Discuss the importance of Value-based Education at Primary school level VALUES can be defined as the factors/merits derived for psychological physiological benefits for individuals benefits derived for strengthening family relation and social bondageand also the factors !hich lead to national integration and progress" i"e #he values are those factors !hich can give psychological and physiological benefits" #he values are those factors !hich can improve the relations among family members and strengthen social bondage" And the values also contribute for patriotic vision and mission" Values are deeply held beliefs about !hat is good right and appropriate" Values are deep-seated and remain constant over time" $e accumulate our values from childhood based on teachings and observations of our parents teachers religious leaders and other influential and po!erful people" Values affect our lives every moment"#hey are a guiding force in all !e do and pursue" $hen our values arein congruence !ith our actions !e are in harmony" #he literal meaning of the !ord %value& is anything or any sort of thing that can have 'ualities" According to(Albert Einstein-)#he true value of a human being can be found in the degree to !hich he has attained liberation from the self* Ayn +and-),appiness is that state of conscious !hich proceeds from the achievement of one&s values* -ohandas .aramchand /andhi-,e conveyed his message of values through the 0 mon.eys"1 spea. no evil 1 see no evil 1 hear no evilEducation is defined as the process that opens up our mind and Value-2ased Education provides us !ith necessary s.ills !hich !ill contribute to the holistic development of oneself" Education opens up our mind, but Value-Based Education (VBE) gives us purity of heart too; education provides us with skills, but VBE provides us sincerity too; education etends our relationship with the world, but VBE links us with our own family members too! Education makes our living better, but VBE makes our life better too; education teaches us to compete with others, but VBE encourages us to be complete too; education makes us a good professional, but VBE makesus a whole human too; education takes us to the top, but VBE takes the whole society to the top! Education gives us capacity of better learning, but VBE gives us the tool for a deeper understanding too; 1t has no! become very important to introduce value-based educationat primary level to promote good citi3enship and develop social values" 4o!adays life has changed a lot !here the !orld is more modernised and !ith the influence of media children tend to go astray" 2efore it !as the role of the parents and society to teach valuesto children ho!ever no! that parents !or. and they give less time totheir children values education tend to decrease in those situations" #his is !hy no! values education has been integrated in the primary school curriculum" $e have also ne! trends and lifestyles prevailing in our society !here it has become a must to teach children about values so as to live a peaceful life" 2eing educated and getting a good 5ob a big house lovely family andall the lu6uries of life is not a perfect life it !ill become one only if the person is really !orth all these and !ho possess all the 'ualities and values to be a good human being" #herefore through values education children !ill develop good habits and virtues since a very young age so as to become responsible citi3ens of tomorro!" ,o!ever teaching values is not only the !or. of the teacher but it !ill re'uire parents grand-parents uncles aunts cousins friends neighbours and all of society participation" #his is !hy teaching them values is so essential to them and our future" #hey can then become successful happy healthy productive adults !ith strong values !illing to face life !ith confidence" $hen !e teach good values to our children they are less li.ely to undergo remedial character ad5ustments during adolescence" School life much li.e the family home atmosphere is important to our children" -any teens and .ids learn very bad habits at school and ta.e them home" #his often causes discomfort for parents because the bad habits they transport home often contradict the good values taught at home" #his is !hy values no! form part of our primary school curriculum to prevent these problems from happening and also to cater for the needs of other children !ho do not get the chance of learning values from their parents"7hallenges facing the teacher for the effective implementation of Value-based Education at school level#he purpose of teaching values at school is to promote good citi3enship" 1t has also laid emphasis on the development of social values thin.ing s.ills and problem solving s.ills !here it also help in developing children&s character behaviour and self-confidence" #he aims of teaching values are as follo!s( 8 #o prepare the child to play the role of an active citi3en 8 #o get the child to value his/her identity 8 #o develop the character of the child build self-confidence and positive attitude in life 8 #o get the child to appreciate and respect the environment 8 #o help the child to develop empathy good relationships !ith others and be a!are of their responsibilities 1n values education children !ill be taught about civic values !hich !illprepare them in playing the role of an active citi3en" #hey !ill also betaught about the living values !hich !ill develop their character and thus all these !ill contribute for the holistic development of the child",o!everthere are challenges a!aiting the teacher for teaching valuesat school" Every culture has his o!n !ay of teaching values and this could be a great challenge for the teacher at school as he/she !ould bedealing !ith about 9: pupils !hich !ill be of different cultures" Another challenge facing the teacher !ould be the social bac.ground of the children" Some children may come from good family !here theparents ta.e the responsibility of teaching values to their children" 2ut there are also children !ho come from poor family or !ho have been simply abandoned by their parents" All these depend on !hom the children vie! as role models" So this is also a factor affecting the teaching of values at school" #he teacher needs to cater for the needs of each of his pupils" #herefore finding !ays ho! to reach his pupils and not by hurting their self-esteem or feelings the teacher finds it challenging to teach values" Another factor affecting teaching of values is the influence of mass media over children" Even though parents and the society teach values to children !e find that our children get easily influenced by media and they tend to ignore !hat they have learnt" #his !ill also be a challenge for the teacher as !ell" #here are films and video games !hich influence children" Studies have sho!n that media can bring fear increase aggressive and anti-social behaviours" 1t can also lead to health related problems" #herefore the teacher needs to find !ays of teaching values in such a !ay that the children do not get influenced easily by media !hich becomes another challenge for the teacher";ndVALUE-2ASED EDU7A#1@, *lger Cearning 3enter B&ndependence :igh /chool->/*, *nanda /chools+ >/*, Brisbane &ndependent /chool*ustralia, Brockwood 2ark Educational 3entre->@, 4emocratic /chool of :edera -&srael, :ope Dlowers /econdary /chool- 2alestine, 9sho @o :suan /chool->@, /hanti ;iketan- &ndia, /chool of #hinking, /chool of #otal Education, /ri *urobindo &nternational 3entre of Education-&ndia, =ishi Valley/chool+&ndia, =obert .uller 3entre for Civing Ethics->;, /chool of 2hilosophy->@, *lternative Education =esource 9rgani%ation (*E=9), &nternational 4emocratic Education 3onference (&4E3) etc!:ow to &mplement VBE)#alking about VBE is 'uite an easy $ob, but implementing it is a daunting task, which needs the strongest determination! 2resently, ;epalAs education means $ust achieving around E7 Fin academic eams and then going abroad in the name of further education! *ctually, unless we can create a very healthy and pleasant educational environment, VBE cannot be implemented at academic institutions! Dirst of all we should all fully agree that without VBE we cannot have a safe society, a developed country and a harmonious family environment! #herefore, we need to find out some practical ways to apply VBE, e!g! starting with $unior classes, developing a strong commitment of all academic institutions, encouraging parents for their persistent support, producing more trained and dedicated teachers, establishing supportive administrative teams and the like! * well organi%ed library e'uipped with relevant reference books and audio-visual cassettes of course helps as an additional and supportive means and resource to inculcate the value based education in the children!VBE #eaching and Cearning .ethods/*) www!independent-learning!com *lpine Valley /chool (3olorado, >/*) www!alpineval!org *nanda /chools (>/*) www!livingwisdom!org B Blue .ountain /chool (9regon, >/*) www!bluemountainschool!org Blue =idge 4iscovery /chool (>/*) www!blueridgediscoveryschool!org #he Booroobin /udbury /chool (*>/) booroobinschool!s'uirrel!com!au Boston /chool (3alifornia, >/*) www!bostonschool!org Branford ,rove /chool (*rleta, 3*, >/*) www!branfordgrove!com Brisbane &ndependent /chool(*ustralia) http@) www!brockwood!org!uk 3 3edarwood /udbury /chool (3alifornia, >/*) www!cedarwoodsudbury!org 3entre for 4iscovery Cearning (>/*) http/*) www!sudburyschoolchicago!org #he 3learwater /chool ("*, >/*) www!clearwaterschool!com #he 3ircle /chool (2ennsylvania, >/*) www!circleschool!org 3lonlara /chool, 2ine ( 39, >/*) www!clonlara!org 3olorado :igh /chool, ,reeley (39, >/*) colohigh!org 3ommunity /chool(V*, >/*) www!communityschool!netB 39.2*// for Cifelong 4iscovery www!discovercompass!org 4 4emocratic /chool of :edera (:edera, &srael) www!geocities!comBathensBspartaBKE65 4esiderata /chool, &nc! Berthoud, 39 www!desiderataschool!com 4iablo Valley /chool (3alifornia, >/*) www!dvschool!org E Ecole 4-:umanite :asliberg (,oldern, /wit%erland) www!ecole!ch Evergreen /udbury /chool (.aine, >/*) www!powerlink!netBevergreen D Dairhaven /chool (.aryland, >/*) www!fairhavenschool!com Darnebo folkhogskola (/wedish folk high school) www!arosnet!seBusersByoodenBskola!htm Drensham :eights www!demon!co!ukBfrensham-heightsB , ,reenwood /udbury /chool (.aryland, >/*) www!greenwood!nuB : :ighland /chool ("est Virginia, >/*) www!ruralnet!orgBhighlandschoolL:indu Vidayapeeth (;epal) http/*) www!ideal-girls-schools!orgB J Jefferson 3ounty 9pen /chool (3olorado, >/*) http/*) www!salmonberryschool!org /ands /chool (4evon, >@) www!sandsschool!demon!co!uk /antiniketan (or /hantiniketan, "est Bengal, &ndia) www!pa!uky!eduBQsugataBsantiniketan!htmlE#he /chool of #hinking www!mel!aone!net!auBsot /chool of #otal Education www!opennet!net!auBschoolsBsoteBhome!html /ilkwood /teiner /chool (Rueensland, *ustralia) http/*) www!softcom!netBusersBloveBups!htm V " "atsonville 3harter /chool of the *rts www!wcsa!santacru%!k85!ca!us "ildwood /chool (Cos *ngeles) httpoga and other activities that develop self-discipline among students could be included" e" /roup activities li.e cleaning the campus visiting slums visits to hospitals visitsto places of !orship of different faiths should form part of content in value education" Discourses on the lives of spiritual leaders can bring out values li.e self-sacrifice collective happiness love for truth and ultimate values of life for !hich the great leaders lived" f" Personality Development +etreatsI could be held to enable the students to develop self-control punctuality sharing and caring respect for other faiths cooperation and the value of silence?inner peaceA" g" Prayer meditation and OShramadanI could form part of the content of value education" #hey can help the students cultivate inner poise and an attitudinal shift and develop the 'uality of Odignity of labourI" h"