Are values caught or taught?

The idea that values are caught, not taught, has a profound effect on our lives as educators.  We can teach children lessons on respect, honesty, generosity, kindness and forgiveness, but unless we as teachers are prepared to embody those same virtues we can hardly expect the students to.  Children don’t respond well to the adult command “do as I say, not as I do.”  Students need to see their teacher as a role model that embodies the types of behaviors they wish to emulate.  It really goes back to the strength of constructive teaching methods and the benefits of visualizing, discovering and exploring.  The children need to experience good morals in their day-to-day life in order to fully grasp the lessons.  It is impractical to think that we can espouse the benefits of good behavior when we don’t model that behavior in class.  These lies just serve to plant a seed of mistrust and can undermine your good work as an educator across the board.

I think most values education should take place in the home, with a child’s family.  However, with working parents and long school days we can’t overlook the fact that a child may very well spend the majority of their day with their teacher in the classroom community.  This community can and should be a microcosm of the larger society they will be interacting with, and as such it is important that teachers strive to develop people of good character.  Even though values education may not lend itself well to a lecture on what it means to be a “good” person I still think it is important that it is addressed directly, and modeled daily.

This sounds easy enough on the face of it, but since different values are held in higher regard than others depending on the culture or community in question, it can be in truth quite difficult.  Some of your student’s families may value cooperation and that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, whereas others may value competition and individualism.  Virtues like honesty, generosity and respect outlined earlier are relatively universal – others not so much.  This is why I think it is critical for a teacher to not only be involved in their community, but really get to know their students and their families on a personal level to better understand where everyone is coming from.  It not only helps you to become more knowledgeable, but helps to build a level of trust with the parents which will make them more comfortable with you helping them to shoulder the load of values education.