Values education: the development and classroom use of an educational programme1

An earlier version of this article was presented to the 2002 Conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), 12–14 September, 2002.

Abstract

The article is concerned with values education in schools in the light of the requirement for schools to provide for the spiritual, moral, cultural and social development of children and in the light of wider discussions regarding ‘spirituality’ in (post)modern society. The authors focus on Living Values, a programme developed as a way of introducing values‐based education to schools as wellas to the wider community. They examine both the contents of the programme and the way it reaches schools and is utilized. The authors report on their recent field research carried out in schools andevaluate textual sources. Emerging issues and perspectives, among them the provenance and sponsorship of the programme, are raised.

Notes

* Corresponding author: Dr Elisabeth Arweck, Institute of Education, University of Warwick, ­Coventry CV4 7AL. Email: [email protected]

An earlier version of this article was presented to the 2002 Conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), 12–14 September, 2002.

The term ‘New Religious Movements’ (NRMs) is used here to describe religious groups and movements which have come to prominence in the West in the 1960s and 1970s. Given the history and character of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU), the group can be subsumed in the category of NRM, although there are scholars who see close connections with New Age thought. For further details on NRMs, New Age, and related terminology, see, for example, Arweck, 2002.

A pilot project (spread over 12 months) was carried out in 2001 by Eleanor Nesbitt and Ann Henderson at WRERU. It had the wider remit of focusing on values and citizenship with reference to programmes associated with the Brahma Kumaris and two other ‘small religious organisations’ (see Nesbitt & Henderson, 2003). A research team in Australia, at the University of Newcastle, is currently engaged in a project which examines the effect of the Living Values programme by looking at primary school children before and after the application of the programme (personal communication and Living Values website).

An article on the stages of this process is forthcoming (Arweck & Nesbitt, 2004).

Like each Brahma Kumaris centre, the Global Retreat Centre offers a foundation course in meditation. It also offers courses in positive thinking, stress management, and self‐development skills. Lectures and seminars focus on particular aspects of human life, such as decision‐making, fear, anger, worry, etc. There are also ‘one‐day retreats’ which introduce participants to meditation and ‘spirituality’ in daily life.

Human Scale Education is an educational charity which promotes small, schools and classes ‘because of the many educational benefits which small size can bring’. The organization began in 1986 as an educational movement to promote small, human scale learning environments, ‘at a time when most secondary schools were very large, when small village schools were in danger of closure, and when the state education system was becoming increasingly inflexible’ (Human Scale Education website).

The National Association of Small Schools ‘exists to advise and support small schools against threats of closure, … to promote the virtues of small schools and especially with local communities …’ (Human Scale Education, website: www.smallschools.org.uk).

The Home Education Advisory Service ‘gives advice and information to parents who wish to educate their children at home in preference to sending them to school’ (Human Scale Education website). The web address of the Advisory Service is: www.heas.org.uk

Antidote launched its manifesto in early 2001 and its aim is ‘To create an emotionally literate culture, where the facility to handle the complexities of emotional life is as widespread as the capacity to read, write and do arithmetic’ (Observer, 21 January 2001). It also aims to ‘create a “listening culture”, putting emotional literacy at the heart of the education system’ (Observer, 21 January 2001). The director of Antidote is James Park and information about the Campaign can be found on its website (www.antidote.org.uk).

The examples given here are taken from the website of Human Scale Education, which lists such groups under ‘Other Interesting Groups’. The same and related organizations are also listed on the website of the Values Education Council of the United Kingdom (www.rexs.ucsm.ac.uk) under ‘Links’. Further details about the Values Education Council follow.

The fair is organised by Human Scale Education. The third fair took place in late September 2002 (see www.hse.org.uk).

The website is at www.hibbert‐assemblies.org.uk

The Sathya Sai Baba Organization is another example of a Hindu‐related New Religious Movement (see footnote 1 regarding the definition of the term ‘New Religious Movement’); it, too, has its headquarters in India (in Puttaparthi, Andra Pradesh) and is led by Sathya Sai Baba (believed by himself and followers to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, d. 1918). Sathya Sai Baba is best known for the paranormal powers to materialize objects and vibhuti (holy ash) (see, for example, Haraldson, 1987; Taylor, 1987; Bowen, 1988). The Education in Human Values programme was the subject of an AHRB‐funded WRERU research project (January–December 2003).

Such educational (nurturing) projects have not been altogether successful, but it would go beyond the remit of this article to elaborate. Academic research regarding children in NRMs and their education is still relatively scant, with the volume edited by Palmer and Hardman (1999) a first major contribution.

The 1988 Education Reform Act stated that a broad and balanced curriculum should promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at school, and of society (see Gent, 1999, p. 13; see also Taylor, 1998, p. 5).

The 1992 Education (Schools) Act set in place the framework for Ofsted inspectors not only to inspect quality, standards and efficiency in a school, but also its contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (see Gent, 1999, p. 13).

The ‘National Forum on Values in Education and the Community’ was set up to make recommendations on ‘ways in which schools might be supported in making their contribution to pupils’ spiritual and moral development; whether there is any agreement on the values, attitudes and behaviours that schools should promote on society’s behalf’ (SCAA, 1996a, p. 1, cited in Taylor, 1998, p. 8) The Forum identified a statement of ‘values’ on society, relationships, self and the environment, with implications for attitudes and action (see SCAA, 1996b, referred to by Taylor, 1998, p. 8). The statement was endorsed by a MORI poll (see MORI, 1996, cited in Taylor, 1998, p. 8). Regarding the composition of the ‘Forum’, see Taylor, 1998, p. 8.

In 1998, the QCA issued draft guidance for pilot work in November 1997, March 1998, and May 1998. One of these documents, the ‘Draft Directory of Resources’ of March 1998, includes material by the Brahma Kumaris, but an introductory note states expressly that ‘The resources in this directory are not endorsed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’.

In England and Wales, citizenship education was introduced in September 2002 as part of the National Curriculum for all secondary schools and as a non‐statutory part of the curriculum for primary schools (see Jackson, 2002, 2003).

See, for example, Halstead & Taylor, 1996, 1998; Haydon, 1997; Leicester, et al., 1998; Taylor, 1998. The promotion and development of values education and values in education are also the concern of the ‘Values Education Council’ mentioned earlier. Its website does not state when it was created, but to judge from the publication date of the first annual conference papers, the Council must have been set up in the mid‐1990s. Its chair is Dr Monica Taylor who has made a number of contributions to the research on values (see also earlier).

Questions of spirituality, also with regard to religion, are beginning to be addressed in academic literature (see, for example,Erricker & Erricker, 2001; King & Beattie, 2001; Rose, 2001).

This document was available on the Living Values website and could be found as a pdf file on most web pages. It provides general information about the programme and its development. It had no particular heading, except ‘Living Values: an educational program’ and is dated July 2000. For reasons of simplicity, it is cited in the text by the title of the pdf, which was ‘LV Abstract’. During 2002, the title of this file was changed to ‘Living Values: an educational program overview’. Sections of this document are also reproduced in some of the Living Values manuals which are described later.

The Planet Society is an educational organization of UNESCO which invites other organizations and individuals to become partners. It has a website at this address: www3.unesco.org/planetsociety

The connection with UN organizations and the status of the BKWSU as a non‐governmental organization (NGO) are issues which cannot be explored here further with regard to their relevance to the Living Values programme.

This initiative has to be seen against the background of the status of the BKWSU as a non‐governmental organization (NGO) with the UN in consultation with the Economic and Social Council and UNICEF. The process of obtaining this status began in 1980 (see, forexample, BKWSU, 1993a, p. 205). Further, this initiative was not the first or only ­international project which the BKWSU launched with regard to the UN. In 1986, the UN International Year of Peace, an appeal was made to donate a ‘Million Minutes of Peace’ through meditation or prayers. This was followed, in 1988, by ‘Global Co‐operation for a Better World (GCBW)’, a ‘Peace Messenger Initiative, which sought to elicit responses to the question, ‘What is your vision of a better world?’ ‘The Global Vision Statement’ resulted from GCBW (see, for example, BKWSU, 1995, p. 69, as did a publication entitled Visions of a Better World (BKWSU, 1993a).

This quotation is also on the cover the Living Values Guidebook (BKWSU, 1995), which is mentioned below.

The LV Abstract states that by spring 1997, the material ‘was piloted at 220 sites in over 40countries’.

On the website is also material for ages 0–2, and a Living Values seminar, attended by one of the authors, included a workshop for ages 0–7.

Note the current debate of parenting and parenting skills in Britain (see, for example, the discussions during the 2002 conference of the ATL, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, in Cardiff, regarding parenting orders). Family Links, another approach used by some schools, also makes provision for parents.

In the UK, the head teacher of a primary school which took part in the pilot project of the Living Values programme noted positive results regarding pupils’ attitudes and behaviours, stating that ‘the pupils enjoy peaceful, respectful, cooperative relationships with their peers and teachers. The school enables the students to think carefully about values and to reflect values in their behavior and attitudes. School assemblies have become a powerful vehicle for teaching values, raising self‐esteem, and developing enthusiasm’ (LV Abstract).

The range of courses and lectures offered by the Brahma Kumaris (BKWSU) has been mentioned earlier.

By comparison, in the early 1990s, the organization spoke of 3000 branches in 62 countries (see BKWSU, 1993b), and in 1995, it quoted 3500 centres in 65 countries (see BKWSU, 1995, p. 107).

For a view of the role of women in the organization from the ‘inside’, see Sister Sudesh, (1993), and Skultans (1993) for a view from ‘outside’; see also Howell, 1998.

The stress on ‘spirituality’ and using ‘spiritual powers’ in everyday life (rather than reference to a ‘religion’) is—to judge from impressions gathered during fieldwork—what makes the programme attractive to the general public. Another point is that the qualities within or the ‘virtues’ are consonant with the set of values in the Living Values programme. This parallels the teachings of other religious groups which promote such qualities or values.

See Bhagavad‐Gita, ch. 13: v. 1–3.

Messages through a medium or the practice of ‘channelling’ are aspects associated with sections of the New Age movement and with Spiritualism. For a comparison between ­Spiritualist mediumship and New Age Channelling, see Spencer, 2001.

In the light of ethical considerations, the identity of schools and staff involved in the research will be kept anonymous, despite the fact that one school is well known for its adoption of values‐based education.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elisabeth Arweck *

* Corresponding author: Dr Elisabeth Arweck, Institute of Education, University of Warwick, ­Coventry CV4 7AL. Email: [email protected]