Effective Ways Of Teaching Values Education

Effective Ways To Teach Values Education

Introduction

“Wise societies, since the time of Plato, l have decided to make moral education a deliberate aim of schooling… to educate (not only for) character but intellect, decency as well as literacy, and virtue as well as knowledge (Likona, 12). Moral and ethical values are principles that are usually taught within the home at a young age, and continue to be nurtured as a child matures into an adult. In the past 20 years the United States along with the rest of the world has seen a change in the behavior and thought patterns of a new generation. There is an ongoing argument that these changes are happening because the children of our societies are more exposed to violence and sexual immorality now that ever before. Another argument is that personalism , or the rights and freedoms of a person’s individuality, has significantly increased since the 1960s (Likona, 9). In fact, Thomas Likona, who holds a doctorate in developmental psychology, says that any kind of constraint on a person’s freedom was perceived as intolerable (9).

The argument that seems to be the common problem of all the others is that moral and ethical values are no longer being taught at home and are not being taught or nurtured at school. When the educational system of the United States was first established it was based on biblical principals. The settlers wanted to preserve their way of life by teaching their children a belief system laden with values. Galatians 5:22-23 describe the fruit of the spirit which is the heart of the Christian value system.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (NIV)...

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... and skills it doesn’t mean that the understand the concept. A teacher has to promote learning these understandings as in in the same with value or character education (5).

Many systems use rewards systems and punishments to promote appropriate behavior. Society wants members who do what they do because there is an underlying sense of responsibility to do so (promoted by their belief system), not because they will be rewarded. Again Kohn emphasizes how educators use techniques, to teach character to children, that manifest a model that sees children as, “objects of manipulation (11).” When the education system decides that its goal is to change a student’s behavior by giving them a list of rules to follow (without an explanation as to why) it appears that they want to direct the student’s behavior instead of instilling in them why they should behave a certain way.