Links
There are many websites that link to values education themes and resources. The following sites have been chosen as they present a variety of approaches to values education and values-related content.
Accepting Diversity: An Interactive Handbook in Progress is a manual directed at teachers and others who intend to educate young people to accept diversity. The handbook currently has chapters on difference, religion and place. Promoted by the Académie Universelle des Cultures, Accepting Diversity stems from an idea by Académie members Umberto Eco, Furio Colombo and Jacques Le Goff.
Australian Screen Online is a promotional and educational resource providing online access to information about the Australian film and television industry and includes film and television clips from the last 100 years. Clips in the education collection have been selected for their educational value and are accompanied by teachers’ notes created by specialist curriculum writers. Values and citizenship is one of the educational themes.
All Kinds of Minds: Understanding Differences in Learning is a non-profit institute in the United States that helps students who struggle with learning measurably to improve their success in school and life by providing programs that integrate educational, scientific and clinical expertise.
The Assessment for Learning Project provides professional advice and activity related to formative assessment.
BeCAL, The Belief, Learning and Culture Information Gateway, provides articles and synopses of a variety of values education programs. Follow the links to the database to research specific values education projects from Australia and internationally.
Behind the News is an ABC news and current affairs program for children aged between 9 and 14. There are different stories and issues covered each week and backed up with teacher resources.
Books for Life are a selection of titles from Finch Publishing, an independent Australian publisher of books on family, health, relationships and society. The titles have been chosen to support teachers as they share with parents and the wider community, the responsibility to meet children’s social and emotional needs.
Building Character through Cornerstone Values is a New Zealand based approach to the development of character. There are eight cornerstone values: honesty and truthfulness, kindness, consideration and concern for others, compassion, obedience, responsibility, respect and duty.
Bullying among Young Children contains guides from the National Community Crime Prevention Program. The guides provide useful advice to parents, teachers and other carers of children aged 4–8 years on recognising bullying behaviours and their effects, with practical strategies to help children who bully and those who are bullied.
Bullying. No way! is created by Australia's educational communities who are working together to create learning environments where every student and school community member is safe, supported, respected, valued — and free from bullying, violence, harassment and discrimination.
CEP (Character Education Partnership) is an American organisation ‘dedicated to developing young people of good character who become responsible and caring citizens’.
Choose Respect is a program that aims to encourage school communities to work together to explicitly develop and then maintain a culture of respect.
Curriculum Corporation Catalogue: Values is a listing of values-related books.
Curriculum Leadership Journal is an electronic journal for leaders in education. The journal takes up issues and trends relating to primary and secondary education. Core subject areas are curriculum policy, leadership and management, technology, pedagogy, the teaching profession and assessment.
Dialogue Australasia Network brings the values education experiences of 220 Australian schools to the Internet. The site has links to world religions, education links, links in languages other than English, and links to history, literature, myths and fables and interfaith communities. It also contains teaching units on a variety of topics including: ‘Ethics in Judaism, Islam and Christianity’, ‘Tolerance’, ‘Racism’ and 'Philosophy of Technology’.
Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society for the 21st century. Developed over a period of ten years, the Earth Charter is a global consensus statement on ethics and values for a sustainable future and has been formally endorsed by over 2,500 organisations, including global institutions such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The principles and values of the Earth Charter are being addressed in a new values framework for Queensland state schools.
The EdRugby Online Educational Resources have a number of downloadable, easy-to-follow lessons on various aspects of rugby as well as a series of lessons on values and nutrition. The lessons titled 'Shared Values' examine the values shared by people in the community. Students are to explore tolerance, understanding, respect, excellence, inclusion, trust, honesty, being ethical, responsibility, care, social justice and freedom.
The Foundation for Young Australians is an independent national grant-making organisation, funding and working in partnership with youth-led initiatives, which aims to positively contribute to young people and their communities.
Global Education website is initiated and funded by AusAID to support its Global Education Program. As well as country profiles and information about global issues the site contains teaching and learning support materials, teaching ideas and activities, case studies, a professional development event noticeboard, a monthly newsletter, and links to relevant AusAID and EdNA Online resources. One of the many useful resources on the website is a number of graphic organisers.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has specific sections on human rights for students and teachers with many useful resources such as education modules, posters, and FAQs. Voices of Australia is a new education module from HREOC for upper primary to post-compulsory students to increase awareness about experiences of diversity, discrimination, race relations, friendship and respect. It is designed to complement Voices of Australia (2005), which was developed in recognition of 30 years of the Racial Discrimination Act (1975).
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 are photographs from the book by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio reproduced on the Time magazine website. Parts 1 and 2 show the food bought in one week by 30 different families around the world, and lists expenditure and favourite foods. Part 3 shows families shopping and preparing meals.
The Institute for Global Ethics seeks ‘to promote ethical behavior in individuals, institutions, and nations through research, public discourse, and practical action’.
In Teachers’ Hands: Effective Literacy Teaching Practices in the Early Years of Schooling website presents the results of the research project In Teachers’ Hands: Effective Literacy Teaching Practices in the Early Years of Schooling, which was funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training. Here you will find a copy of the report and video clips of effective early years’ literacy teaching.
The International Educational Foundation Character Education Worldwidesupports a multi-dimensional approach to emphasise universal values: ‘Character Education’, ‘Marriage and Family Education’, ‘Service Learning’ and ‘Character-based Prevention Education’.
Kids Help Line is a free, confidential and anonymous, telephone and online counselling service specifically for young people aged between 5 and 25.
KidsMatter is a primary school mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative developed in collaboration with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, beyondblue: the national depression initiative, the Australian Psychological Society and the Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council (APAPDC).
The Learning Place: Travel Buddies Travel Buddies are artefacts, hand puppets or stuffed toys that travel from school to school or to places in the community. The buddies learn about life in other schools or meet people in the community and gather information for projects and investigations. Viktor the kangaroo joey is helping students to clarify their understanding of values in the lead-up to the school values forum in May 2008.
The Living in Harmony program is designed to encourage all Australians to contribute to and build on Australia's social cohesion. The program has a particular emphasis on the promotion of Australian values and mutual obligation. It aims to engage the whole community in building mutual respect, understanding and acceptance among Australians. Harmony Day, which occurs on 21 March each year, is one of the Living in Harmony projects.
Living Values: An Education Program is a values education program which enables children and young adults to develop 12 key values: cooperation, freedom, happiness, honesty, humility, love, peace, respect, responsibility, simplicity, tolerance, and unity. LVEP is currently in use in 66 countries.
MCEETYA is the website of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. There are a number of useful publications such as the reports on national goals for schooling, statements of learning and safe school environments that are relevant to values education.
MindMatters is a resource and professional development program to support Australian secondary schools in promoting and protecting the social and emotional wellbeing of members of school communities.
Mission Australia produces a number of reports on social policy. One of the areas covered is youth issues and includes National Youth Survey, an annual survey that reviews young people’s concerns, what they value and how they seek advice and support.
The National College for School Leadership is a UK site that provides learning and development opportunities and professional and practical support for school leaders at every stage in their career. Their core purpose is to develop individuals and teams to lead and manage their own schools and work collaboratively with others. The publications and research papers are a particularly rich resource for school leaders.
NetAlertis Australia's Internet safety advisory body. NetAlert aims to provide a safer Internet experience for young people and their families. There is advice and resources for parents, teachers and librarians, interactive advice by age, such as Netty’s World and CyberQuoll, and advice by issue, such as the current problem of cyberbullying.
Partnership projects: values education websites
There are a number of national partnership projects funded by the Australian Government initiative in Values Education. Following are links to the websites values education partnership projects have established and which contain many useful resources.
Peer Support Foundation is dedicated to providing dynamic peer-led programs which foster the physical, social and mental wellbeing of young people and their community. The Peer Support Program is integrated into curriculums and sustained from Kindergarten to Year 12. ‘Promoting Harmony: A module which focuses on values’ is a module for Kindergarten–Year 6 students written to support values education.
Picture Books that Explore the Values of Education is a Tasmanian Department of Education resource that lists books that may be used by older and younger students in values education. It contains book titles under the headings of: connectedness, resilience, achievement, creativity, integrity, responsibilty and equity.
QCA: Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is the regulatory body for public examinations and publicly funded qualifications including the curriculum for the under-fives and the national curriculum in the United Kingdom. The site includes two values education innovation profiles : ‘Added values’ on Clehonger Primary School and Weobley High School in Herefordshire; and ‘A values blueprint’ on West Kidlington Primary and Nursery School in Oxford.
The Quality Public Education Coalition (QPEC Inc) is a coalition of parents and educators concerned about quality education in New Zealand. In the Values in Education section of their website there are five articles by prominent academics from the 2000 Values in Education Conference. These articles provide information about ethics, politics, moral principles, multicultural diversity, pluralism and spiritualism. Follow the links in the Values in Education section to read these papers.
Racism. No way! is an Australian anti-racism education initiative managed by the Department of Education and Training in New South Wales on behalf of education systems nationally. There are various teaching and learning activities targeting students in the upper primary and secondary years, interviews with Australians concerning their thoughts and experiences of racism, current articles from the media, an interactive games room, a library and details on the various anti-racism education programs and strategies in place in education systems across Australia.
Reading Enriches Learning: Values provides online student-centred activities based on engaging texts. The activities are designed to promote understanding of the nine values for Australian schooling. The books have been carefully selected for a range of interests and abilities: for younger readers (years 2-4) and older readers (years 5-8).
Resilience Education and Drug Information (REDI) is a drug information resource for Australian school communities. The website contains a comprehensive database of information about resources, policies and materials for drug education and incident management. There are specific sections: REDI for Parents; REDI for Tertiary Educators of Pre-service Teachers; and REDI resources for students, teachers and other members of the school community.
Roots of Empathy is a Canadian evidence-based classroom program that focuses on raising levels of empathy, resulting in more respectful and caring relationships and reduced levels of bullying and aggression. The program is for children from kindergarten to Year 8 and involves interaction with parents and babies from the local community.
r.u.MAD? Program (aRe yoU Making A Difference?), is an initiative of the Education Foundation, helping children change their world. By identifying problems and challenges in their school, local or global community, students and teachers set out to ‘Make a Difference’ in realistic and achievable ways.
NEW School Aid is a student led philanthropy program that assists children to help other children in need. The School Aid website allows Australian school students to respond to urgent humanitarian situations affecting their peers.
Schooldays for Parents is an Australian national quarterly magazine. The Schooldays Bookshop lists some useful books for parents and teachers interested in the social and emotional development of children.
Statement of values by the National Forum for Values in Education and the Community (UK) includes an extract from the preamble to the statement which states that the Forum was to decide ‘whether there are any values that are commonly agreed upon across society, not whether there are any values that should be agreed upon across society’. Teachers ‘can therefore expect the support and encouragement of society if they base their teaching and the school ethos on these values’. The statement of values is also included.
Success for Boys is an initiative by the Australian Government to improve boy’s educational and social outcomes. A number of schools have been funded to implement the Success for Boys Professional Learning program and to incorporate activities and projects that will help embed the professional learning in their curriculum.
The Learning Federation: ‘I Think …’ series Twenty four clips from the I think ... video anthology together with descriptive information and education value interpretation, are currently available from the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) through The Le@rning Federation. A group of 5-9 year old children discuss important and puzzling big ideas and wonder about solutions to complex environmental and personal issues. Teacher support materials for the series are available on the ACTF website.
The source, an Australian Government initiative, is a gateway to youth information, programs, services, resources and entertainment for young people between the ages of 12 and 25.
UNESCO APNIEVE The Asia Pacific Network for International Education and Values Education (APNIEVE), was established by UNESCO in 1995 to form a network of regional experts in education for peace, human rights and democracy. The site features articles and links to teacher training workshops.
UNESCO Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future: a Multimedia Teacher Education program, is a resource to support the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), the aim of which is to promote and improve the integration of Education for Sustainable Development into the educational strategies and action plans at all levels and sectors of education in all countries. The Elephant Dilemma is an online unit of work that invites students and teachers to develop an understanding of values education through environmental sustainability.
UNICEF: Australia UNICEF is the United Nation's Children's Fund, the world’s leading advocate for children. UNICEF is non-political and works in 158 countries on behalf of children and women to make a lasting difference to their lives. The Australian UNICEF site has a schoolroom with information and activities for students.
United Nations: Cyberschoolbus Global Teaching and Learning Project produces teaching materials and activities designed for educational use (at primary and secondary school levels) and for training teachers. The vision of this Project is to provide exceptional educational resources to students growing up in a world undergoing increased globalisation. There are resources for areas such as Peace Education, Poverty, Human Rights, Cities of the World, World Hunger and Indigenous People.
Values Education Learning Object: Refugees is a joint project of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission and Discovering Democracy Queensland. The learning object uses a scenario and different characters to explore different viewpoints on the issue of refugees.
Values for Life has a range of welfare books, activity sheets, posters, stickers and certificates based on pro-social, pro-active values which aim to develop welfare, resiliency and early literacy in students.
NEW ViTaL Hub - ViTAL stands for ‘values in teaching and learning’. It is a site from the United Kingdom that provides reports on experiments in values education, a strategy for developing values education in your class or school, and other resource materials.
The Virtues Project uses five strategies to build foundations for safe and caring communities. These are: ‘Speak the language of the Virtues’, ‘Recognize Teachable Moments’, ‘Set Clear Boundaries’, ‘Honor the Spirit’ and ‘Offer Spiritual Companioning’. The program also uses 52 virtues as a way of creating a culture of character.
Whitelion opens doors to opportunities, relationships and community for young people involved in the juvenile justice system or at risk of involvement. This is achieved through role modelling, mentoring, employment and indigenous programs, outreach services, and through prevention programs run in rural and metropolitan communities.