The Vision of Education in Human Values
A Quality Culture
Character is the end product of education.
Education based in Human Values promotes healthy relationships; a vital component in the life of every child. The quality of the relationship the child has with themselves, other students and teachers, affects the level of motivation, attitude, and willingness to participate successfully in any learning opportunity. Character evolves from healthy relationships that enhance excellence in educational achievement.
Explicit teaching and learning from values
Explicit teaching and learning from values assists students in development of positive and healthy relationship building skills and behaviours. The program examines, teaches and promotes proactive behaviours that assist in creating a safe and happy learning environment for all students. It promotes self-esteem and self-worth through fortnightly values and sub-values being integrated into all teaching and learning practices.
A total school culture
A culture may be measured by its values.
Emotional intelligence of students is elicited through the language of values and an understanding of values provides life long decision making tools that are found in their own conscience. The school culture is one in which we are united by our shared values and celebrate our diversity.
The EHV Model
1. The Context (why have the model?)
Education in Human Values (EHV) is a model for sustainability, through education, across all cultures achieving life-long good citizenship and personal contentment. There are three models of education:
- Public education
- Private education as a commodity
- Education in Human Values (EHV)
A: Public Education
Public education provides
- good basic literacy and numeracy;
- concern for equity, excellence and the promotion of a caring, civil and just society;
- participation in contributing to the social and economic wealth of the community and the nation;
- democracy to support an educated community able to contribute economically and culturally, intelligent about elections and supporting a competitive economic system set by government.
B: Private Education, delivered as a commodity
where parents invest in
- academic achievement;
- intangibles such as values, discipline, and a sense of community;
- many have a religious base and continue to espouse charity and social equity;
- choice of education;
- often corporatised, value for money, profit based.
C: Education in Human Values
a complementary approach in which
- understanding through conscious integration of human values across the whole curriculum drives the outcomes, teaching and learning processes, knowledge, and skills within a mainstream Board of Studies framework;
- learning is wholistic, about the total development of the child's life, implict values are explicit eliciting emotional intelligence, academic achivement and character;
- no fees are charged and teachers see teaching as a calling, a part of their own spiritual development;
- a head, heart and hands culture;
- self-transformation of character is the end product; information is about quality, transformation is about quality.
1. The Context
Education is on a third wave of change strengthening life-long learning as its focus, seeking unity whilst providing for diversity across all cultures and addressing global issues of sustainablity, physical, mental, social and spiritual health, non-violence and individual responsibility.
Teachers are facing enormous challenges dealing with behaviours resulting from society's need to reconnect with personal and organistional identity, meaning and purpose. Society is interested in values on a major scale. EHV is a model polished for over 30 years in other countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas, from which we have learned about its philosophy and practical implementation.
Outcomes have exceeded all expectations with:
- transformation of classroom behaviours
- more focus on student-centered learning
- higher academic achievement
- development of admirable character
- significantly reduced teacher stress levels
Education in human values is a model for resilience, through education, across all cultures achieving life-long good citizenship and personal contentment.
2. Evidence of EHV inspiration in the school:
- A school infused with love in all domains of the human personality;
- EHV is most effective where the teacher themselves demonstrate human values in their own behaviours and professionalism;
- Teachers see teaching as a calling; self-transformation is guided by quality, information by quantity;
- The school is a space of innovation mapping pathways for integrating human values into the whole school curriculum;
- 7 teaching techniques: silent sitting, story telling, group activities, quotes/affirmations, group singing, mind-mapping, visualisation and compatible teaching techniques;
- Documentation: a 'how to' of the values integration process with teachers producing material relevant to the mainstream education;
Sathya Sai School - A model school
The Sathya Sai Organisation of Australia and PNG have elected to provide the Sathya Sai School as its primary service activity for the people of Australia.
- modelling education in human values as the wellspring for
- character development and excellence in academic achievement
- inspired by Sai Baba, Educator and Chancellor of the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning.
3. The EHV Blueprints
There are three blueprints (foundations) embedded in the EHV Model as it is delivered. These are
- Social blueprint
- School blueprint
- Student blueprint
Human values provide a blueprint for the life of an individual, school community and society globally. The blueprint provides a guideline that creates unity whilst celebrating diversity for people, processes and structures and generates a whole school environment conducive to each child thriving and achieving their full potential.
Teaching values through a whole school approach provides a common and essential thread, which unites a school and creates the focus for staff, students, parents, learning foundations, Key Learning Areas and achievement of outcomes. Here, at this school, Education in Human Values (EHV) is taught implicitly and explicitly through an integrated whole school approach using the NSW Board of Studies State Curriculum Outcomes and Foundation statements (2005).
The EHV model embraces five core universal values that form the basis of all religions and belief systems. Therefore our values program is non-denominational and accepts and celebrates individual ideals and ways of life.
These five central values are:
- Love
- Truth
- Right Action
- Peace
- Non-violence
Each core value has many sub-values that are central to building the character of an individual. The nine primary core values of the DSE "Values in NSW public schools" form the spine of our sub-values framework. These include:
- integrity
- excellence
- respect
- responsibility
- co-operation
- participation
- care
- fairness
- democracy
The EHV model assumes that each child has these values within and our job as educators in partnership with parents and community, is to elicit these values within a child to enable them to become liefong learners who are fully functioning at optimum levels socially, emotionally, cognitively and intellectually.
Each term our whole school concentrates on five sub-values from each of the main core values with each sub-value having a two week focus. The sub-values are chosen collaboratively as a staff at the beginning of year or each term.
Factors that determine which values will be taught explicity for each particular year or term are:
- Needs of the whole school environment;
- Behavioural needs of students (whole school and individual)
- Emotional needs of students (whole school and individual)
- Subject matter to be covered in the Board of Studies Key Learning Areas
- Exposure and opportunities to meet outcomes in the Board of Studies Key Learning Areas
- Parental concerns/needs
- Community concerns/needs
- Sub-values taught previous term and year
- Global and local issues in society
The Global social blueprint, the school community blueprint and the individual blueprint are inspired by the five human values described in actions and behaviours by the sub-values. Each is a microcosm of the macrocosm contained within the other. Each carries the energy of the five human values as the inner motivators of every human being.
Full blueprint of the EHV Model.
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