Lesson 8 " The Importance of Values in Education "

          The Importance of Values in                                  Education                                Our values inform our thoughts, words and actions. Our values are important because they help us to grow and develop. They help us to create the future we want to experience. Every individual and every organisation is  involved in making hundreds of decisions every day.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The Importance of Teaching Values in                 Education                                                                                                                           Why values are important. Our values inform our thoughts, words and actions. Our values are importantbecause they help us to grow and develop. They help us to create the future we want to experience.                                                                              “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” – CS Lewis                                                        Even though the world changes rapidly, the values that students need to develop are actually not really much different to those that were taught in bygone generations. It is just the application of those values in education that has changed.

Showing respect to others, for instance, or caring for the environment are just as important as they ever were – and maybe even more so – but they are now applicable in a variety of new ways. For example:

• Teaching students to be respectful of others can now be applied to their behavior online as well as off-line. Students should understand the importance of acting responsibly and respectfully when using forums, social media, or mobile devices.
• Similarly, good citizenship can now be equally applied to practicing good digital citizenship, whereby students learn to avoid the misuse of information or to acknowledge and respect others’ right to peace and privacy.
• Showing tolerance and understanding to those less fortunate. The escalating refugee crises is challenging both communities and schools to integrate people in a respectful and sustainable way. School is the ideal place to start teaching the correct values towards refugees and develop understanding of different cultures around the world .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         These are just some of the values that educators should be aiming to instill in their students. As the educators and experts we contacted point out below, values are an essential part of the response to a number of difficult challenges that education faces.