The importance of teaching values to young learners

Katharine Scott
Two Young children high fiving one another

Values in educationÌý

The long years children spend at school are not only about acquiring key knowledge and skills. At school, children also learn to work together, share, exchange opinions, disagree, choose fairly, and so on. We could call these abilities social skills as they help children live and flourish in a wider community than their family circle.

Social skills are not necessarily the same as social values. Children acquire social skills from all kinds of settings. The tools they use to resolve problems will often come from examples. In the playground, children observe each other and notice behavior. They realize what is acceptable to the other children and which strategies are successful. Some of the things they observe will not reflect healthy social values.Ìý

Part of a school’s mission is to help children learn social skills firmly based on a shared set of values. Many schools recognize this and have a program for education in values.Ìý

What values are we talking about?Ìý

Labeling is always tricky when dealing with an abstract concept such as social values. General ideas include:

  • living in a community, collaborating together
  • respecting others in all of human diversity
  • caring for the environment and the surroundings
  • having a sense of self-worth.

At the root of these values are ethical considerations. While it may seem that primary education is too early for ethics, children from a very young age do have a sense of fairness and a sense of honesty. This doesn’t mean that children never lie or behave unfairly. Of course they do! But from about three years old, children know that this behavior is not correct, and they complain when they come across it in others.Ìý

In the school context, social values are too often reduced to a set of school rules and regulations. Typical examples are:

  • 'Don't be late!'
  • 'Wait your turn!'
  • 'Pick up your rubbish!'
  • 'Don't invent unkind nicknames'.

While all these statements reflect important social values, if we don’t discuss them with the children, the reasoning behind each statement gets lost. They become boring school rules. And we all know that it can be fun to break school rules if you can get away with it. These regulations are not enough to represent an education in values.

School strategies

At a school level, successful programs often focus on a specific area of a values syllabus. These programs involve all members of a school community: students, teachers, parents, and administrative staff.Ìý

Here are some examples of school programs:

Caring for the environment

Interest in ecology and climate change has led many schools to implement programs focused on respect for the environment and other ecological issues. Suitable activities could include:

  • a system of recycling
  • a vegetable garden
  • initiatives for transforming to renewable energy
  • a second-hand bookstore.

Anti-bullying programs

AsÌý,Ìýmany schools have anti-bullying policies to deal with bullying incidents. However, the most effective programs also have training sessions for teachers and a continuous program for the children to help them identify bullying behavior. Activities include:

  • empathy activities to understand different points of view
  • activities to develop peer responsibility about bullying
  • activities aimed at increasing children’s sense of self-worth.

Anti-racism programsÌý

Combating negative racial stereotypes has, until recently, relied mainly on individual teacher initiatives. However, as racial stereotypes are constructed in society, it would be useful to have a school-wide program. This could include:

  • materials focusing on the achievements of ethnic minorities
  • school talks from members of ethnic minority communitiesÌý
  • empathy activities to understand the difficulties of marginalized groups.
  • study of the culture and history of ethnic minorities.

As children learn from observed behavior, it’s important that everyone in the school community acts consistently with the values in the program.

More blogs from ɫèAV

  • Students sat together in a classroom working together

    Exploring the four Cs: Using future skills to unlock young learners’ potential

    By Annie Altamirano
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    What do we mean by future skills?Ìý

    The skills students will need in their future studies and careers are dramatically different from those required previously. Times are changing rapidly and educational institutions and teachers have a critical role to play in developing those skills in our young learners so that they are able to fulfill their potential and have bright futures ahead of them.Ìý

    These skills are referred to as future skills. There is no common consensus on how to define these skills but, broadly speaking, they can be grouped into four categories:Ìý

    1. Ways of thinking

    Skills in this category include critical thinking, creativity, innovation, problem solving, metacognition and learning skills.

    2. Ways of working

    Here, we’re talking about the skills of communication and collaboration.

    3. Tools for working

    Information literacy is an important 21st-century skill, as well as ICT literacy and citizenship, both global and local.Ìý

    4. Life skills

    The final category covers life and career skills, and is all about personal and social responsibility.Ìý

    One way you can encourage young learners to build these skills is through STEAM subjects (that’s science, technology, engineering, arts and math), which will equip them with functional skills such as organizing, planning, cognitive flexibility and self-regulation.Ìý

    The four CsÌý

    The four Cs refer to four important skills for young learners to master: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. These are essential, not just in an educational context, but in everyday life.Ìý

    Falling into the first two categories of future skills (ways of thinking and ways of working), these can help children build confidence and self-esteem. They also encourage healthy emotional development.ÌýÌý

    So let’s take a closer look at the theory behind them.

    1. Communication

    We usually think of communication as speaking and listening, but it’s actually much broader than that. Communication encapsulates telling stories, reading, sharing ideas and experiences, body language, facial expression, eye contact and tone. Children learn to decipher the world around them by learning and practicing these skills.

    Strong communication skills, developed early, are directly related to their literacy success. These skills allow children to articulate their thoughts and ideas effectively, and listen to decode meaning. Students then begin to use communication for a range of purposes, and communicate effectively in diverse environments. Furthermore, developing strong patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication also fosters self-esteem and social skills.Ìý

    2. Collaboration

    Collaboration is how young children begin to build friendships with others. At first, young children will watch what others do and say, before moving on to playing together. As they get older, they become aware of other children’s feelings and ideas. Friendships become motivating and they learn how to make compromises and respect each other’s perspectives and skills.Ìý

    Collaboration is enhanced through group work and project-based activities, sharing time with peers. Children thrive when they feel valued by the people around them, not just adults but their peers too.Ìý