“Ms. Philomena Kenneth: Nurturing Insights and Wisdom Through Education”
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- January 8, 2024
The Importance of Value-Based Education
Life in the new millennium is likely to bring us challenges and opportunities. Future generations must be well prepared to face the challenge and take advantage of the opportunities that come their way. They must develop the ability to think and apply new ideas constantly and creatively. Their actions should be guided by a strong commitment to human values and social justice.
Values mean something that has a price, something precious, dear, worthwhile, and hence something one is ready to suffer and sacrifice for, a reason to live and a reason to die for if necessary. Values bring joy, satisfaction and peace of life. Values prove a great source of motivation. It identifies a person, giving one a name, a face and a character. They bring quality to life. Values influence the head and the heart and lead to decisions and actions. The pace of change in the pattern of thinking and behaviour has been so rapid as to cause shocks. Education by its very nature is a preparation for life and will always be value-oriented. Educators have a significant role to play in the realisation of this objective.
Education must bring about desirable changes of behavior in the child in the way he thinks, feels, and acts in accordance with the concept of a good life. And what is a good life? It is the development of human resources, creativity, commitment to human values, social justice, national integration, scientific temper, independence of mind and spirit, socialism, secularism, and democracy. Our accumulated cultural heritage and values are preserved through education. And in our schools, with its manageable numbers of students, this is not a far-fetched dream.
Our schools can frame a curriculum that will be accepted by different sections of society. This is very important because today the child’s social, moral, aesthetic and spiritual aspects have been undermined. We are passing through a phase in our social and political life which has annihilated our very humanity. Value education should thus eliminate religious fanaticism, superstitions, fatalism and violence. Value education should be based on our heritage, values of secularism, international cooperation and peaceful co-existence, pursuit of excellence, equality and national integration.
An educator is bound by the religious duty to rise to the occasion through selfless deeds, dedication and leadership qualities. They have to set the tone and ethos of the school. Teachers should realise that values can be inculcated directly, indirectly and incidentally. Teachers must realise they are the walking, speaking, and acting epitome of values.
Value education is not a time-bound affair but a lifelong pursuit. The very atmosphere of the school should radiate values. Where high ideals guide the working of a school, where teachers work with a sense of dedication, and where there is mutual respect, affection and love among all concerned students, parents, teachers and the community- values are induced into students. Such an atmosphere is built over a period of time and is the result of the cooperative and collective efforts of the students, teachers and parents.
Education can and must bring about a fine synthesis between change-oriented technologies and the country’s continuity of cultural tradition. Education needs to be managed in an atmosphere of utmost intellectual rigour, seriousness of purpose, and at the same time freedom- essential for innovation and creativity.
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