep it brief, yet value centered (have a reading area in the classroom)

–teach, don’t preach –catch pupils doing good

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES. Encourage pupil involvement in community service/ team projects. Establish linkages; involve peers, parents and community.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES - should be considered as important as the academic pursuits. Every child should be encouraged-not forced-to join one activity according to his choice or aptitude. The idea should be to nurture talent and bring out the potential in each child.

Other Teaching Methods/Approaches and Strategies in Values Education

VALUES ANALYSIS – designed to help pupils use logical thinking patterns and scientific inquiry skills to conceptualize their values and decide about value issues. In essence, the Values Education strategy follows the following pattern of instruction:

identify and clarify the issue

gather and organize evidence related to the issue

assess the accuracy and relevance of the evidence

select alternative solutions

consider potential consequences of each alternative

select the most personally suitable alternative

Thank You!