Should We Teach Values in Our Schools?

The best way to choose the values for the students, is to ask the community at large what values they value, and to deduce those into achievable goals. This is to ask the parents, the educators, and the students themselves what they value, and through democratic processes, we figure out what we as a collective community believe to be right and good.

The Golden Rule is inherently logical, so having a dislike for violence, rape, murder, and stealing, would seem like values that nobody would question. Sure there's instances when those crimes can be used in self-defense (such as murder), and there's an inherent right one has to self-preservation, but in general, those are good values to form a core stem, a foundation, for the rest of the morals. By having these morals, we acknowledge that each of us are in command of our own behavior and our own choices. Certain, my freedom and yours cannot be separated.

By utilizing the Golden Rule, we can begin to empathize with one another, and help each other, and if we can't help each other, than at the very least, we can do no harm to others.

Personally, and I feel alone in America is liking these values, I would like to see freedom and democracy utilized in the classrooms. The one class I taught, a Confirmation class at a Catholic Church, I utilized democratic values in the classroom, but if felt as though because I was sharing power, that somehow, I had demoted myself from the norm that the students were used to, and they were more inclined to misbehave. So by having one classroom with democratic structures, in a society that doesn't respect freedom and democratic values as a whole, was an issue. If my vision of freedom and democracy is to be successful, it will have to be adopted by the school at large, and hopefully, in the homes the children come from too. Democratic processes doesn't mean chaos and anarchy; in fact, it can be just as structured as an autocratic classroom can be. For one instance, we can't have a good discussion if we are all talking over one another, and therefore, some type of system needs to be put in place so that one person can speak at a time.

The social consequences of having a democratic system put in place would be immeasurable. Democratic processes means having deliberative assemblies, and voting mechanisms, where the group as a whole decides how they want to learn the set of standards that's presented. We can learn to speak about our beliefs, to argue for those beliefs, and to learn to disagree without being disagreeable. By having such a system in place, where the teachers employ the system too, where we can teach by example, would show how we can take ownership of our own education, and pursue those interests which best suits our needs. The key to education is to get the student curious in a subject material so that they will want to learn it. If we cannot do that, then we will never be able to teach them. But the opposite is just as true, because if we can get them curious about our subjects, then they'll be lifelong learners.

Plus we'd be teaching how civics is supposed to work in a democratic society. Most places in America, in the schools, in our homes, or in the workplaces, has just one boss, and the rest following, and while some may say obedience to authority is a value, I would respect their beliefs, but I would also disagree with them. Students begin to show the same cognition as adults as young as 5 years old, or so, and by respecting their sacred sovereign autonomy, we increase their critical thinking skills, and make them more independent minded, so they can make their own decisions in life, which is a value that's immeasurable.

We must decide what our values are, logically and collectively, because to not do so, is just as problematic than deciding what we do believe. If we do not agree on some value system, then only those at the top will be deciding for the rest of us the difference between right and wrong. By not questioning their authority, we leave our value systems at the door as soon as we enter their domain of influence, and when we do not question authority, we do not demand that their authority is legitimate, and obedience has produced the worst crimes in all of human history: war, genocide, and slavery. I would like to convince others of my beliefs, and maybe I can, or not, but just by having the discussion, I force those in positions of power to legitimate their authority, which is where the burden of proof should lie.