Abstract Ongoing tension surrounding values education in both the wider community and among politicians and academics, as well as the plethora of values education programs on the commercial market, all contribute to a number of competing values education discourses that can make it difficult for individual classroom teachers to make choices regarding what and how to teach values. The aim of the current study was to contribute to an understanding of discourses of values education in Australia and investigate the way in which the Discourse models of government policy documents and classroom teacher Discourse models of values education intersect in terms of both alignment and fragmentation. In addressing the problem of how teachers choose to bring clarity to competing values education discourses, this research comprises two parts. The first part is an analysis of a key policy text, the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (2005). The second part focuses on fourteen interviews with seven primary school classroom teachers conducted at different times during one school term. Each teacher was interviewed twice. The interviews were treated as objects of analysis and not just as an information source. The informal theories that underpin the policy and interview texts are analysed through James Paul Gee’s (2005) lens of “Discourse models”. This is a critical discourse approach to analysing a social phenomenon, with analytic focus placed on the language in the texts, as well as the localised and broader social context in which the language is situated. The way in which the policy and interview texts functioned strategically was analysed. The Discourse models evident in the texts were then identified through the use of ‘storylines’ as an analytic tool. In identifying Discourse models, insight was gained into how the official policy and the teacher participants in the study conceptualised values education. Analysis of the policy document showed how the text acted strategically to build legitimacy and the appearance of consensus surrounding the approach to values education advocated in the document. The storyline that emerged was one of the Australian Federal Government as a ‘hero’ intervening in values education to save young people who are at moral risk in the 21st century. Analysis of the interview transcripts showed how these texts also acted strategically to build legitimacy and the appearance that each participant’s approach to values education was right, normal and needed. A similar storyline emerged in the interview texts, where young people were in need of rescuing due to the moral peril of current times but it was the teacher participants who were now in the role of ‘hero’. The teacher participants in the study showed that they called upon a multiplicity of social roles, everything they were as moral beings, in their efforts to rescue students. The results indicate that there is both alignment and fragmentation in the Discourse models identified in both the policy and interview texts. Values education was conceived of in largely behavioural terms, where values were fixed, and change towards these value norms was focused on the individual behaviour of the student. Alignment centred on a dominant ‘salvation’ story in the texts that regarded values education as a way to rescue students from moral peril. This master model of the salvation story was fractured, however, by the experiences of the classroom teachers in the study. Most poignant was that not all students were able to be rescued despite the best of professed intentions. There are several implications emerging from these findings. First, the explicit move towards fixed values norms has exclusionary effects. Second, the focus on changing the behaviour of students as individuals ignores systemic levels of oppression. Third, and overall, the didactic teaching of values creates tensions over the perceived interference of the state in the lives of young people. Recommendations emerging from the study include that teachers be given increased opportunities to become more aware of their own values systems, the impact of these in the classroom; and develop their understanding of the broader social structures in which values education in classrooms is situated. This awareness is a necessary complement to the official discourses of values education in Australia in order to mitigate the potential exclusionary effects of policy. 130105 Primary Education 35%, 160506 Education policy 35%, 1399 Other Education 30%

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Local and international pundits concur that education systems play a pivotal role in fostering and developing values in learners. In some countries, like South Africa, the values and rights enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights resonate in the Schools Act. As one of the concerns of education is nation building, my study investigates if the integration of the values does achieve tolerance and co-operation in the classroom by examining how learners make sense of values in the Mathematical Literacy curriculum. While I firmly believe that educational institutions have a responsibility to integrate positive values into all aspects of the school curriculum, it is my contention that learners cannot fully benefit from values specifically related to the Mathematical Literacy curriculum itself on their own. All stakeholders in education need to come together to establish an informed understanding of policy documents and reconcile the complexities and challenges that surround the transmission of values, so that educators will be able to assist learners in a meaningful way. The classroom life of a learner is intricately woven with that of the teacher. In order to unearth the views and practices of learners and teachers, I adopted a participatory approach. The qualitative study that ensued was conducted in three Mathematics Literacy classrooms at secondary schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The observation sessions afforded me the opportunity to experience and appreciate how the teachers integrate values into the Mathematical Literacy lessons while observing learners‟ behaviour in the classroom. The interactions and interviews with both learners and teachers aided in further unravelling their understanding and implementation of values in the Mathematical Literacy lessons. For learners to develop into responsible, caring and morally just citizens who are capable of critical thought, they require an education that provides them with the necessary opportunities and tools to develop. Mathematical Literacy is able to provide learners with the relevant opportunities and thinking tools to construct meaning around moral concepts. I strongly believe that for learners to accomplish this goal, educators need to be appropriately capacitated to facilitate opportunities for their learners. I did not find any evidence in the literature that suggests a fail-safe theoretical approach to success in values education. I am of the opinion that for any measure of success in values education, a combination of these theories of learning and moral development has to be employed.

This research report investigates the critique that selected independent schools have about the new curriculum in South Africa, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). The NCS was introduced in response to the implementation of a political democratic dispensation in South Africa, in an attempt to marry the philosophy of democracy to education. The NCS is fundamentally different to the apartheid curriculum in that it is based on democratic values that are derived from the South African Constitution. The independent school sector has been vocal in its critique of the NCS. This study thus investigates this critique in an attempt to uncover the reasons that underlie it. Methodologically, this research project is located in the qualitative paradigm. The research participants comprised teachers and heads of curriculum from three schools in the independent sector, as well as managers from the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). The IEB is the assessment body to which the independent school sector belongs. The independent school sector that this study focused on is upper middle class high-fee paying schools, which are located in the ex whites-only suburbs in South Africa. To gather data from the research participants, I used questionnaires and interviews. The combination of structured and unstructured interviews allowed me to systematically probe the research participants’ understandings and views on the NCS. The themes that emerged from the findings are: (1) the old curriculum is used as a benchmark for the NCS; (2) democratic values teaching in the NCS is regarded as optional and (3) educators continue to hold on to their identities in alignment with the past curriculum. One of the key factors that is used to judge the worth of an independent school is the academic results that the school achieves. This has prompted the independent school sector to continue with the same pedagogical practices that they used in the past curriculum, since they have provided the sought-after academic results. In this regard, very little democratic values teaching is taking place in the schools, as intended by the implementation of the NCS. The IEB, as the assessment body, continues to focus on assessment practices that are largely reminiscent of the past curriculum where the main focus was on summative forms of assessment (form of assessment that is used to record a judgement of the performance or competence of a learner), rather than on formative forms of assessment (form of assessment that gives feedback to the learners so that they can improve their performance). This research project concludes with possible suggestions for each group of research participants that could assist them to implement the NCS as it was intended; that is, as a democratic values-based transformational curriculum. Recommendations for future research are also made.

In the light of the declining moral standards in South African society, there is a need for children to be supported and developed on their journey towards responsible adulthood. The school is regarded as one of the most relevant stakeholders in the teaching of values for the moral development of the younger generation in particular and broader society in general. I observed how teachers impart values to leaners through the subject Life Skills that also includes the moral aspect. This study employed a qualitative research method using a case study of four schools and twelve teachers. The four schools were purposefully selected to obtain a deeper understanding of the participants' experiences from different perspectives. The selected schools are from different socio-economic backgrounds. Two schools were selected from rural areas. However, the areas differed in the sense that one was in a traditional village under the authority of a tribal chief while other was on trust land bought by the residents. One school was selected from an informal settlement and one from a semi-urban area. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were conducted to gather data. Teachers were interviewed after school and field notes were taken to record data collected from the participants in order to examine how teachers understood and implemented teaching values education in the foundation phase. These values include, amongst others, social justice and equity whereby freedom of choice and access to education are highlighted. The study found that the professional training of life skills teachers and multiculturalism during life skills lessons, i.e. the cultural differences between the teachers and learners as members of a community, need to be addressed. The study also recommends that a relationship of trust between parents and schools should be established to help enable teachers to address the issue of moral regeneration in our society. Classroom observation was conducted during the collection of data. School policy documents were analysed and teachers were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of how they understood values and how they contributed to the development of young citizens. From the observations and interviews, it could be deduced that teachers have different understandings of values education. It was also found that teachers find it difficult to contextualise and reconcile cultural values with the values that they are supposed to teach at school. The recommendations based on the findings of my study include the professional training of Life Skills teachers and the promotion of multiculturalism during Life Skills lessons where the cultural differences between learners and teachers are addressed. The study also recommends that the relationship of trust between teachers, parents and the larger society should be entrenched in order to assist teachers to instil values in young learners. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Early Childhood Education / PhD / Unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to make a description of various conditions associated with the fulfilment of the values education in Swedish preschools. I want to illustrate stories from different levels of the school system. The questions that are answered are: What discoursesappear in the different group’s descriptions of the preschool’s values education? And: What different challenges and opportunities are they describing? Qualitative interviews were used as the method to answer the questions and were analysed in relation to the study’s theoretical framework, constituted by discourse analytical theory and selected notions from a model of values that constitutes the values education, also used were the concept of peer culture. The results show that a total of five different discourses emerged, each describing different perspectives of the preschool’s values education. However, there is a common distinctive forthese discourses – in all respondents no systematic distinction was made between the varioust eaching objects by which the basic values assignment is determined. A discourse that standsout in particular, namely the discourse which in the study is refers to as Not to step on eachother’s toes. The result show that a significant obstacle to the values education is one’s owncooperation in the work team. Additional themes in the discourses concerns issues of lack of competence and various aspects of competence development. The main opportunities that emerge in the result can be summarized as competence development and a good collaborativeclimate.

The purpose of this study was to provide descriptive information about values education programs in Texas elementary schools for policy makers, curriculum directors, and educators. Insight into this contemporary issue is augmented by exploring (a) commercially or locally developed values programs that are in place in schools, (b) the relationship between student and school district demographics and values education programs, (c) the role that different interest groups have in the introduction of values education programs, and (d) the extent to which values education programs are accepted by different groups.

The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge of how preschool teachers work with equal value. My questions has been about how preschool teachers do to show children every humans equal value and how they do to meet all children based of this idea. I have used individual qualitative interviews whit 4 preschool teachers as the method for this study. In my result I have found that the preschool teachers worked a lot with equal values. Some preschool teachers worked in different ways every day using different methods like valuational and themelike activities. Common for all the preschool teachers is that they all say that it is extremely important to use the everyday interactions with the children to make them learn the importance of and meaning of every humans equal rights. Previous research and literature shows that it is important to work as a role model for the children. This is something that the preschool teachers I interviewed talk about as well. / Syftet med detta arbete är att bidra med kunskap om hur förskollärare arbetar med allas lika värde. Mina frågeställningar har handlat om hur förskollärare gör för att visa på allas lika värde samt hur förskollärarna gör för att bemöta barnen utifrån denna tanke. Jag har använt mig av kvalitativa intervjuer med 4 förskollärare som metod för arbetet. I mitt resultat fann jag att förskollärarna arbetade mycket med allas lika värde, på några av avdelningarna dagligen med hjälp av bland annat värderings- och temainriktade aktiviteter. Gemensamt för mitt resultat är att förskollärarna på alla avdelningar betonar vikten av samspelet med barnen för att få ut kunskap om allas lika värde. Att vara en förebild är även något jag kan se förskollärarna jag intervjuat och tidigare forskning samt litteratur jag läst lägger stort fokus vid.

The research studies school heads’ perception of the implementation of the new Moral and Civic Education (MCE) curriculum in Hong Kong primary schools. The MCE curriculum is positioned as a key task in curriculum reform since 2001. The present study recognises school leadership role in steering curriculum delivery in which school heads’ perception is one of the determinants in shaping curriculum execution. Qualitative approach is adopted to uncover the factors affecting the perception of school heads and subsequent implementation strategies. Purposive sampling of six primary school heads is identified for interview to collect data. Content analysis is employed to make inferences from the data reviewing how school heads’ personal belief and values orientation affect the delivery of the curriculum. The MCE curriculum, resting on virtue ethics projecting desirable values to be promoted, is appealing to the school heads. The MCE curriculum designed as values education, resonates Chinese culture emphasizing cultivation of virtue through education while at the same time addressing the societal expectation of the call for promoting national identity with the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Given the social and political context of Hong Kong, positive attitude is exhibited by all the sample school heads but they respond differently to the curricular role, reflecting a wide spectrum of understanding of the curriculum and pedagogical competency. The research findings propose the importance of a heightened awareness of school heads’ cognition of the curriculum but their attitude towards the curriculum is deterministic how the curriculum is implemented. The attitude taken hinges on the values and belief of school heads vis a vis organisation values of the school. A model portraying school heads’ awareness, attitude and action for curriculum implementation is recommended to further study school leadership with implications for theory building and practice.

TITLE: Přemysl Pitter's humanism and his contribution to the education of values at the primary school ABSTRACT: The aim of the thesis is to provide basic information about Přemysl Pitter's ideas, thoughts and activities. The theoretical part depicts mainly historical and biographical events to enable the understanding of the life values of Přemysl Pitter and the main context of his life. The practical part is based on a project that enables 5th grade elementary school students to penetrate into Pitter's life and to understand his life approach and values through their own experiences. We conclude with reflections from the project that students made sense of Přemysl Pitter's values and the historical events connected with his life, as well as Pitter's uniqueness and courage. On their own the pupils put the information together into a book, which is the output of their project. The aim of the thesis and the project has been accomplished. KEYWORDS: Přemysl Pitter, humanism, values education, project

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lizie Mendes Clock.pdf: 1478875 bytes, checksum: 44f62187df3098e91b699c2c89fce52c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research aims to analyze the conceptions of the state school teachers of the city of Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil, regarding education in building values. The research started from the premise that it is necessary to understand the conceptions that teachers have, as the teaching profession is a social practice, set in a cultural process, historically produced, and the school is a suitable environment for educating students in a democratic society; besides being responsible for the socialization of knowledge. Thus, this study intends to seek contributions from the teachers' conceptions to understand the role they play in school, trying to identify if they recognize their role in the values education and recognize the school as a privileged environment for building values. This is a research developed in a qualitative perspective (CRESWELL, 2014) with teachers of six state schools of the city of Ponta Grossa - PR. Data collection took place in two stages: the first with a questionnaire (N = 51), and the second by carrying out semi-structured interviews (N = 6). Data were analyzed using content analysis (BARDIN, 2011). For the theoretical research framework, we have chosen authors that deal with education and values, as Serrano (2002), Delval (2010), Araújo and Puig (2007), Imbernón (2011) and Gallo (2012). In addition, we situated the research in the historical time of contemporaneity, supported by Cambi (1999). Research results show that the majority of teachers who were surveyed believe that the school might even be a place to educate in values, but the educational institution is performing this function because the family would not be performing its role. There is no great emphasis on school as a privileged environment in order the education in values materializes, according to the surveyed teachers. We also noticed that only one teacher is responsible for the education of values, as a conscious attitude. Most teachers develop this role in relation to values as a passive attitude, which was delegated a demand to them that they judge it is not theirs. It was noticed, with the completion of the investigation, that education in the construction of values does not materialize in only one body. We believe that it materializes when the school reflects on its aims, considering the integral education of the student as one of its purposes, the teacher reviews his/her posture and practices, admitting to him/herself that his/her role favors the constitution of the individual; and the definition of values, here rethought due to a larger context, the society, not as innate or simple internalization but as affective construction of individuals throughout their lives. / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar as concepções de professores da rede pública estadual da cidade de Ponta Grossa, Paraná, a respeito da educação na construção de valores. A investigação partiu da premissa de que é necessário compreender as concepções que os professores possuem, visto que a profissão docente é uma prática social, inserida em um processo cultural, produzida historicamente, e a escola é um ambiente adequado para educar alunos em um convívio democrático; além de ser responsável pela socialização de conhecimentos. Diante disso, este estudo tem intenção de buscar subsídios a partir das concepções de professores para compreender a função que os docentes exercem na escola, buscando identificar se eles reconhecem seu papel na educação em valores e se apontam a escola como espaço privilegiado para construção de valores. Trata-se de uma pesquisa desenvolvida na perspectiva qualitativa (CRESWELL, 2014) com os professores de seis escolas estaduais da cidade de Ponta Grossa – PR. A coleta de dados aconteceu em duas etapas: a primeira com aplicação de questionário (N=51), e a segunda com a realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas (N=6). Os dados foram analisados por meio da análise de conteúdo (BARDIN, 2011). Para o aporte teórico da pesquisa, elegeram-se autores que tratam da educação e de valores, como Serrano (2002), Delval (2010), Araújo e Puig (2007), Imbernón (2011) e Gallo (2012). Além disso, situamos a pesquisa no período histórico da contemporaneidade, amparados por Cambi (1999). Os resultados da investigação apontaram que grande parte dos professores pesquisados consideram que a escola pode até ser um espaço para educar em valores, mas que a instituição educativa está desempenhando essa função pelo fato de a família não estar realizando seu papel. Não há grande destaque para a escola como ambiente privilegiado para que a educação em valores se materialize, por parte dos professores pesquisados. Notou-se, também, que apenas um professor responsabiliza-se pela educação em valores, como uma atitude consciente. A maioria dos professores desenvolvem a função frente aos valores como uma atitude passiva, na qual lhe foi delegada uma demanda que julgam não ser sua. Percebeu-se, com a realização da investigação, que a educação na construção de valores não se materializa apenas em uma instância. Acredita-se que ela se materializará quando a escola refletir sobre seus fins, considerando a formação integral do aluno como uma de suas finalidades, o professor rever sua postura e suas práticas, admitindo, para si, que a sua função favorece a constituição do indivíduo; e a definição dos valores, aqui repensadas pelo contexto maior, a sociedade, não como inatos ou simples internalizações, mas como construções afetivas dos indivíduos durante toda a vida.