Learning and Teaching about Values: A review of recent research

Children begin to learn values very early on in life, initially from their families, but also from the media, peers, playgroups, carers, their local community and other agencies. There is evidence that children probably develop a moral sense within the ® rst two years of life (Kagan & Lamb, 1987; Buzelli, 1992) and this is closely linked with their emotional and social development (Dunn, 1988; Kuebli, 1994). Children therefore arrive in school with a range of different values drawn from their pre-school experiences. The role of the school is two-fold: to build on and supplement the values children have already begun to develop by offering further exposure to a range of values that are current in society (such as equal opportunities and respect for diversity); and to help children to re ̄ ect on, make sense of and apply their own developing values. The ® rst of these tasks has received increased explicit of® cial attention in England since the 1988 Education Act, through discussion documents (OFSTED, 1994a; School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 1995), through the statement of shared values produced by the National Forum on Values in Education and the Community (School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 1996b; cf. Smith & Standish, 1997) and through the guidance for schools currently being developed by the Department for Education and Employment and the Quali® cations and Curriculum Authority. The term `values’ is used in this review to refer to the principles and fundamental convictions which act as general guides to behaviour, the standards by which particular actions are judged to be good or desirable. Examples of values are love, equality, freedom, justice, happiness, security, peace of mind and truth. The broad term `values education’ encompasses, and in practice is often seen as having a particular emphasis on, education in civic and moral values. It is very closely related to other terms in current use, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (OFSTED, 1994a), character education