By BRONWYN SELL and THERESA GARNER
Teachers are too busy to decipher vague school instructions about good values, educationists say.
While schools are required by law to teach subjects and skills, it is not mandatory to promote values.
But the Education Review Office wants a clear series of statements on values teachers can use.
Since 1993, the Ministry of Education's curriculum framework has instructed schools to reinforce values such as honesty, respect and non-racism.
Massey University emeritus professor Ivan Snook, a member of the Quality Public Education Coalition, said the modern curriculum had "values scattered through it like confetti."
"But the teachers don't know what to do with these statements," he said. "They've got 'spirituality' scattered through them, and teachers haven't a clue what to do about it."
Dr Judith Aitken, the ERO's chief review officer, wants to see a clear series of statements in the curriculum framework translated into requirements that teachers can use confidently to prepare programmes.
"We don't want it to be a matter of luck," she said. "We run the risk of neglecting the ethical and moral well-being of our youngsters."
The framework instructs schools to reinforce the country's values of individual and collective responsibility. Values listed are honesty, reliability, respect for others, respect for the law, tolerance, fairness, caring or compassion, non-sexism and non-racism.
The document says no schooling is value-free.
"Values are mostly learned through students' experience of the total environment, rather than through direct instruction."
The new health and physical education curriculum, which took effect this year, advocates looking after students' emotional, social and spiritual well-being, as well as their physical and mental health.
Ministry of Education senior policy analyst Steve Benson said that when the ministry asked for submissions in the late 1980s, there was a call for values to be included. Values were chosen by consensus and integrated into the curriculum.
Judy Lawley, director of the Living Values Project, which is helping 20 schools to identify and reinforce their values, said schools often needed outside assistance to tackle the subject.
It was hard for teachers to find the class time and confidence to teach values.
"I sympathise with them. Would I, as a teacher, be able to risk taking up a couple of my maths or science lessons to get that class respecting each other? Would they therefore work faster and would we get the payback?
"Most teachers think they would, because you wouldn't be wasting all your time saying, 'Be quiet, sit down.'
"It's getting the confidence to take the time to do it."
Values too vague say confused educators
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.