Articles
A selection of articles and research papers related to values education appears below.
These publications have appeared in print media or on the Internet and encompass concerns about social change, programs that support values education and research and data related to values education.
Benninga, Jacques S., Berkowitz, Marvin W., Kuehn, Phyllis, and Smith, Karen ‘Character and Academics: What Good Schools Do’, (website), Phi Delta Kappa International, (Vol. 87, No. 6) February 2006.
There has been increasing interest in character education among policy makers and education professionals in the United States but at the same time there has been an increasing expectation of academic achievement. Many schools are wary of taking on anything that might detract from their focus on the latter. The authors present evidence indicating that the two goals are not incompatible.
Bernard, Michael E., Stephanou, Andrew, Urbach, Daniel, ‘ASG Student Social and Emotional Health Report: A Research Project conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research’ (website), Australian Scholarships Group, October 2007.
The ASG Student Social and Emotional Health Report is an extensive research project on the social and emotional health of Australian students. It is based on a survey of more than 10,000 students from 81 schools across Australia spanning Prep through to Year 12. The report, commissioned and funded by the Australian Scholarships Group (ASG), reveals that a large percentage of students are experiencing social and emotional difficulties. Nine recommendations that address policies, programs and practices for improving the social and emotional health of all students are outlined in the report.
Brass, Charles, 'What HR can learn from primary school', (website), Human Resources, Reed Business Information, 15 June 2004.
Charles Brass went to his daughter’s parent-teacher interview and wrote this article for Human Resources online magazine.
Brown, Raymond, Woods, Annette, Hirst, Elizabeth & Heck, Debbie, The Public Construction of Values in Education: A Synthesis of Case Studies, (website), AARE Conference Paper Abstracts – 2006.
This paper explores the approaches to values education taken by a selection of schools in the south-east region of Queensland as interpreted from texts on school websites. Publicly available documents such as behaviour management policies and the school prospectus are analysed to determine how schools present values education to the public and what approaches to values education are being advocated.
'Bullying research supports national push for safer schools' (pdf file) Media Release, Curtin University of Technology, 19 August 2002.
The WA Centre for Health Promotion Research (WACHPR) at Curtin University of Technology has recently completed a long-term study of its bullying intervention program – known as Friendly Schools – which has achieved a significant reduction in bullying amongst primary school children. Developed by Curtin's Associate Professor Donna Cross and several colleagues, the Friendly Schools program includes classroom, family and whole school activities intended to empower children, parents and teachers in reducing bullying.
Cahill, Sue, Geraldine Butler, and Leesa Duncan, ‘Manningham Catholic Primary Schools Cluster, Vic: Student Action about Values’, (PDF), Connect, No. 157, February 2006.
Sue Cahill, student wellbeing coordinator at St Charles Borromeo Primary School and cluster coordinator, reports on how the grade 4 and 5 students in the cluster are investigating and taking action around values using a Student Action Team approach. Geraldine Butler and Leesa Duncan, two of the teachers in the cluster, reflect on how the project has had a positive impact on the teachers as well as the students.
Canning, Simon, ‘The great southern brand’ (pdf file), The Australian, May 19, 2004
This article further explores the reasons for the Australian Tourist Commission's move away from ‘throwing a shrimp on the barbie’ style of tourist promotion to focusing on seeing Australia's unique qualities ‘in a different light’.
Davidson, Matthew; Lickona, Thomas; and Khmelkov, Vladimir, ‘Smart and Good Schools: A Paradigm Shift for Character Education’, (website), Education Week, 14 Nov 2007 Vol. 27, Issue 12, pp 32, 40.
In the United States character education is essentially an elementary school movement. Two of the authors of this article have written a report ‘Smart and Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond’, http://www.cortland.edu/character/highschool/ based on a study of 24 diverse, award-winning high schools which describes nearly a hundred promising practices for fostering eight strengths of character that help youth lead productive, ethical and fulfilling lives. They believe that character has two major parts: performance character (qualities that enable us to achieve to our highest potential in any performance environment) and moral character (qualities that enable us to be our ethical best in relationships and roles as citizens).
Duckworth, Julie and Bridget Knight, ‘Reflecting on the vocabulary of relationships’, Times Educational Supplement (website), 11 February 2005.
At Clehonger CE primary in Hereford, UK the children designed and made, under the guidance of an artist, a values stained glass window. Values education has become a firm foundation of the school’s ethos. The school community is developing a common values vocabulary and attempting to live the values espoused.
Eckersley, Richard, Cahill, Helen, Wierenga, Ani and Wyn, Johanna, Generations in Dialogue about the Future: The hopes and fears of young Australians (website), Australia 21 and the Australian Youth Research Centre, April 2007.
Pathways to the preferred futures of young Australians is the second project within Australia 21’s Program One, and takes up themes discussed in the first project Pathways to success and wellbeing for Australia’s young people: the importance of cultural ‘intangibles’ to wellbeing (especially how young people see the future), and the role of narrative in their lives.
Emerson, Scott, 'Out with kitsch in Aussie pitch' (pdf file), National Tourism writer, The Australian, May 19, 2004.
‘Underpinning the new Brand Australia is a series of values such as inclusiveness, irreverence, optimism and mateship’. A $360 million tourism campaign aims to rebrand the nation in the eyes of the world. Singer Delta Goodrem, poet Les Murray, cricket commentator Richie Benaud, Indigenous artist Barbara Weir and TV and radio presenter Jonathan Coleman will be the international faces of Australian tourism ‘redefining the way Australians see themselves’. If you were selling Australian tourism overseas, which values would you focus on?
Encouraging Tolerance and Social Cohesion through School Education, (PDF), Erebus International, July 2006.
This is a report to the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training on a project ‘to examine issues affecting young Muslims at risk of potential isolation in schools, and investigate what schools, systems and sectors are currently doing to encourage the message to Islamic youth that Islam is compatible with, and can live alongside, other faiths and Australian values.’ The project was intended to assist in the development of a national action plan to address threats to Australia’s social cohesion, harmony and security being developed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).
There is also a report on Encouraging Tolerance and Social Cohesion through School Education – Showcase Seminar, (PDF), Australian Curriculum Studies Association (ACSA), May 2006.
Gilding, Nicole with Wallace, Margaret, Youth Development, Service Learning and Schooling, (website),Ausyouth, April 2003.
This document discusses the current status, future development and benefits of service learning in Australian schools.
Hawkes, Neil, ‘Add values to build an ethos’, Times Educational Supplement (website), 11 February 2005.
‘For the past 15 years’, Neil Hawkes writes, ‘I have been developing a philosophy that places valuing at the heart of the curriculum.’ Hawkes, an international education consultant, outlines this philosophy and provides examples of schools in the UK that have embraced values education to positive effect.
Hill, Emeritus Professor Brian V, (Murdoch University, WA), '
Values Education in Schools: Issues and Challenges' (pdf file) Keynote address at the National Values Education Forum in Melbourne, April 28 2004 .
Emeritus Professor Brian Hill (photo left) was the Foundation Professor and Dean of the School of Education at Murdoch University, WA. Professor Hill writes in the area of ethics, values education and religious education in schools. In the Keynote Address to the National Values Education Forum Professor Hill briefly discussed the history of values education in Australia, cultural factors contributing to values education, pedagogic challenges to values education, ‘the cognitive core’ of values education and ‘transcending the Public/Private dichotomy’ of values education. An extensive bibliography is also provided for those who may be interested in further research.
The PowerPoint presentation that accompanied Emeritus Professor Hill's address may be downloaded here.
Lovat, Professor Terence, 'Australian perspectives on Values Education: research in philosophical, research and curricular' (website), NSW Department of Education and Training
In this article Professor Lovat explores ‘three areas of research relevant to philosophical, professional and curricular best practice in educating for values in formal education settings’. The first area is concerned with the notion of difference, the second area is concerned with the professional ethics of educators and the third area examines practical work in progress in the area of values education.
Lovat, Professor Terence, Values Education: The Missing Link in Quality Teaching, (PDF), Keynote address to National Values Education Forum, May 2006
In his keynote address to the 2006 National Values Education Forum Professor Lovat suggests that ‘Values Education and Quality Teaching are cohering. Values Education without Quality Teaching is an oxymoron … but Quality Teaching without Values Education has the potential to suffer from the missing link that promises to strengthen and complete it.’
Lovat, Professor Terence, 'What is values education all about?' (pdf file)
In this paper Professor Lovat asks: What is values education all about? As he says, ‘values education goes to the heart of where education began, as a public good designed to make a difference, either as a supplement to what was offered at home or to make up for what was missing at home.’ He also discusses education beyond the goals of literacy and numeracy and the roles that values play in creating and understanding society’s legal codes and social ethics. The integral role of the teacher in values education is also discussed in terms of Quality Teaching. Professor Lovat’s paper places values education at the heart of the classroom and is recommended reading for all Australian teachers.
Lovell, Philippa, ‘Assessing values education – is it possible?’ (PDF) Independent Education, Vol 36 No 3, November 2006.
Philippa Lovell of the Melbourne Catholic Education Office writes that it is not only possible but necessary to measure values in the school setting. She discusses a number of tools that allow educators to examine and assess the social domain in schools. She also mentions that clusters of schools involved in the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 1 have noticed improvements in understanding, behaviour and expectations.
Mason, M, Webber, R, Singleton, A & Hughes, P, The Spirit of Generation Y: Young People, Spirituality and Society: Summary of the final report of a three year study, (website), Australian Catholic University, 2006.
The Spirit of Generation Y project (2003–2006), is a national study of spirituality among Australian young people in their teens and twenties conducted by researchers from Australian Catholic University, Monash University and the Christian Research Association. The project explored Generation Y’s spirituality in comparison with Generation X’s and the Baby Boomers’.
Noddings, Nel, 'Caring in education', (website), the encyclopedia of informal education, 2005. Last updated: April 04, 2005.
Nel Noddings, a philosopher of education, explores ethical and moral foundations of teaching, schooling and education, in particular that caring should be a foundation for ethical decision making. In this article Noddings explores the nature of caring relations and encounters in education and some of the difficulties educators have with them. She also looks at caring relations as the foundation for pedagogical activity.
Noonan, Gerard, ‘Social resentment simmers in schools’ (pdf file), Education Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 October 2002.
Schoolyards in some country towns have become the focus of Australia's deepening socioeconomic divide as displaced ‘city poor’ children have rubbed up against resentful children of the rural working poor. In a bleak presentation to a recent Adelaide conference of a three-month study of three country towns, educational sociologist Jane Kenway said such resentment created a volatile situation that threatened to poison future generations.
NEW Notman, Dr Ross, ‘Connecting with the Self: How we might assist the personal development of school leaders’ (website) A paper presented at the Australian Council for Educational Leaders International Conference on New Imagery for Schools and Schooling, 2007.
Dr Notman, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Otago College of Education, reports on a research study that looked at the personal values systems of two principals and the influence of values processes on their leadership behaviour. The paper explores the concept of principal self-development from a values perspective and affirms the merits of values-based leadership.
Pascoe, Susan, 'Values Education: Setting the context' (pdf file), Keynote address to National Values Education Forum, May 2005.
Ms Susan Pascoe, Director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, was the keynote speaker for the National Values Education Forum in May 2005. She began her address by stating that we cannot afford the narrow comfort of focusing solely on the values we developed ourselves for Australian schools – as good as they are. Instead we need to consider them in the light of local and global realities and the social, geopolitical and technological environments in which we live. How does an Australian experience these realities?
Porter, Abbey J, ‘Restorative Practices in Schools: Research Reveals Power of Restorative Approach, Part I’ (21March 2007); ‘Restorative Practices in Schools: Research Reveals Power of Restorative Approach, Part II’ (6 June 2007), (website), International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2007.
In Part I of this two-part article interviews with educators from around the world who are implementing restorative practices in schools indicate the positive benefits of this approach. Part II provides information on several evaluations of restorative practices in schools. Findings include a drop in disciplinary problems, decreased reliance on detention and suspension, and an improvement in student attitudes. < /p>
Ribbon, Alison, 'Putting on the gloves against bullies’ (pdf file), Education Writer, Hobart Mercury, 31 August, 2002.
A Tasmanian school is picking a fight with bullying. Brent St Primary School in Glenorchy has set up a health and wellbeing committee to tackle the issue.
NEW Roffey, Dr Sue, ‘From Vision to Practice: The role of the school leader in developing wellbeing' (website) A paper presented at the Australian Council for Educational Leaders International Conference on New Imagery for Schools and Schooling, 2007.
Includes a PowerPoint and paper ‘Transformation and Emotional Literacy: The role of school leaders in developing a caring community’ Leading & Managing, Vol. 13, No.1, 2007, pp. 16-30 by Dr Sue Roffey from the Centre for Educational Research, University of Western Sydney. This paper is based on an investigation into the process of developing emotional literacy in Australian schools and reports on the specific aspects of the study related to school leaders. It looks at, ‘What are the values, vision, role, style and skills of principals who are intent on establishing a caring and inclusive school community?’
San Antonio, Donna M., Salzfass, Elizabeth A., How we treat one another in school, (website), Educational Leadership, Volume 64, Number 8, May 2007.
A survey in New England, USA, of middle school students’ experiences with bullying discovered that students were not confident that adults could protect them from bullying. The authors recommend a school-wide approach to bullying prevention and that it is not just treated as an issue of behaviour. They say ‘…we have found that when educators take students' concerns seriously, teach them alternative ways to communicate their needs assertively but not violently, and provide adult guidance, vigilance, safety, good role models, and support, students are more likely to interact positively with their peers’.
Scalfino, Lina, ‘Engagement with Values: A Lens for Whole School Change’, (PDF), October 2005.
Lina Scalfino, Principal of Modbury School Preschool – Year 7, has written a paper which was presented at the 10th Annual Values and Leadership Conference at Pennsylvania State University in October 2005. The paper is presented as a case study of the school’s ‘... learning journey using an integrated values approach to whole school change to transform the school’s culture within the context of major national initiatives and developments in values education’.
Shaw, Gary, ‘Mapping the terrain – values education and geography’, (PDF), Interaction (Journal of Geography Teachers’ Association of Victoria) , Volume 33, Number 3, September 2005.
Gary Shaw, Senior Project Officer, Department of Education and Training, discusses how a focus on values education for geography educators provides a way to participate in the broader conversation about values. Although this article has an emphasis on the Victorian curriculum, it is a valuable discussion for all geography teachers.
Shaw, Gary, 'Values, a hot topic in a changing environment’,(PDF) Eingana, The Journal of the Victorian Association for Environmental Education, Volume 30, Number 2, August 2007.
In this article, Shaw clarifies ‘the usefulness of values education in framing actions for schools, particularly in relation to environmental perspectives’.
Snook, Emeritus Professor Ivan, 'Values Education in perspective: The New Zealand experience', (pdf file) 2005.
Ivan Snook, Emeritus Professor of Education, Massey University provided a New Zealand perspective at the National Values Education Forum on 2 May 2005. Professor Snook has helped develop a code of ethics for teachers for the Teachers Council of New Zealand. His paper traces the history of New Zealand education from the 1877 Education Act through to the developments in the 1970s and 1980s to more recent developments in the 1990s. In March 1998, the NZ Commission for UNESCO organised a Values in Education Summit attended by more than 100 participants across many sectors. In this paper Professor Snook gives his views on some of the issues that have arisen since this time and suggests some lessons that the Australian values education journey might learn from the New Zealand experience.
'Taking the Temperature', (website), Encounter, ABC Radio National, 4 February 2007
‘Taking the Temperature’ is the transcript of a discussion between four Australians – an artist, a Muslim scholar and two Christians – on a number of issues, including values for Australians and multiculturalism.
Thomas, Professor Trang and Dr Rivka Witenberg, ‘Love Thy Neighbours: Racial Tolerance among Young Australians’, (website), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology - A report for the Australian Multicultural Foundation, Melbourne, 2004.
The Australian Research Council and the Australian Multicultural Foundation funded this project, which aimed to study racial tolerance among young Australians. The value of the study was its focus on the positive aspects of social perceptions and behaviours in contrast to the large body of research into the negative aspects of prejudice. The outcomes of the project examine how age, gender and situational and behavioural contexts influence racial tolerant judgements. It also examines the kind of justifications young people used to support tolerance and intolerance.
Toomey, Dr Ron, ‘Values as the centrepiece of the school’s work: A discussion on learnings from VEGPSP – Stage 1', (PDF), Curriculum Corporation, 2006.
This discussion paper is a summary of what has been learned from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 1 (VEGPS – Stage 1), which was funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) as one of the Values Education program initiatives. It pulls together the ‘good practices’ of the schools involved in the project as they tried to make values education a central part of their work.
‘Values Education: A Student Action Teams approach: Our values education journey…so far…’, (PDF), Connect, Number 159, June 2006.
Students from the Manningham cluster of six Catholic primary schools in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs have been exploring the application of values in their schools and communities in 2005-06 using a student action teams approach. An article in Connect 157 (February 2006 – see article by Sue Cahill on this page) introduced the project and reported on the research phase. This article contains reports from students from the six schools.
'Values Education - classroom experiences from across Australia' (pdf) from Education News (The Education Newsletter of the Australian Children's Television Foundation, Issue No. 41, February 2005)
The Australian Children’s Television Foundation Education Advisory Schools’ panel met in 2004 to share their experiences about using media. Teachers were especially interested in incorporating values education into their curriculum using television, film and multimedia. In Values Education - classroom experiences from across Australia teachers from three schools in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria discuss how they used media to teach students about ‘being friends’, anti-bullying, families, siblings, conflict and civics.
Varlas, Laura, ‘Fights like a girl: how changing what we expect from girls can reduce girl fighting,’(website), Education Update, Volume 48, Number 4, April 2006.
Headlines and crime statistics in the United States appear to indicate that violence among girls is increasing. This article looks at possible causes for relational aggression in girls and structured intervention strategies, such as ‘girl coalitions’ that schools can implement to reduce incidences of violence.
Weissbourd, Rick, ‘Moral teachers, moral students’(pdf file), The Best of Educational Leadership 2002-2003, March 2003, Vol. 60, No. 6, Creating Caring Schools, pp 6-11.
Rick Weissbourd is a lecturer on education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and the Kennedy School of Government. In this article Weissbourd argues that 'being an adult in a school is a profound moral challenge' and that teachers need peer support and wider opportunities to support their own ethical growth both as people and as educators.
Wilce, Hilary, ‘The school where pupils rate their teachers’ (website), The Independent, 16 February 2006.
At George Mitchell School in east London, in a multi-ethnic, low-income neighbourhood students are deeply involved in the conduct of the school. Student ‘consultants’ observe and criticise lessons, make suggestions to teachers about how they could teach better and interview candidates for teaching posts. As a result of the Making Learning Better program, test scores at the school are improving, and relationships between staff and students seem better.