OBJECTIVES.+Ethical+Values+1

CHAPTER 2. OBJECTIVES.


 * Core Principles **

Ethical Values Education is based on the following core principles: // On the learning and teaching environment // // On the teaching of values // // On the nature of persons within the world and the discourse of education //
 * 1) 1. When positive values and the search for meaning and purpose are placed at the heart of learning and teaching, education itself is valued.
 * 2) 2. Learning is especially enhanced when occurring within a values-based learning community, where values are imparted through quality teaching, and learners discern the consequences, for themselves, others and the world at large, of actions that are and are not based on values.
 * 3) 3. In making a values-based learning environment possible, educators not only require appropriate quality teacher education and ongoing professional development, they also need to be valued, nurtured and cared for within the learning community.
 * 4) 4. Within the values-based learning community, positive relationships develop out of the care that all involved have for each other.
 * 1) 5. The development of a values-based learning environment is an integral part of values education, not an optional extra.
 * 2) 6. Values education is not only a subject on the curriculum. Primarily it is pedagogy; an educational philosophy and practice that inspires and develops positive values in the classroom. Values-based teaching and guided reflection support the process of learning as a meaning-making process, contributing to the development of critical thinking, imagination, understanding, self-awareness, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills and consideration of others.
 * 3) 7. Effective values educators are aware of their own thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behavior and sensitive to the impact these have on others.
 * 4) 8. A first step in values education is for teachers to develop a clear and accurate perception of their own attitudes, behavior and emotional literacy as an aid to living their own values. They may then help themselves and encourage others to draw on the best of their own personal, cultural and social qualities, heritage and traditions.
 * 1) 9. Central to the Ethical Values Education concept of education is a view of persons as thinking, feeling, valuing whole human beings, culturally diverse and yet belonging to one world family. Education must therefore concern itself with the intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being of the individual.
 * 2) 10. The discourse of education, of thinking, feeling and valuing, is both analytic and poetic. Establishing a dialogue about values within the context of a values-based learning community facilitates an interpersonal, cross-cultural exchange on the importance and means of imparting values in education.


 * Purpose and Aims **

EVE’s purpose is to provide guiding principles and tools for the development of the whole person, recognizing that the individual is comprised of physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. The aims are:

¨ To help individuals think about and reflect on different values and the practical implications of expressing them in relation to themselves, others, the community, and the world at large;

¨ To deepen understanding, motivation, and responsibility with regard to making positive personal and social choices;

¨ To inspire individuals to choose their own personal, social, moral, and spiritual values and be aware of practical methods for developing and deepening them; and

¨ To provide students with a philosophy of living, thereby facilitating their overall growth, development, and choices so they may integrate themselves into the community with respect, confidence, and purpose.