Academic education and value education are virtually intertwined; hence, they are equally important. Without the former, nobody will be able to learn skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. One cannot secure a good job or manage even the simplest daily essentials if they do not know how to behave properly with others.
Understand Value Education
Meaning of Value Education
Considering Value Education as a compound word, the separate definitions of both the terms “value” and “education” are presented. This leads to the definition of Value Education as the process of transmitting values to the pupils.
According to K. H. Imam Zarkasy, Value Education is an educational action or the conveying of knowledge on the measurement of morality, and showing the difference between what is bad and good for living in society.
The various aspects of Value Education include Moral Education, Civic Education, Citizenship Education, Environmental Education, Religious Education, and Spiritual Education.
Educators worldwide have initiated various steps, packages, projects, and discussions at their respective levels for promoting values.
Some names that could be mentioned here include:
- Holistic Approach to Education
- Global Education
- Value-Based Education (VBE)
- Democratic Education
- Character Education
- Home School System
- Alternative Education
- Philosophy for Child (P4C)
- Islamization of Knowledge (IOK)
- Moral Education
- Project/Problem-Based Learning (P2BL)
- TLC (Teaching and Learning Center)
- Anchored Instruction
- Interdisciplinary Approach
- Enquiring Minds
- Living Values Education Programme (LVEP)
Importance of Value Education
The Importance of Balancing Material and Moral Values
Everything a person does has little meaning and will not serve them well. Therefore, for our welfare, as well as that of others, both academic excellence and value education must be combined.
Even during good times, the finer things in life, such as a high reputation, fame, and money, can make a person arrogant unless they know how to use money and power correctly. The absence of these very attributes can destroy their glory and honor.
If we possess many talents, wealth, power, or fame in life, we must learn to use them wisely so that both ourselves and others may find happiness by leading a life guided by both moral values and material riches.
Addressing Global Challenges Through Value Education
World citizens are facing numerous problems, including terrorism, drug addiction, poverty, and overpopulation.
Hence, it is necessary to instill moral values in the curriculum because education is a highly effective weapon to combat these evils and find solutions. “Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in their hand and at whom it is aimed” (Joseph Stalin).
Shaping the Future Through Education
We know that today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens. If we provide a good education to today’s children, the future of the next generation will be well-informed. Education is the key to solving all types of these problems.
Embracing Modernity with Moral Values
We are living in a modern century, and therefore, we must use science and technology in the proper way. It is not difficult for us to address all the issues related to non-moral or valueless matters. The primary objective of this study is to instill moral values in schools and colleges.
The Transformative Power of Education
Education possesses the genuine power to help learners shape their minds and manners accordingly, thus enabling the attainment of academic excellence in a fruitful and perfect manner.
Manifestation of Values
We see that Value Education has two aspects to be judged and appreciated, and these two are worth making life and living (1) useful and (2) satisfactory.
It is highly abstract and qualitative, and at the same time, relative in the context of the individual’s culture, creed, acquired belief, conviction, attitude, etc. “Many men, many minds,” and so there are astronomical varieties and kinds of value concepts of education among the peoples of the world.
Literary Illustrations of Value Differences
Now let us cite some examples from some celebrated works.
For instance, the classical playwright Shakespeare’s two characters in his famed drama “The Merchant of Venice” exhibit two sorts of values of a single thing – money.
To one protagonist, Antony, the value of money, so to say, lies in sacrifice to ameliorate the sufferings of the poor and the distressed, whereas his counterpart, Shylock, treats the same for multiplying it by usury practices if needed, heartlessly.
Though these two characters are literary creations, they actually represent the two characters of society that have existed since the creation of man, so to speak.
Diverse Cultural Perspectives on Values
Again, the story of Hatemtaye is a unique example that shows how a good soul was ready to have his own head chopped off for his poverty-stricken killer who came to kill him (Hatemtaye) to claim the prize money. According to blood, culture, education, belief, or religion, people of the world are contradictorily and even contrarily different and varied.
For instance, a Jewish, a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim, and even an Atheist express their distinct attitudes, manners, and behaviors that are not necessarily similar in respect of, say, greetings, eating habits, drinking, clothing, and observing ceremonies.
Contrasting Economic and Political Systems
To a Communist, a state is the master of the people, and each citizen of the communist country has to work for the welfare of the state according to their capability, and in return, the state will provide them with provisions according to their necessity.
As a result, the value of a person is determined by their physical strength and food, minus their soul, which survives on spiritual nourishment. In a capitalist country, earnings and spending have no moral or humanitarian constraints.
Philosophical Approaches to Values
Pragmatic thoughts and hedonistic philosophy are now influential in world politics. According to naturalists, an individual can get the greatest value out of life by harmonizing their life as closely as possible with nature.
Pragmatists deny the existence of ultimate eternal values and believe that all values are subjective and relative to humans.
They think that values constantly develop through the interplay between fresh personal experiences and cultural influences. Values like truth are rooted in and derived from their source; this is the belief of essentialists.
Spiritual Perspectives on Value
According to perennialists, not only knowledge but values are grounded in a teleological and supernatural reality. To them, beauty is the highest value in aesthetics, and speculative reason is the highest value in ethics.
They focus on teaching ideas that are everlasting, seeking enduring truths that are constant, as the natural and human worlds at their most essential level do not change. Sufis seek to gain spiritual illumination through deep meditation and attain an inner vision of the truth.
The Global Need for Value Education
So we see that with respect to politics, the forms of dictatorship, kingship, jingoistic nationalism, blood, territory, and color-based nationalism have been treated as useful and beneficial by the leaders of these categories.
Thus, the peoples of the present world are divided into several warring groups that now measure their power, prestige, and superiority based on their arms race and atomic energy. This means that the peace observed by these warring peoples is based on the balance of terror, not on the balance of goodwill.
This crucial global situation urgently requires Value Education. Changing such conflicting mindsets and behaviors, especially among the big powers, depends fundamentally on infusing education with morality, ethics, humanity, and other elements of Value Education.
A Critical Look into Value Education
Value Education is a very recent subject, considered for inclusion in general education courses, which had once been deeply rooted in early education. The average person dreams and believes that the primary aim of education is to meet the needs of parents facing socio-religio-economic and moral pressures.
Parental Aspirations in Education
Thus, we see that a farmer wants his son to become an expert in leading a farming life, a businessman hopes his son becomes a successful businessman capable of facing competition in this field, and similarly, a university teacher desires his child to become a distinguished intellectual figure, and so on.
All these notions of various parents or guardians express the desire to provide their children with better opportunities in life through education than they themselves have had.
Religious Foundations of Early Education
However, the history of education in the past shows that in ancient India, Europe, especially England, places of worship initially established common schools that accepted holy scriptures from people of different religions, making religion the core of moral training.
Shift Towards Secularism: The Renaissance Impact
This practice continued until the advent of the Renaissance between the 14th and 15th centuries, marked by the exploitation of science, technology, land discovery, economic resources, and other factors that significantly influenced human thinking, emphasizing pragmatism in life and society.
It diminished the importance of belief in God, religion, and divinity, rendering them almost insignificant and worthless.
Prominent Voices Against Religious Institutions
For instance, an American scholar named Thomas Pine expressed his personal viewpoint in his article ‘Profession of Faith’ in a manner that sophisticatedly disregarded religion.
He stated, ‘I believe in one God, and no more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life,’ asserting his belief as ‘My mind is my own church.’
Furthermore, he opined that ‘All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish (i.e., Muslims), appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit (F.B.G & A.P.H, 1974).’
Such a dismissive attitude toward God and religion is also evident in the views of individuals like Karl Marx, Darwin, and Einstein.
The Rise of Secular Societie
As a result, this godless perspective has transformed the current education system into one that is secular in both content and spirit. It has made belief in God and religion a personal matter of optional belief and ritual in society, including in state life and governance.
There is a belief that non-religious people demonstrate higher scores in acts of generosity and kindness, such as lending their possessions or offering a seat on a crowded bus, compared to religious individuals.
All these examples advocate that a society without God and with non-religious beliefs tends to perform better acts of service and goodwill for the community as a whole.
Consequences of a Godless Society
Hence, a secular society established through godless education has gained more ground than one influenced by religion. In such a society, a person’s life is seen as reaching its final and absolute end in death, with all their deeds, both good and bad, having no consequences in their future life or the next world.
A closer look at this dire situation of human life, devoid of religion, God, and divinity, reveals that it has occurred rapidly primarily due to the absence of value education in its true and real sense.
Value as the Base of Education
The authors, thinkers, educationists, and philosophers of world renown have been deeply grappling with the strong urge to establish morality as the foundation of all branches of education, which essentially constitutes Value Education.
Historical Perspectives on Morality in Education
Aristotle and later other renowned figures such as Locke, Hume, and Bertrand Russell held the opinion that moral objectives should be incorporated into education to curb humanity’s relentless pursuit of money, wealth, and power.
They believed that without acquiring these elements, life on this mortal earth would lead to a painful and meaningless end.
Life’s Purpose Beyond Materialism
These types of individuals, lacking faith in God or any form of religion, believe that life’s growth occurs here, both in power and wealth, with the ultimate goal of finding fulfillment in this material world.
The Need for Moral Aims in Education
Let us, therefore, critically examine the question: Why should education have moral aims, and how can these aims be implemented?
6 Benefits of Moral Objectives in Education
It is an acknowledged fact that the moral objectives of education have the effective capacity to control humanity’s inclination towards selfish rationality in pursuing personal enjoyment.
Studies on such tendencies or drives demonstrate that:
Achieving Excellence Through Virtue
The cultivation of virtue, the establishment of moral habits or values, allows individuals to achieve the highest quality and excellence in their character.
Philosopher Kant referred to it as ‘a good will,’ a concept acknowledged in all physical, intellectual, and aesthetic aspects of culture that helps individuals attain moral excellence.
The Role of Socialization in Education
Every child should receive proper training for social interaction and friendship. ‘Society is a human creation’ that necessitates socialization and the subordination of the self to uphold the golden rule ‘Live and Let Live,’ which thrives on love, politeness, sympathy, sacrifice, empathy, etc.
Promoting Peace and Prosperity Through Education
To achieve and maintain socio-religious, cultural, economic, and political peace and prosperity, every child should be educated, both in theory and practice, to fulfill these essential societal requirements.
The Growth and Development of Value-Education
Value-Education is a fully developed subject with the laws of growth and development, much like other subjects in the curriculum. It undergoes development through moral judgments, emotional experiences, and cultural activities that motivate learners to acquire moral strength and clarity in their thoughts and actions.
Learners learn and enrich this subject through careful nurturing and guidance provided by wise teachers and parents who embody moral principles in their actions.
Integrating Moral Values Across the Curriculum
The core content of all school courses, whether in Arts, Science, Commerce, etc., should be grounded in moral values and judgments. Learners should engage in thoughtful cultivation of key facts and figures in each subject to promote moral culture and character development.
Practical Approaches to Imparting Moral Values
Schools should incorporate both theoretical and practical approaches to impart moral values. These values can be presented to learners through stories, dramatization of lessons, sketches, drawings, festoons, and various other creative methods.
In essence, the school itself should embody the living values of social life and society as a whole.
Specifically, the values of cooperation, sympathy, dedication, and tolerance should be taught to children in the classroom and within society so that they may realize that true and genuine happiness and benefit in life can be achieved through the practice of these qualities in group living.
The Role of Teachers in Moral Education
Pedagogical applications related to components of values such as morality and ethics should have a profound psychological impact on teachers.
They should receive proper moral training because it is the teachers who must consistently and rationally cultivate moral thoughts and actions. Consequently, children will be capable of acquiring moral insight and feelings with great enthusiasm, inspired by their teachers’ character and personality.
Conclusion: Integration of Academic Excellence and Value Education
Imitating Spenser Herbert, we can safely say that Value Education encapsulates the entire purpose of education, including the inner quality, insight, and volition of children who, through the application of moral virtues in character and behavior, become citizens of good character within a nation.
Mere academic knowledge without a deep foundation in moral and spiritual values will only mold one-sided personalities. These individuals may accumulate wealth and material possessions but will remain impoverished in self-understanding, the promotion of peace, and contributions to social welfare.
To emphasize this fact, Swami Vivekananda said, ‘Excess of knowledge and power, without holiness, makes human beings devils.’
Value Education necessitates academic excellence, especially to equip learners thoroughly with its elements so that they feel confident in implementing these values in their individual and social lives. This is because academic teaching is systematic, and the impact of education is bound to be fruitfully realistic and beneficial.
