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Citation: Huitt, W. (2004). Values. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University.
Retrieved [date], from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/affect/values.html
Values are defined in literature as everything from eternal ideas to behavioral actions.
As used here values refer to criteria for determining levels of goodness, worth or
beauty. Values are affectively-laden thoughts about objects, ideas, behavior, etc. that
guide behavior, but do not necessarily require it (Rokeach, 1973). The act of valuing
is considered an act of making value judgments, an expression of feeling, or the
acquisition of and adherence to a set of principles. We are covering values as part of
the affective system. However, once they are developed they provide an important
filter for selecting input and connecting thoughts and feelings to action and thus could
also be included in a discussion of the regulatory system.
Some of the values designated by the SCANS report (Whetzel, 1992) as important for
workers in the information age are responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, integrity,
and honesty. Huitt (1997) suggests an additional set of important values that are either
implied in the SCANS report or are suggested by the writings of futurists or
behavioral scientists as important for life success: autonomy, benevolence,
compassion, courage, courtesy, honesty, integrity, responsibility, trustworthiness, and
truthfulness. Other lists of core values have been developed. For example, a group of
educators, character education experts, and leaders of youth organizations meeting
under the sponsorship of The Josephson Institute of Ethics developed the following
list: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, caring, justice and fairness, and civic
virtue and citizenship (The Character Education Partnership, Inc., 1996). The Council
for Global Education (1997) asserts the following set of values are either stated or
implied in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights: compassion,
courtesy, critical inquiry, due process, equality of opportunity, freedom of thought and
action, human worth and dignity, integrity, justice, knowledge, loyalty, objectivity,
order, patriotism, rational consent, reasoned argument, respect for other's rights,
responsibility, responsible citizenship, rule of law, tolerance, and truth. Despite the
debate over exactly what are the core values that ought to be taught in schools,
the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (1996) suggests it is
possible for communities to reach consensus on a set of values that would be
appropriate for inclusion in the school curriculum. Once a community has done so, the
next issue is how should one go about the process of teaching values. As a beginning
effort in this direction, I have developed a "Survey of Desired Values, Virtues, and
Attributes". A preliminary study shows considerable overlap in beliefs among
preservice and practicing educators (Huitt, 2003).
Values Education
Values education is an explicit attempt to teach about values and/or valuing. Superka,
Ahrens, & Hedstrom (1976) state there are five basic approaches to values
education: inculcation, moral development, analysis, values clarification, and action
learning. This text was used as the major source for the organization of the following
presentation.
Inculcation
Most educators viewing values education from the perspective of inculcation see
values as socially or culturally accepted standards or rules of behavior. Valuing is
therefore considered a process of the student identifying with and accepting the
standards or norms of the important individuals and institutions within his society.
The student "incorporates" these values into his or her own value system. These
educators take a view of human nature in which the individual is treated, during the
inculcation process, as a reactor rather than as an initiator. Extreme advocates such as
Talcott Parsons (1951) believe that the needs and goals of society should transcend
and even define the needs and goals of the individuals.
In addition to Parsons (1951), the theoretical work of Sears and his colleagues (1957,
1976) and Whiting (1961) provide support for this position. More contemporary
researchers include Wynne and Ryan (1989, 1992). The materials developed by
the Georgia Department of Education (1997), the work of William Bennett (e.g.,
1993) and The Character Education Institute (CEI) also promote the inculcation
viewpoint.
Moral Development
Kohlberg's view of human nature is similar to that presented in the ideas of other
developmental psychologists such as Piaget (1932, 1962), Erikson (1950), and
Loevinger et al. (1970). This perspective views the person as an active initiator and a
reactor within the context of his or her environment; the individual cannot fully
change the environment, but neither can the environment fully mold the individual. A
person's actions are the result of his or her feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and
experiences. Although the environment can determine the content of one's
experiences, it cannot determine its form. Genetic structures already inside the person
are primarily responsible for the way in which a person internalizes the content, and
organizes and transforms it into personally meaningful data.
There is an assumption that values are based on cognitive moral beliefs or concepts.
This view would agree with the inculcation assumption that there are universal moral
principles, but would contend that values are considered relative to a particular
environment or situation and are applied according to the cognitive development of
the individual.
Gilligan (1977, 1982) critiqued Kohlberg's work based on his exclusive use of males
in his original theoretical work. Based on her study of girls and women, she proposed
that females make moral decisions based on the development of the principle of care
rather than on justice as Kohlberg had proposed. Whereas Kohlberg identified
autonomous decision making related to abstract principles as the highest form of
moral thinking, Gilligan proposed that girls and women are more likely to view
relationships as central with a win-win approach to resolving moral conflicts as the
highest stage. Walker (1991) found only equivocal support for the claim that an
individual's focus is limited to one basic priniciple and that this focus is sex related.
Gilligan's more recent work has concentrated on the methodology of listening to the
female's voice as she attempts to make moral and other decisions rather than scoring
the person on an a priori category system (e.g., Brown & Gilligan, 1992).
In addition to the researchers cited above, Sullivan and his colleagues (1953, 1957)
also provide support for this view include. Larry Nucci (1989), Director of the Office
for Studies in Moral Development and Character Formation at the University of
Illinois at Chicago has developed The Moral Development and Education
Homepage to promote this approach.
Analysis
The analysis approach to values education was developed mainly by social science
educators. The approach emphasizes rational thinking and reasoning. The purpose of
the analysis approach is to help students use logical thinking and the procedures of
scientific investigation in dealing with values issues. Students are urged to provide
verifiable facts about the correctness or value of the topics or issues under
investigation. A major assumption is that valuing is the cognitive process of
determining and justifying facts and beliefs derived from those facts. This approach
concentrates primarily on social values rather than on the personal moral dilemmas
presented in the moral development approach.
Additional support for this approach is provided by Ellis (1962), Kelly (1955), and
Pepper (1947). The thinking techniques demonstrated by MindTools is an excellent
example of strategies used in this approach.
Values Clarification
The values clarification approach arose primarily from humanistic psychology and
the humanistic education movement as it attempted to implement the ideas and
theories of Gordon Allport (1955), Abraham Maslow (1970), Carl Rogers (1969), and
others. The central focus is on helping students use both rational thinking and
emotional awareness to examine personal behavior patterns and to clarify and
actualize their values. It is believed that valuing is a process of self-actualization,
involving the subprocesses of choosing freely from among alternatives, reflecting
carefully on the consequences of those alternatives, and prizing, affirming, and acting
upon one's choices. Values clarification is based predominately on the work of Raths,
Harmin & Simon (1978), Simon & Kirschenbaum (1973), and Simon, Howe &
Kirschenbaum (1972).
Whereas the inculcation approach relies generally on outside standards and the moral
development and analysis approaches rely on logical and empirical processes, the
values clarification approach relies on an internal cognitive and affective decision
making process to decide which values are positive and which are negative. It is
therefore an individualistic rather than a social process of values education.
From this perspective, the individual, if he or she is allowed the opportunity of being
free to be his or her true self, makes choices and decisions affected by the internal
processes of willing, feeling, thinking, and intending. It is assumed that through self-
awareness, the person enters situations already pointed or set in certain directions. As
the individual develops, the making of choices will more often be based on conscious,
self-determined thought and feeling. It is advocated that the making of choices, as a
free being, which can be confirmed or denied in experience, is a preliminary step in
the creation of values (Moustakas, 1966).
Methods used in the values clarification approach include large- and small-group
discussion; individual and group work; hypothetical, contrived, and real dilemmas;
rank orders and forced choices; sensitivity and listening techniques; songs and
artwork; games and simulations; and personal journals and interviews; self-analysis
worksheet. A vital component is a leader who does not attempt to influence the
selection of values. Like the moral development approach, values clarification
assumes that the valuing process is internal and relative, but unlike the inculcation and
developmental approaches it does not posit any universal set of appropriate values.
A sevenfold process describing the guidelines of the values clarification approach was
formulated by Simon et al. (1972);
Additional theorists providing support for the values clarification approach include
Asch (1952) and G. Murphy (1958).
Action Learning
The action learning approach is derived from a perspective that valuing includes a
process of implementation as well as development. That is, it is important to move
beyond thinking and feeling to acting. The approach is related to the efforts of some
social studies educators to emphasize community-based rather than classroom-based
learning experiences. In some ways it is the least developed of the five approaches.
However, a variety of recent programs have demonstrated the effectiveness of the
techniques advocated by this approach (e.g., Cottom, 1996; Gauld, 1993; Solomon et
al., 1992).
Advocates of the action learning approach stress the need to provide specific
opportunities for learners to act on their values. They see valuing primarily as a
process of self-actualization in which individuals consider alternatives; choose freely
from among those alternatives; and prize, affirm, and act on their choices. They place
more emphasis on action-taking inside and outside the classroom than is reflected in
the moral development, analysis, and values clarification processes.
Values are seen to have their source neither in society nor in the individual but in the
interaction between the person and the society; the individual cannot be described
outside of his or her context. The process of self-actualization, so important to the
founders of the values clarification approach, is viewed as being tempered by social
factors and group pressures. In this way it is more related to Maslow's (1971) level of
transcendence which he discussed towards the end of his career.
Many of the teaching methods of similar to those used in analysis and values
clarification. In fact, the first two phases of Huitt's model are almost identical to the
steps used in analysis. In some ways the skill practice in group organization and
interpersonal relations and action projects is similar to that of Kohlberg's "Just
School" program that provides opportunities to engage in individual and group action
in school and community (Power, Higgins & Kohlberg, 1989). A major difference is
that the action learning approach does not start from a preconceived notion of moral
development.
Schools of thought providing support for the action learning approach include: Adler,
1924; Bigge, 1971; Blumer, 1969; Dewey, 1939; Horney, 1950; Lewin, 1935; and
Sullivan, 1953. The Values in Actionand the Giraffe projects exemplify this approach.
Summary
In summary, each of the approaches to values education has a view of human nature,
as well as purposes, processes and methods used in the approach. For example, the
inculcation approach has a basic view of human nature as a reactive organism. The
analysis and values clarification approaches, on the other hand, view the human being
as primarily active. The moral development approach views human nature as going
back and forth between active and reactive, whereas the action learning approach
views human nature as interactive. The following table provides an outline of the most
important features for each of the approaches.
Overview of Typology of Values Education Approaches
Approach Purpose Methods
To instill or internalize Modeling;
certain values in Positive and negative
students; reinforcement;
To change the values of Manipulating
Inculcation
students so they more alternatives;
nearly reflect certain Games and simulations;
desired values Role playing
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