VALUE
EDUCATION
CONCEPT OF VALUES
Axiology
is the branch of philosophy which deals with the system of values. It is
considered as theory of values. Values are very important in human life for
success in material life and social life of the individual. Inculcation of
values from school onwards is very important in development of character and
good personality among individuals and it can solve the problem of value crisis
of society. Values are that the result of any activity should be good, useful
and acceptable. They are important because every human institution the
outgrowth of social values. When we open the pages of history, we realize that
philosophers of the great tradition from Plato to Hegel have been greatly
concerned with values. Thus, when philosophers ask what the supreme end of life
is, then they are really dealing with values.
MEANING OF VALUE
Value is that which is important, that which is the object of the
individual’s effort, it is that for which one lives and for which he is
prepared to make the greatest sacrifices. Based on etymological meaning and its
verbal meaning, value signifies that quality of an individual or thing which
makes that individual or thing important respectable and useful. Based on
philosophical or educational interpretation of value signifies neither a thing
nor an individual, but a thought or a point of view. Based on economical
standpoint, a value directly related to practical utility, in exchange anything
that satisfies human desire is considered as value.
·
John
Dewey views a value as, “The value means primarily to prize,
to esteem, to appraise, to estimate. It means the act of cherishing something,
holding it and also the act of passing judgment upon the nature and amounts of
values as compared with something else”.
·
According to W.H. Kilpatrick, “That out of man’s capacity for goal seeking
behavior arise his wants and efforts and out of these come in consciously
chosen ends a mean. Because ends conflict, man is led to weigh his goals
against each other, when this is done critically enough value emerge”.
·
Rokeach
defines
values, “As an enduring belief, a specific mode of conduct or end along a
continuum of relative importance”.
·
Henderson
says,
“ It has been pointed out that
man acts to satisfy his wants, anything which satisfies a human want becomes
thereby a value. To say that our conduct is motivated by our value is another
way of saying that we act to satisfy our wants”.
DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATIONAL VALUES
Educational values are related to
those activities which are good, useful and valuable from the point of view of
education.
According to Adams, Education
is a bipolar process which has two parts – (1) the teacher and (2) the child.
The teacher, in order to mould and modify the behavior of the child employs
various strategies and tactics to believe the desired behavioral change in the
child. He performs all these activities, because he thinks them as valuable for
the purpose in view.
According to Cunningham educational
values become aims of education. According to these qualities, abilities and
capacities are promoted in the individuals, which are inherently values of
life.
J.S. Brubacher speaks, “To
state one’s aim of education is at once to state his educational values”.
Views
on Educational Values:
There are two views about educational values. They are:
1.
Internal and Subjective
2.
External and Subjective
1.
Internal and Subjective:
Some educationists are of
opinion that values depend upon personal ideas and experiences. In other words,
a value is born out of mind’s power of imagination. They hold that those things
are of any use to human beings which have values inherent in them. Things are
of no use have no value. Hence educational values are internal and subjective.
According to these educationists, curriculum construction, selection of
educational aids, strategies and tactics all depend upon the teacher and the
child. They determine their values according to their utility.
2.
External and Objective:
Some
educationists firmly hold that values are inherent in objects and activities in
accordance with their qualities and attributes. According to their view, the
social environment influences the quality or the value of an object. In other
words, it is the social environment which assigns any value to an object.
Hence, each social value according to environment enters an object and becomes
a part of it. These educationists do not regard a value as something internal
and objective, but assert that it is external and objective.
The above discussion makes
it clear that some educationists hold value as internal and subjective where as
others believe that they are external and objective. It should be borne in mind
that either of them are one-side and reveal only one side of truth. The first
group of educationists neglects the internal social environment and the other
remains in different to the interests, inclinations, aptitudes and capacities
of the child. In fact, the internal and external values are essential for an
effective and whole some process of education. Thus educational values should
be created keeping into consideration the nature of the child together with the
nature of the objects and activities.
