TOPIC – 1.

CONCEPT OF VALUES
2. TYPES OF VALUES

Programme - B.Ed.
Year - I
Paper - IV
Title of the Paper - VALUE AND PEACE EDUCATION

Dr. Archana Kapoor,

Associate Professor,
B.Ed. Dept.
Isabella Thoburn College,
Lucknow
E-Mail archanakapoor29@gmail.com
Mob. No. 9336322555
VALUE AND PEACE EDUCATION

After going through this chapter, you will be able to-

 Understand the concept of values
 Analyze the need for value education
 Assess the role of education in inculcating values
 Acquaint yourself with different approaches to value inculcation

To have an aim or a purpose is to choose between values and persist in one’s

choice. This is true whether it applies to politics or education.
Karl Mannheim

A fundamental question for Socrates in the course of his philosophical enquiries

was how should one live one’s life. Since education as distinct from mere instruction or
training is at heart a matter of acquainting young people with what is good, of guiding
them towards worthwhile rather than worthless lives, there is a strong case for saying
that Socrates question in the most important one for education.
To be concerned with education is necessarily to be involved in values. The
purpose of education is varied- to impart knowledge, to inculcate skills, to fit people for
work in adult life- but perhaps the most important of all educational aims is to help
young people develop as full human beings, inclined and equipped to lead the good life
rather than the bad. Values aim in enabling man in actualizing his potential and imply
a vision of good life.

Concept and Definitions

 The concept of ‘Value’ has had a peculiar history. Few words have been
subjected to such a variety of usage, by economists, philosophers, social scientists and
educators at large.
Some who have made use of the concept have given it a precise but idiosyncratic
meaning, others have made ‘value’ and ‘values’ into umbrella terms, vaguely related to
some aspect of human desiring, approval, interest, motivation, preference, aspiration,
to a sense of decency, beauty, worth or goodness. In this daunting situation there can be
no confidence that two authorities who discuss ‘values’ are referring to the same range
of phenomenon and while there have been a number of (mutually conflicting ) attempts
to clarify the value domain at the logical level, no-one, so far has clearly explicated
what ‘having values’ in everyday might mean.
The value concept is employed in two distinctively different ways in our day to
day conversation. One often says that a person has a value but also that an object has
value. In the latter case, value is equivalent to the price as well as availability of a
particular object. Objects with higher pieces are considered to be more valuable than
those with lower prices. Similarly if a thing is available less easily, its value tends to go
up, example land or certain antique items.
Now, the focus here is on that concept of value which emphasizes on a person
having values. Every known society has a certain set of values. They are adopted by a
large number of people and expressed by them in the shape of their social behaviour.
Values of the proper type help the society in developing and understanding goodness
and healthy social relations. Man living in a society acquires some values which guide
and control his behaviour.

According to Kluckhohn (1951) - “A value is a conception, explicit or implicit,

distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable, which
influence the selection from available modes, means and ends of action.”
Carl Rogers (1969) holds a similar view- “Valuing is the tendency of a person to show
preferences.”
Viewing values as preferences only leaves out the conceptual and directional
qualities-all values have cognitive, affective and directional aspects. Considering this,
Raths, Harmin and Suman (1966) are of the opinion that “out of experiences may come
certain general guides to behaviour. These guides tend to give direction to life and may
be called values.”
Inlow (1972) has given a very comprehensive definition of values and states-“ Values
simply stated are the determiners in man that influence his choices in life and to decide
his behavour.”
Famous educationist John Dewey (1948) states- “To value means to prize, to esteem,
but secondarily it means to apprise, to estimate, it means act of cherishing something,
holding it dear an act of passing judgment upon the nature and amount of passing
judgment.”
Brightman (1978) says-“In the most elementary sense, value means whatever is actually
liked, prized, esteemed, desired approved or enjoyed by anyone at a time.”
The International Encyclopedia of the Social sciences (1968) defines value as a “set of
principles whereby conduct is directed and regulated as a guide for individuals and a
social group.”
Dutt (1986) says that a value is-“An endeavour which satisfies need system,
psychological as well as physiological needs. Almost all human being have the same
physiological needs but differ in their psychological needs, hence differ in their values
and styles of life.”
H.M. Johnson- “Values are general standards and may be regarded as higher order
norms.”
Michael Haralambos- “A value is a belief that something is good and worthwhile. It
defines what is worth having and worth striving for.”
Peter Worsley-“Values are general conceptions of “the good” ideas about the kind of
ends that people should pursue throughout their lives and throughout the many different
activities in which they engage.”
Thus values are such desires or goals as are approved by the society. They are
learned during the process of socialization and deeply influence the personably of man.

Classification of Values
 All values are closely interlinked and inter related and classifying them into
distinct categories is a difficult task. Values have been classified differently in different
disciplines.
Indian philosophers have classified values into classes- Spiritual values and
Materialistic values.
Spiritual Values- These are values that direct our spiritual thought and behaviour, such
as dharma, arth, kama and moksha
Materialistic Values- These are related to our worldly life and provide direction to our
social behaviour e.g. love, sympathy, cooperation etc.
Some sociologists have classified values into intrinsic values and extrinsic
values.
Intrinsic Values- These are values which an individual receives but are not imposed
by his external environment. They find place in his inner self naturally. He internalizes
them and his actions are directed and controlled by them. They form the basis of
character formation and personality development-the values that spring from within or
the core of the heart like love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, tolerance etc.
Extrinsic Values- An individual accept certain values by the pressure of his external
environment and though he may not internalize them, his external behaviour is
influenced by them e.g. honesty, discipline, punctuality, loyalty etc.
Another classification of values is into Instrumental values and Terminal values.
Instrumental Values- are those which we use or follow in our behaviour or judgment.
These guide us towards the terminal values e.g. being polite, responsible, self
controlled, logical courageous etc.
Terminal Values- are those which we strive towards or seek. These are ultimate and
therefore we live for them e.g.a world at peace, freedom, happiness, equality, self
respect etc.
The value tests of Allport and Vernon are based on Sprangler’s classification of
values into six classes.
(i) Theoretical values
(ii) Economic values
(iii) Aesthetic values
 (iv) Social values
(v) Political values
(vi) Religious values

Plato classified values into three categories- Truth, Goodness and Beauty.
A conference organized by the Central Board of Secondary Education (1986)
listed 50 values.
An NCERT publication ‘Documents on Social, Moral and spiritual values (1979)
listed 84 values.
The S.V. Chavan Committee Report submitted to the Indian Parliament in
February, 1999 considered truth, good conduct, peace, love and non-violence as
universal values.
Though values have been classified in various ways, yet they are related to all
aspects of human life as a whole. There can be overlapping of values and different
terminologies of classification may mean somewhat the same thing.

Value Conflict
In complex societies, there is not just one value system but more than one. There
are multiple, overlapping and sometimes opposing value systems in the same society.
At times it becomes impossible to pursue some values without violating others
e.g. one might uphold honesty, truthfulness as cherished values. But there may be
situations in which one has to sacrifice truthfulness for a cause which upholds another
value. Here one value may clash with another. Also there may be conflict between
groups that hold mutually opposite values e.g. some may value patriotism, another may
value peace of mankind as a whole. Thus for some establishing world peace may take
precedence over submitting to or accepting war policies of their national leaders.
A value system involves a hierarchical arrangement of values for each individual
and one acts according to his value priorities. Values do conflict and making value
choices is not easy, but it is this very thing we must confront and make part of our lives
if we are to be individuals with a strong character.
 Values being a part of living operate in a very complex manner and usually
involve more than simple extremes of right and wrong, good or bad, true or false. The
conditions under which behaviour is guided in which values work involve conflicting
demands, a weighing and a balancing and finally an action that reflects a multitude of
forces.

Questions

Q.1 What do you understand by values?

Q.2 How can values be classified?

Short Notes
1. Value conflict
2. Concept of values

REFERENCES-
 Singh, Y. K. (2007). Value education. APH Publishing.
 Venkataiah, N. (Ed.). (1998). Value education. APH Publishing.
 Patil, Y. (2015). Value education. Pasaaydan Foundation.
 Meyer, J., Burnham, B., & Cholvat, J. (Eds.). (1975). Values education: theory, practice,
problems, prospects. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press.
 Lovat, T., & Toomey, R. (2009). Values education and quality teaching. Springer.