Unit V Inculcating Values

 Formal and Informal Agencies of Inculcating Values

Value education is rooted in Indian philosophy and culture and ingrained in every tradition of Indian culture. The Vedas and Upanishads form the source of inspiration for value education. In the Vedic period, in Ashram system of education, the Guru insisted his pupil to follow certain values throughout his life.

University education commission 1948-49 mentioned the various aspects of morality as: loyalty, courage, discipline, self-sacrifice and spirituality.

The Secondary Education Commission 1952-53 laid special emphasis on the following values in the formation of character of the students:

• Efficiency
• Good Temper
• Cooperation
• Integrity
• Discipline

Ways to make value education 

There are several ways to make value education more effective. 

• the moral awareness should be endorsed to orient the progress in science & technology towards the welfare of mankind. 
• common values should be re-discovered to unite human beings with the general decline of traditional values. 
• teachers pass values to the students both consciously and unconsciously through their conduct in and out of class rooms. Therefore the need for a consciously planned value education program is obvious to establish a formal learning. 
• students might face more complicated decision making situations about issues involving values. They should be helped in developing the ability to make proper choices in such situations through value education. 
• increase in Juvenile delinquency is a crisis to youth who under goes the process of personal growth. In such situation value education assumes a special significance.

Inculcation of values in Educational Institutions

In school, children are members of a small society that exerts a tremendous influence on their moral development. Teachers serve as role model to students in school; they play a major role in inculcating their ethical behaviour.

At the same time, peers at school may also diffuse boldness about cheating, lying, stealing, and consideration for others. Though there are rules and regulations, the educational institutions infuse the value education to the children in an informal way. They play a major role in developing pro-social behaviour in children.

The most common steps which can be taken in educational institutions to inculcate values include:

Teaching Accountability

The children should be encouraged to be accountable for their own actions and should learn to respect and treat others kindly.

Playing Role model

The teachers are the first role model to the children outside their family. When the children sees the model showing concern for others, motivating them for their good deeds and cooperating and helpful with their academic issues, the children learn them by observing and imitate it with fellow peers.

Teaching Basic morals and values

The children are taught basic morals and values in school. They should be taught by emphasizing the idea through many activities, stories and tales, which will encourage them to engage in more helping behaviours.

Appreciation

The teacher should appreciate the children for developing pro-social behaviour, especially for any specific action they have done to help others.

For Children with weaker moral development

Children’s ability to develop a relationship with peers is critical to their wellbeing. These children have difficulty in understanding social or nonverbal cues and they lack the ability to reason. The teachers play a role in helping these rejected children learn to listen to peers and “hear what they say” instead of trying to dominate peers.

Neglected children are helped to attract and hold their attention from peers. They are taught to ask questions, listen, and help them to establish interest groups or clubs where they integrate in a positive way.

Value Education through Schools

School is the basic stage in the process of socialisation and value education takes place at school level as the child is exposed to friends, teachers, syllabus and various extra-curricular activities.

Further, values cannot be taught like abstract subjects like history, science or math. However, they can be inculcated only through situations deliberately planned while teaching the subjects. For example, National Movement can be taught in such a way that it leads to inculcate the values of patriotism, secularism, universal love and tolerance etc. Similarly, World History can help to inculcate values of Liberty, equality and fraternity {French Revolution}, Fundamental Rights and equality {American Revolution}; Science can help to inculcate values of scientific temper, appreciation towards laws of nature; Indian Civics can help to inculcate values of respect to constitution, respect for democracy, secularism, integrity and unity of the country, social, political and economic justice etc. Further, math can help in inculcating the values of honesty and integrity; Geography and environment can help to inculcate values of respect for other’s culture, and world is one family {Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam}.

At the same time, teachings from the biographies of the great and noble leaders also inculcate the inspiring values among the students and people at large. For example, Mahatma Gandhi’s insistence on truth, non-violence and satyagraha teaches the basic human values.

Last but not the least, the education about constitution, particularly preamble; fundamental rights and duties gives out what values should be fostered through education.

Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide to motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualitities we choose to embody to guide our actions, the sort of person we want to be, the manner in whihc we treat ourselves and others and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.

Values in a narrow sense are that which is good, desirable or worthwhile. Values are the motive behind purposeful action. They are the ends to whihc we act and come in many forms. Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong and may or may not be considered moral. Cultural values are values accepted by religions or societies and reflect what is important in each context.

Values are universal as they are shared by all the individuals regardless of their nationality, religion, gender, culture or history.

Values can be:

Innate - values due to our genes and conscience

Acquired - values imparted by social institutions and influences

Values can be inculcated very easily in early childhood and they have a long lasting impact on the conduct of the individual for thier entire life. Values are developed through various agencies

• Family (first agent but is informal)
• Educattional Institutions (first formal agency)
• Society or peer group
• Religion/culture
• Media etc

The beliefs and values are imparted by family, society, educational institutions which ultimately leads to the change of attitude and behaviour of an individual 

Role of Family 

Family is the most important platform and foundation for a child to learn values. They are the first set of individuals that one interacts with. Children identify with their parents and other family members and adopt them as their personal models by emulation and imitation

Social standards and customs defined by a family provide the emotional and physical basis for a child. It leads to a disciplined and organized life. Family prepares an individual to the face the real world and equip them with all the essentials needed to copy with social others. 

A child with a good sense of right and wrong are less likely to become sufferers of deviant influences

Ex. Drug addiction, values like kindness, love, compassion, respect, tolerance etc can inculcated through family values

A bad familial experience can seriously hamper the development of moral and mental capabilities of an individual. Family, being the primary and major agency of  socialisation sets the pattern for the child's perspective towards. Folks and society, aids intellectual growth within the kid and support his aspirations and sensible values.

Some of the values and ways that facilitate up inciting kid in an exceedingly harmonius setting

• Family provide informal way of learning, love, compassion, self-sacrifice and values of sharing and caring develop implicitly within a child
• Praise and encourage exploring
• Children observe and unconsciously imbibe values. Looking at the mother who cooks and care for whole family values of compassion is imbibed. If female members are treated with respect in the family and then respect for women is inculcated in the child
• Set realistic goals for them
• Acts itself as a task model 
• Sensitise youngsters towards weaker and marginalised sections
• Set non-secular and cultural values for youngsters
• Forbid indulgence in dishonest deeds
• Helps youngsters to develop the sense of discrimination between right and wrong so they might develop thier own judgement.

Effect of styles of Parenting values

Style of parenting also play an important part to discipline children and inculcating values in them. They are:

1. Authoritative - believe in restricting the autonomy of their children and imposing the value system on them. It can lead to less empathetic, biased, self centered child.

2. Democratic - deal with thier children in rational and issue oriented manner. It also prove for positive re-enforcement on display of children's behaviour. Objectivieness, impartiality, tolerance, patience, etc. can be seen in such children.

3. Pessimissive - It is characterised by neglect, apathy and non-involvement of parents,children can devevelop negative values and follow negative role models

Role of Teachers and Educational Institutions

"Education which does not mould character is wholly worthless" - Gandhiji

Education is an effective and pervasive phenomenon for all round individual development and social transformation. A balanced development of mind and body in harmony with enhancement of human personality with value based education to achieve higher levels of consciousness.

Since the ancient times, the value  educattion is being manifested and upheld in the society through Vedas, Upanishads, Epics, Buddhist moral code of conduct, etc. More importance was given to Morality, Honesty, Duty, Brotherhood, Friendship etc.,

Education plays as an important driver to enhance values.

Science increases rational thinking and questioning of old age beliefs

Literature helps us understand human nature and prevalent social values of a given era

An account  of life history of great leaders like Gandhi's train journey to Pretoria shows how he stood against injustice

Content of a textbook plays important role in imparting value system.

Education also teachers important values through stories and real life examples. For example, lesson on Hellen Keller teaches important to grit and determination despite hardships

Educational Institutions help children in development of 

Cognitive and Psychomotor skills - through curricular activities

Social and Interpersonal Skills - through extra curricular activities

It is the place where the seeds of discipline, develop, commitment are planted and fostered with deliberate efforts.

Teachers serve as the role models of students in schoools and they play a major role in inculcating ethical behaviour in them

• Values like team work, leadership etc. are inculcated
• Gokhale was a political guru of Gandhi and in many ways he shaped the ideology and outlook of Gandhi towards India and life.
• If teacher is prompting his private coaching class during official class in the school, he is indirectly imparting materialistic
• A child who was unduly published by the teacher will develop a wrong attitude

Role of Society in Inculcating values

Individuals grow older, their social worlds expand. They begin to look outside their home and toward other individuals in their neighbourhood as their companions for play and for sharing their mental thoughts. The neighbourhood is where individuals spend most of their time besides thier homes and schoools. The concept of neighbourhood has both physical and social meanings. But the social meaning is more important, as it is characterised by the social similarities of individuals .

Following values can be attached to  society;

• Man lives in society for his menntal and intellectual development, society preserves our culture and transmits it to succeeding generations.
• Society brings morality and ethics in individuals
• Individual discipline is brought by society via sanctions and rewards
• It brings tolerance and national integration
• Society removes the evils of social indifferences like caste trhougn collective struggle
• The society imbibes confirmity