For the past few years, values education has become a part of the curriculum in the secondary education.

 

          The Department of Education, indeed has made a right decision in including values education in the secondary level.

 

          Values in the strictest meaning are collective conceptions of what are considered good, desirable and proper in our culture and tradition. They indicate what people in a given culture or tradition prefer, as they find important and morally right..

 

          However, values may be specific, such as honoring one’s parents and owning a home. Values may be likewise such as health, love and democracy.

 

          Values, as teachers teach and inculcate in the minds of the students influence people’s behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others. There is often a direct relationship between the values, norms, and sanctions of a culture. For example, if a culture highly values the institution of marriage, it may have norms and strict sanctions which prohibit the act of adultery. If a culture views private property as a basic value, it will probably have laws against theft and vandalism.

 

          The values of a culture may change but must remain relatively stable during any person’s lifetime. Socially shared intensely felt, values are fundamental part of our lives.

 

          So, teachers who teach values education should themselves demonstrate and show the significance of values in their own lives.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Elgin C. Mansilla | Teacher III | Mariveles National High School (Poblacion) | Mariveles, Bataan