Throughout history, education has had two primary goals: to educate people intellectually and to teach them to be morally good. The educators believe that students had a need for values education because the people must develop democratic virtues.. These virtues included respect for individual rights, respect for law, participation in public life voluntarily, and a concern for the common good of the country.

            Historically, the Bible was the source in public schools for moral instruction. When differences  arose over which Bible to use, the McGuffey Reader was introduced as a way to teach the virtues of honesty, hard work, thriftiness, kindness, patriotism, and courage. Lickona, (2005).

            Character education remained a part of public education in the Philippines until the 1960s through stories, and teacher example,and discipline. According to Field (2006), in the 1960s and 1970s character education changed dramatically when value clarification, moral dilemma discussions, and decision-making processes replaced the traditional emphasis on learning right from wrong and acting right. These programs failed to distinguish between the personal references of students and true moral values. Today, with the increased problems that society faces, more traditional character education is

            During the last decade, this trend of neglecting to teach character has changed with the introduction of values education programs by the Department of Education (DepED) People are now talking about the importance of character and personal integrity (Ryan &Bohlin). Dramatically when value clarification, moral dilemma discussions, and decision-making processes replaced the traditional emphasis on learning right from wrong and acting right. These programs failed to distinguish between the personal preferences of students and true moral values. Today, with the increased problems that society faces, more traditional character education is becoming commonplace in public schools .

            Many principals spend a significant amount of time dealing within appropriate student behavior. Character education programs are proactive approaches to improve discipline in the schools, but do they make a difference? If character education reduces disciplinary problems, instills compassion and caring, promotes citizenship, and develops amoral conscience in students, it would be a worthwhile endeavor in terms of time and money spent.   If values education does not affect the manner in which students behave, then resources can and should be reallocated to other programs.

Reference:

K to 12 Guidelines on Values Education Program (2012)

By: Daisy S. Cortez |T-III| Lamao National High School Limay Bataan