Abstract: The purpose of this article is to illustrate how the model proposed initially by de Souza (2004; 2005) and developed by Buchanan and Hyde (2008) for religious education can be applied to secular education. Using the context of an action research project in Mainland China to introduce education in human values to government primary schools, examples are drawn from mathematics topics to show how teachers have been able to integrate cognitive, affective and values messages into their existing subject curricula. Children’s and teachers’ comments suggest that both are aware of the inner transformations that occur over time, and illustrate that it is possible to bring about such transformation in a way that is compatible with the ideology of the system.
cognitive; affective; spiritual dimensions; education in human values
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Abstract: This chapter reports the comments made by a small group of Thai adolescents from the Sathya Sai School of Thailand about their leisure activities. Interviews were conducted to gain some insight about how the philosophy of the school and particularly the structured leisure activities have influenced the students’ choice of leisure activities. While we cannot make generalizations about the impact of the school’s programme from such a small sample, it is interesting to note that there were some encouraging signs of healthy use of leisure time. It adds weight to the argument that philosophies of values education such as that of the Sathya Sai School can lay a worthwhile foundation for adolescents to utilize their time healthily and thus to develop into adults with good character.
This research involves an empirical case study approach that explores the experiences of Laotian teachers as adult learners of the HVWSHE intervention as well as a literature study on adult education, adult learning facilitation, human values-based education and teacher beliefs. Focus group meetings, lesson observations, participant observation, field notes and a researcher journal was used to collect data.
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Abstract: Even though most teachers believe that it is important to help students to develop personal attributes such as resilience so they can cope with the challenges and changes of contemporary society, teachers and students are too often caught up with curriculum and exam pressures to be able to do very much about the development of personal values.
Abstract: Even though most teachers believe that it is important to help students to develop personal attributes such as resilience so they can cope with the challenges and changes of contemporary society, teachers and students are too often caught up with curriculum and exam pressures to be able to do very much about the development of personal values. Consequently we need to find a way to help teachers to address this need without abdicating their obligation to complete curricula and achieve results. The Sathya Sai Education in Human Values model is one such way, having been used successfully worldwide to support young people to develop resilience physically, mentally, emotionally and especially spiritually. One of many techniques that support this process is called “silent sitting”. This paper reports research data collected during a series of action research projects in two provinces in Mainland China that illustrate how teachers were able to increase their students’ intrapersonal resilience through spending just a few minutes several times a week in silent sitting. Interviews with children revealed some encouraging signs that they perceived silent sitting to have helped them to be more resilient, especially in their school work.
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Abstract: This chapter describes aspects of teachers’ professional growth during a two-year professional development programme in Guandong, China. The project was a part of national curriculum reform in Mainland China. One component of this curriculum reform is to integrate values education across the curriculum while simultaneously helping teachers to adopt current theories of learning and teaching about the curriculum area itself, and it is this aspect that was the focus of the trial in Guandong Province.
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Abstract: The purpose of this chapter is to report a research project concerned with the development of mathematics and language teachers’ skills and understanding of themselves as pedagogical problem solvers and the impact of this development on their ability to implement curriculum reform in their teaching programmes. The project took place in Guandong Province, China, and aimed to challenge and support teachers to incorporate values education into their subject areas rather than treating it as an add-on subject. The teachers were working in a pressured, examination-driven environment and hence it was necessary for them to develop creative problem-solving strategies to integrate the new teaching approach within the existing constraints of curriculum and time. This chapter reports the growth that occurred in the teachers’ ability to do this, and will examine the critical incidents that were catalysts for this growth to occur.
This chapter addresses an issue which is important not only in China but worldwide, with the current emphasis on quality learning and instruction and also the growing pressure for schools to take responsibility for values education. Teachers are required to respond to changes and implement recommendations within the constraints of day-to-day classroom management. They need to be critical and informed professionals, so it is argued that by adopting a problem-solving approach to professional development, teachers would be better able to view themselves as competent problem solvers who are able to develop various strategies to deal with change. The chapter will discuss some implications arising from the project for challenging and supporting teachers, worldwide, to implement curriculum reforms, specifically in values education, but also in a more general sense.
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