By REBECCA WALSH
Values education is not a fad, teachers, parents and education representatives were told at the first of a series of seminars in Auckland promoting values in schools.
About 50 people attended the seminar in Manukau - one of 11 being held around the country - run by the Living Values programme and Unesco.
Brother Patrick Lynch, a New Zealand spokesman for the United Nations education branch, Unesco, said schools had to get away from the "ethics of neutrality" and actively teach civic and personal virtues.
"Whether we like it or not, values education is not a fad that will come and go. Coming to grips with it as school leaders is fundamental to having a successful school and properly preparing young people for life," he said.
Manukau City Mayor Sir Barry Curtis, who opened the seminar, said children gained a false idea of values from the "media bombardment of materialism."
"Increasingly today we see young people whose behaviour has become unfocused and out of control. It seems they have no guidelines to live their lives by."
Sir Barry said it was appropriate for values education to be taught in schools where children spent so much time.
Judy Lawley, director of the Ministry of Education-funded Living Values programme, which has been running in 20 private and public schools around the country, wants to extend the programme and train facilitators to work in more schools.
The Living Values pilot programme aims to build children with good character by helping school communities identify their values and strategies for promoting them. A kit has been designed to help schools do that.
However, Ms Lawley said funding for the programme would run out in March. She hoped to gain more funding from the ministry and the private sector to enable it to continue.
Seminars emphasise values in schools
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