Values
A school's vision and mission statement will indicate some principles or core
values which can inform and support the way the school develops. Core
values are therefore a useful vehicle for realising the school's educational
vision and its mission.
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| Contents |
- In Brief - the main point in
a couple of sentences
- Key Ideas - a list of the main points
- 'How To' Guide - simple guidelines
for practice
- Resources - a collection of
useful, evaluated resources
- Further Reflection - relevant
research, papers and articles that inform the ideas in
this section
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In Brief
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| Core values
Core values arise out of what we believe to be important
about people, about society and about learning and
knowledge. Values inform and shape how the school
is organised, how people relate to each other in school,
as well as the content and processes of teaching and
learning.
(Open image.)
Core values are:
'principles, fundamental convictions, ideals,
standards or life stances which act as general guides
to behaviour or as reference points in decision-making
or the evaluation of beliefs or action' (Halstead
J & Taylor M, Values
in Education and Education in Values 1995)
A core value has many dimensions. These include spiritual,
moral, social and cultural dimensions. Values are
lived and experienced. Values can be understood intellectually,
and they provide a framework for learning and personal
development.
There are a number of core values which, in practice,
most people and communities agree on and share. These
can provide a basis for a school's 'shared values'.
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Values help to realise vision
Values provide a key means through which a vision
becomes part of the everyday life of a school. 'Values
lie at the heart of the school's vision of itself
as a community.' (NCC 1993)
- Values can be articulated, lived and acknowledged,
by all members of the school community in all aspects
of community life.
- All key school policies, including teaching and
learning need to specifically address the school's
shared core values.
- It should be possible to track these values through
all aspects of school life: leadership and management,
finance, teaching and learning, curriculum, pastoral
care and external relations.
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Values matter
The important thing to remember is that all schools
promote values all of the time.
In order to be professional and ethical it is important
that school leaders are explicit about those values
they hold to be most important. Without this clarity
it may be that your school is promoting values which
undermine things that you hold dear and which may
run counter to what you hold to be most important
(for example values imposed from outside the school).
At the very least, a lack of explicitness makes it
harder to have shared vision and values.
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Core values have different dimensions
Core values have a range of differing dimensions
and are particularly related to citizenship issues,
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
of pupils and learning to learn:
- Learning as a lifelong process: critical curiosity,
making connections, challenge, making meaning
- Spirituality: developing self-awareness, awareness
of others awareness of the world around us, and
for some, awareness of a God
- Morality: commitment to living and behaving in
certain ways
- Social development: co-operation and emotional
literacy
- Cultural development: empathy and valuing difference
- Personal development: self esteem, self efficacy,
motivation for learning.
These dimensions are central to the personal and
social development of learners. Personal development
plus learning and achievement together constitute
attainment.
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Communities share core values
There are common values shared by all. It is possible
for communities to agree on a set of core values that
everybody shares. These are then 'our' values
rather than values that are imposed from outside.
Common values are values that different groups in
a society can agree upon. There is evidence that human
communities across cultures share similar basic core
values. Sometimes these shared values are known as
'virtues'. School communities can identify and agree
a set of core values at a local level. These can therefore
have the authority of consensus for that school and
its community .
The National Curriculum carries a statement of agreed
values formed from a consultation by the National
Forum on Values in 1996. You can read
this statement here.
In October 1996, The Institute for Global Ethics
conducted a Global Values Survey at the State of the
World Forum's annual meeting in San Francisco. The
272 participants represented 40 countries and more
than 50 different faith communities. The same three
values were within each respondents' top five in almost
60% of cases. A summary of this survey's results can
be read
here.
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Perspectival values may differ
Values don't arise out of thin air. They emerge from
shared worldviews and belief systems. Hence there
are perspectival values which are drawn from particular
religious and philosophical traditions.
Different religious and secular communities will
have differing beliefs and worldviews which shape
their understanding of the world. These religious
and philosophical traditions offer particular perspectives
on shared values.
For example, most communities will 'value others'
in someway. A religious community might value other
people because they believe each person is made in
the image of God, whereas a secular community might
value others because human beings are the highest
form of life on earth, which all deserve to be given
a voice. Most school communities will have a variety
of worldview perspectives within them.
The National Forum on Values in Education and the
Community in 1996 recognised that there is diversity
in society about the belief systems that shape and
inform our shared values. Most western schooling systems
recognise and embrace diversity of types of educational
provision within a common framework. Valuing difference
at school and classroom level is an important aspect
of values education and citizenship, and it is an
important part of a healthy democratic society.
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Core values underpin citizenship & PHSE
A community owned values framework is a key part
of leadership for citizenship education and PHSE.
The Citizenship Teachers Guide stresses the importance
of 'clear whole-school values that have been discussed
by all members of the school community'.
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'How To' Guide
In Summary
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Clarifying core values
The activity in this section is intended help you to familiarise yourself with the 'language of values'.
You could use this multiple-choice
quiz to help clarify what is meant by core values.
A useful definition is available at the start of the
quiz.
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Identifying useful dimensions
of our values
We can identify applications of the dimensions of values across the whole curriculum and throughout the school.
Activity 1
We can illustrate this by taking the value 'justice'. Look at how we have applied some of its dimensions, click here to view the page. A further example using the value 'truthfulness' can be seen here. You can use this interactive page to explore ways of applying the dimensions of another value, 'stewardship' and compare your ideas to ours.
(Further sections, especially Step 3 'Teaching &
Learning' in the Learning Centre provide more information
about how vision and values can become visible in
school policies, teaching and learning and informing
the 'ethos' of the school.)
Activity 2
Now think of three core values which you think are
most important for your school. First, check that
these are core values and not simply dispositions
such as courage or hardworking.
Next, take one of these three values and this
fresh template, then write your own ideas for
applying the dimensions of this value. You will be
able to print or email the completed template for
later use
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Discovering our common values
This is a group exercise with two purposes:
- to identify those values that the school community holds in common
- to explore the experience that most groups' chosen
core values are very similar (i.e. there are basic
values that can be agreed upon and form a basis
for practices within a school community). This exercise
can be developed across large communities and can
be used for community wide consultations.
Since the exercise is for a group, the instructions
are contained in a separate printable document:click
here to view it
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Resources
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Further Reflection
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Improving your school through values
Rodger, A. & Reid, M. (not known). Improving Your
School Through Values Northern College of Education/Gordon
Cook Foundation
Abstract - This is a practical guide to school and
departmental improvement through identifying shared values
and putting them to work. Having a statement of values,
it is suggested, is a practical way for a school community
to make explicit the main values it shares as a community.
It is a way of stating the ideals to which the school aspires
and has the potential to increase the cohesion and shared
purposiveness of the school. Chapters on ‘Getting started’,
‘Creating the statement of value’, ‘Putting the statement
of values to work’, and ‘Keeping track of progress’ provide
supportive guidance on the different stages of the process.
The inclusion of sample materials makes this a thoroughly
practical resource.
Full
Text - link opens in BeCaL Bibliography
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An extensive survey on global values
www.globalethics.org/gvs/summary.html
Abstract: This section of the Institute of Global
Ethics website provides the results of an extensive survey
done on global values. This survey was conducted at the
State of the World Forum's annual meeting in San Francisco
in October 1996. Those involved represented more than 40
countries and more than 50 different faith communities.
It gives information about the most frequently chosen moral
values from amongst this community, what sources of authority
members chose to draw on in reference to their moral values
and also how these moral values influenced decision making.
It draws the conclusion that, although there are differences,
there is a small number of core moral values that are cross-cultural
and universal.
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Values in Education and Education in Values
The major purpose of this book is to set out some of the
key issues and debates relating to the importance of values
in education and of education in values. After an introductory
chapter about the concept of values and values education,
part 1 provides a variety of perspectives on the values
that underpin contemporary education while part 2 focuses
on school practice.
J. Mark Halstead (Editor), Monica J. Taylor (Editor) 1996
Abstract available
here
NB Book available from Amazon ref http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750705108/
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Report on a Values Consultation
Full
Report in pdf format (nb this document requires the Adobe
Acrobat Reader 'plug-in')
Abstract: This is a report of research, initiated
by the school's governors, into the question: 'how and in
what ways is this school distinctive and how can that distinctiveness
be monitored and evaluated?' The research team identified
two strands for investigation:
- consultation on espoused values
- investigation of current practice and perceptions
The consultation established a range of espoused values
of the whole school community: students, parents, governors
and teachers. A set of nine so-called 'core values', which
were thought to encapsulate the range, were adopted as the
school's values. Practice and perceptions were explored
using appropriate tools. Findings confirmed and supported
the findings of the values consultation strand, highlighting
the importance that both students and teachers place on
positive relationships. It highlighted too, that what students
and teachers appear to value highly in this school is learning
and achievement for all students, not just those with academic
orientation.
The report contains useful useful information on the practicality
of such a consultation exercise.
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Identifying and utilising values in a primary school
Department for Education and Skills - Best Practice Research
Scholarship
63 page report. This document requires the Adobe Acrobat
Reader.
'Identifying
and utilising values: spiritual, moral, social and cultural
development and citizenship in a primary school' researcher
Helen Jelfs (September 2000 - July 2001)
Abstract: This research project describes a process
undertaken by one primary school to identify a set of core
spiritual and moral values shared by the community. Each
member of the school community had an opportunity to contribute
to the process and to make their voice heard. The report
goes on to suggest ways in which those values can be useful
for citizenship education and SMSC across the curriculum.
As well as tracking the process of consultation with teachers,
students, governors and parents this report includes practical
examples of how to do this with students, and gives the
results from this particular school community.
The aims of this research project were:
- To determine if it is possible to identify a shared
set of core spiritual and moral values held by a school
community.
- To consider if, and how, those values might enable SMSC
development and citizenship education in the
curriculum.
The intention was to find ways for a school community to
engage in activities that would promote both thinking and
talking about values so that it could determine which values
were important in its practice. If a degree of consensus
between the different parties could be demonstrated, then
it could be possible to determine a shared set of core values
for the school community. In addition, a further intention
was to discover if those values could be used to facilitate
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and citizenship
education.
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Glossary of terms for values (QCA)
Summary: This
glossary is intended to suggest core meanings of the
main terms used in the Statement of Values produced by the
National Forum for Values in Education and the Community,
and of some others which often occur in discussions. The
glossary may also help to give a sense of the interconnections
between ideas in this area. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
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Education and Values - PowerPoint slideshow
These Microsoft PowerPoint
slides are intended to help school leaders by presenting
the key ideas from this section in a form that can be used
with other managers, advisors or teachers. The six slides
are in editable form, are simply text /bullet points and
suitable for printing as handouts, photocopying onto overheads
or use with a computer and projector.
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Honesty quotes
A collection
of phrases, each a thoughtful reflection on the value
of honesty (or truth).
This collection has been assembled by William Alan Shirley
at The Virtues. There are similar collections for a number
of other values at The
Virtues web site
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