Values education
Internationally and nationally there is increasing engagement and discourse
about schools and their role in the formation of the values young people live
by.
In Australia in 1999 all education ministers agreed to National
Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century known as the Adelaide
Declaration, which reflected a strong commitment to values education.
Emerging from this background, the 2003 Values
Education Study has revealed a broad range of varied and excellent practices
and approaches to values education in Australian government and non-government
schools. In particular, the study provides a range of examples of good practice
in three domains of values education:
- articulating values in the school's mission/ethos
- developing student civic and social skills and building resilience, and
- incorporating values into teaching programmes across the key learning areas
From the Final Report a
National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools has been
developed which includes a set of guiding principles to support schools and
a set of key elements and approaches providing practical guidance to schools
in implementing values education.
http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/values/
There are many synchronicities between these developments and the values articulated
in Global Perspectives: A statement on global education for Australian schools (2002)
Values and attitudes emphasised in global education include:
- a sense of personal identity and self-esteem;
- caring and compassionate concern for others, both in one's immediate relationships
and in the local, national and global community;
- a recognition of shared responsibilities and a willingness to cooperate
with others in fulfilling them;
- a commitment to upholding the rights and dignity of all people, a concern
for justice and equality, including gender equity, and a commitment to helping
to eradicate poverty;
- a positive attitude towards diversity and difference, a willingness to learn
from the experience of others and respect for the rights of all to participation
and expression;
- appreciation of and concern for the environment, a sense of personal responsibility
to act in environmentally responsible ways and a commitment to sustainable
practices
Global education emphasises the development of positive values and attitudes,
based on a strong sense of identity and self-esteem and encompassing caring
for others, recognising responsibilities, a commitment to upholding the rights
and dignity of all people and an appreciation of diversity and difference. It
also encourages and empowers learners to translate their knowledge, skills and
values into a preparedness to participate actively in community life. At the
same time it is vital that students develop a realistic awareness of how effective
such action and participation will be.
Students should never be discouraged by thinking that they can make no difference
at all, but they should also not be misled into believing they can remake the
world.
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