Module 2
Module 2: Values education in classroom practice
Module 2: Session outline
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Module 2: Facilitator guidelines
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Module 2: Slides
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Module 2: Resource sheets
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Module 2: Ongoing learning activities
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Preparation for Module 3
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Module 2: Values education in classroom practice
Aims
Essential resources
This module aims to:
• PowerPoint projector • M odule 2, SLIDES 1–10 • Photocopies of Module 2, Resource sheets 1–5 • E xtra copies of Module 1: Ongoing learning activities • C opies of any State and Territory Education policy
• d evelop an understanding of teachers as teachers of
values examine the importance of explicit values teaching explore the role of teachers in modelling values and teachers as learners provide opportunities for participants to consider how to embed values education within their classroom and teaching practice recognise that learning spaces and the organisation of learning experiences are also imbued with values and express and reinforce values.
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Anticipated outcomes At the end of this module, participants will have engaged in experiences that support:
• an enhanced understanding of good practice in values
education a greater appreciation of their role as modellers of values within the classroom recognition that co-curricular activities are imbued with values confidence in approaches to values education in their professional practice recognition that values education can take place through teaching and learning about particular values and particular values enactment, through values clarification, through modelling of values and through the fostering of particular values (Quinary of values teaching and learning).
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®
documents on teaching about values-laden issues
• D VD player and DVD – Talking Values – in Values
for Australian Schooling Kit. Relevant selections are also accessible on the values education website: www.valueseducation.com.au
• Sheets of A3 paper for group work • W hiteboard and markers • M odule 2: Ongoing learning activities • Preparation for Module 3
Module 2: Session outline Facilitator note:
The module is designed to occupy approximately three hours (180 min) including at least one 10-minute break. Alternatively, the module can be run as two sessions of approximately 80–90 minutes.
Module 2: Values education in classroom practice
The focus for the session is divided between a consideration of the meaning and components of ‘good practice’ teaching and an exploration of implicit values education with an emphasis on modelling values. Time
Title
Purpose
20 min
Welcome
Welcome participants to Module 2
Discussion of Module 1 and ongoing learning
Recall and share insights and ideas from the components of Module 1 including the ongoing learning activities
Aims of Module 2
Provide an overview of the aims of Module 2
Good practice teaching and values education
Recognise good practice teaching as a key element in a suite of activities that generate good practice in values education
25 min
Invite participants to recognise the place of values education in the classroom and in their professional practice Recognise that good practice is not about supplying content and information but the development of the whole child Understand that ‘quality teaching’ is a specific component of good practice in values education and point to resources specifically on ‘quality teaching’ 10 min
Remembering an inspiring teacher
Analyse key qualities of the teacher and the teaching and assess the degree to which values were significant in their teaching practice Examine participants’ self-assessment Module 1: Ongoing learning, Task 2, (Questionnaire)
25 min
Modelling values:
Explore approaches to, and strategies for, modelling values in the classroom
Implicit values education
Identify ways in which teachers display, demonstrate and teach values implicitly Assist participants to reflect on and critically assess the values which they model in their teaching Explore challenges encountered in making values explicit
5 min
Is modelling values enough?
Examine the question ‘Is modelling values enough?’
10-minute break or end of Session 1, Module 2
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The second session focuses on the explicit teaching and exploration of values in teaching practice. Time
Title
Purpose
10 min
Understanding values (values as content): Two approaches to the explicit exploration of values
Explore the use and applications of two graphic organisers (the Y-chart exercise or the Graffiti Wall) as examples of ways to explore the meanings of a particular value
15 min
The values-based classroom climate
Option 1 Assess one specific account of classroom practice in order to determine implicit and explicit values and to examine the term ‘classroom climate’ Recognise the teacher’s explicit articulation of values through arrangement of the learning spaces and organisation of learning experiences Examine the implications of the exemplar of a values-based classroom climate for participants’ own teaching practice
A case study in values questioning
Option 2 Critically examine a model of values questioning with a focus on how a teacher might integrate and embed values learning Identify the importance of the teacher’s flexibility Recognise and reflect on the contribution of teachers’ affirmations of the students to their values learning and increasing self-knowledge
20 min
Teaching about valuesladen issues
Consider the 10 key principles identified in the UNESCO website for teaching about ‘values-laden issues’ and the implications for teaching practice Share and compare participant’s assessment of the relative importance of the principles with colleagues
15 min
10 min
Modelling and teaching particular values: nine Values for Australian Schooling
Assist participants’ identification of pedagogies which support values exploration and formation, and explore the ways they do so
A theoretical framework
Introduce participants to the term ‘quality teaching’ as one of the key elements of the Good Practice in Values Education suite. Facilitator to refer the Key Elements poster in the Professional Learning Resources: Primary or Secondary (p 16) from the Values for Australian Schooling Kit
Broaden participants’ awareness of the range of pedagogies that support the goals of values education
Raise participant awareness of the bases of the argument in recent theorisation that explicit values teaching is both a desirable and necessary role of the teacher and schooling in the 21st century Encourage further reading about ‘quality teaching’ 5 min
Quinary of values teaching and learning
10 min
Ongoing learning activities
Recapitulation of values teaching and learning through a graphic organiser
Preparation for Module 3
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Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program
Module 2: Facilitator guidelines Activities
Resources required
Welcome (5 min) Begin by welcoming participants to Module 2. Module 2 SLIDE 1
Show SLIDE 1 Remind participants of the ongoing learning activities they undertook following Module 1 and state that participant responses to these tasks will be incorporated into the professional learning in Modules 2 and 3. Keep in mind the ‘stages of concern’ and how participants are responding to change and innovation. Check on progress and reassure participants that Module 2 will contribute to further understanding and awareness of principles of values education. Facilitator tip:
Extra copies of ongoing learning for Module 1: Ongoing learning activities
Introduction: Review of Module 1 and ongoing learning (15 min) Suggest participants choose a partner and discuss what they observed (and/or wrote as notes or journal entries) about values being taught or demonstrated in their classroom or in the wider school community. Revise understanding of implicit and explicit values. or some teachers, the familiar needs to be revisited on the path to F effective values education. It takes conscious effort to be aware of the values expressed and enacted in all domains. Make clear to participants that further exploration of the importance of explicit values teaching occurs in Module 2. Facilitator note:
Show SLIDE 2
Module 2 SLIDE 2
Go over the aims of Module 2. Emphasise how explicit values teaching impacts upon the classroom, and consider the organisation of learning experiences and participants’ role as teachers and learners. Good practice teaching and values education (25 min) Introduce this focus by showing the interview with Professor Terence Lovat from the DVD in the Values for Australian Schooling Kit (interviews and case studies/‘quality teaching’). The exercises that follow encourage the participants to explore and develop understanding of some of the ideas expressed in the short interview. Facilitator tip:
The brief interview introduces key ideas on teaching from an influential values education theorist. You may wish to include the other two interviews with teachers Sue Cahill and Mohammed Elleissy.
DVD Talking Values in Values for Australian Schooling Kit Selection also accessible on Values Education website: www. valueseducation. edu.au
Ask for brief feedback from the participants. t this stage of the module the term ‘good practice teaching’ is used. The A term ‘quality teaching’ is introduced and explored briefly towards the end of this module, and the significance of explicit values teaching and learning is reiterated. Facilitator note:
Show SLIDE 3
Module 2 SLIDE 3
Module 2 – Values education in classroom practice
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Activities
Resources required
Participants could be reminded of the Key Elements poster supplied in the Values for Australian Schooling Professional Kit in the Learning Resources (Primary and Secondary, p 16). Look again at what values education is, according to the National Framework. Show SLIDE 4
Module 2 SLIDE 4
Lead analysis of components of the definition. o save time, provide participants with an explanation of ‘skills and T dispositions’. The first point to make is that these attributes are fruits of good practice education and complement the more conventional objectives of education – bodies of knowledge. Facilitator tip:
Show SLIDE 5 ‘Dispositions’ refers to capacities to enact values. The list suggests that skills in communication; negotiation; directing investigations towards knowledge of oneself, how one thinks and feels, and recognising subjectivity; and managing oneself and developing a capacity to ‘place oneself in someone else’s shoes’ are all essential for effective living in a democratic society in the 21st century. These dispositions need to be taught and nurtured. The work of ‘quality teaching’ argues for the importance of the teacher in making a difference to young people’s lives through values teaching and learning.
Remembering an inspiring teacher (10 min) As a pair activity, ask participants to think of a teacher who inspired them when they were in school or in more recent years. Ask participants to answer the following questions. What do you remember most about the teacher/their teaching? Were values a key component of the things that inspired you? What were the values they demonstrated? How did the teacher model these values?
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Suggest the group come to some conclusion about attributes of an inspirational teacher and expression of values.
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Module 2 SLIDE 5
Activities
Resources required
Modelling values: Implicit values education (25 min) odelling values is often categorised as implicit values teaching. M Modelling values receives a lot of attention in writing about good practice teaching, but of course not all modelled values are desirable. The nine Values for Australian Schooling provide a set of shared values that support the growth and development of ‘citizens having the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life in an educated, just and open society’ (National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century quoted in the National Framework for Australian Schools). Facilitator note:
In this section, participants are invited to reflect on ways in which they ‘teach’ values every day through classroom interactions. Module 2 SLIDE 6
Show SLIDE 6 Ask for reflections/feedback on Hawkes’s assertion of the power of the teacher through modelling. What does the use of the word ‘authentic’ suggest about skills in modelling values? Ask participants to discuss their ideas on modelling with the person beside them (or elicit from whole group). Facilitator tip:
Reiterate that modelling is not a new skill to be learned or a new pedagogy.
Distribute Module 2, Resource sheet 1: Modelling values Suggest that participants analyse the ways in which they model values. Ask participants to reflect on either of the checklists individually then as a pair exercise (preferably with close colleagues – faculty members, year level teachers).
Module 2, Resource sheet 1: Modelling values
Participants reflect on and describe their teaching style and approach to modelling. (Participants could draw on both learning activities in Module 1 and Module 2: Ongoing learning activities.) Ask participants to add to the list of values they feel underlie aspects of their teaching style. Could they consider ways in which they model/try to model these qualities? Suggest that participants could also ask their colleagues to help them identify aspects of their teaching style. How do you reflect on your values to improve your teaching? Do you take notes, revisit learning experiences/teaching and learning units, and regularly keep a journal? Invite participants to share challenges they encounter in the modelling of positive values. Remind participants that values are imbued in everything we do. In the formal teaching environment they are involved in assessment, content, classroom organisation, timetabling, class management. Facilitator tip:
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Activities
Resources required
Is modelling values enough? (5 min) At the end of the modelling section, raise the question, ‘Is modelling values enough?’ (ie to ensure that enacted values are understood). Show SLIDE 7
Module 2 SLIDE 7
There are two key issues about modelling that participants should recognise through the discussion. One is that modelling is part of a suite of good practices that need to be enacted to maximise effective values teaching. The second is that effective modelling and values education might mean that the teacher needs to bring students’ attention to the modelling behaviour. Facilitator note:
It is at this point that modelling as implicit values ‘teaching’ may become modelling as explicit values ‘teaching’.
10-minute break or end of Session 1, Module 2 Understanding values (values as content): Two approaches to the explicit exploration of values (10 min) Recapitulate the previous discussion on how modelling can become explicit values teaching. Indicate that the module will now focus on the explicit teaching of values. he following exercises provide an opportunity to explore the meanings of T some of the nine Values for Australian Schooling. It is also an opportunity for participants to observe the diversity of opinions and interpretations amongst their colleagues and students. The tools for exploring the values selected for the following exercises are learning strategies that teachers may choose to use in the classroom. Encourage participants to reflect on the applicability of the exercises for the students. Facilitator tip:
Activity 1: Y-chart exercise Ask participants to form small groups. Give each group large sheets of paper. They are to draw a Y-chart on the paper. Allocate one of the nine Values for Australian Schooling to each group. Ask participants to write the value at the top of the sheet and record their responses to the following questions in the relevant section of the Y-chart. What are some examples of this value in: actions? words? feelings?
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A3 sheets of paper
Activities
Resources required
Participants may raise points for clarification or have difficulties with the exercise. If this is the case, take the opportunity to remind participants that this may also occur in the classroom. Ask them to suggest how they would resolve the ‘problems’. Ask participants what they have learnt from the activity. Facilitator tip:
•H ow would it work with different year levels? (Participants could draw on their experiences in the module as a basis for discussion.) How could it be modified? What alternative activities encourage students to talk explicitly about values?
• •
Bring the group together and, using a whiteboard, combine the ideas and responses of the individual groups. Have reporters for the groups explain their suggestions. Activity 2: Graffiti brainstorm This is another way to come to a more explicit understanding of some of the nine Values for Australian Schooling. Ask participants to form small groups. Supply each group with a large sheet of paper. At the top of each sheet, participants write a different one of the nine Values for Australian Schooling. Give each group two minutes to ‘graffiti brainstorm’ and document their understandings of the meaning of their value in words and drawings.
A3 sheets of paper
After two minutes, ask groups to move to the next graffiti station. Repeat this rotation for at least another two moves so each group has the opportunity to brainstorm several of the graffiti stations. Ask groups to return to their stations to prepare to report to the whole group on the meaning of their value. They may refer to the extended definitions of the nine Values for Australian Schooling in the National Framework at this point. Set up a reporting session for all participants – the aim is for all participants to have a wider awareness of the group’s interpretation of the meaning of the value. Facilitator tip:
There will not be time for discussion of all the values. Have participants put up their sheets on the wall for all to view at a later time.
Ask participants what can be gained from the activity; how it would work with different year levels; how it could be modified? Is such an activity valuable for students? (A cooperative learning activity that facilitates brainstorming? A group energiser?)
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Activities
Resources required
Option 1: The values-based classroom climate (15 min) The vignette from the VEGPSP – Stage 1 (provided in Resource sheet 2) demonstrates the care the teacher takes with the learning space and the organisation of learning experiences as she prepares to work with students on peer support. ‘Classroom climate’ encompasses teaching practices as well as the design and management of spaces. The focus on physical teaching space is one component only of an assessment of values and ‘classroom climate’. Facilitator note:
For this activity the questions are provided on the resource sheet. Participants are asked to read the vignette and to focus on the explicit expression of values in the learning environment and the organisation of learning experiences. Ask participants to reflect on the diagram of their classroom/learning environment (Preparation for Module 2, Task 1, Option 1) as part of the examination of values and classroom climate. Encourage the sharing of insights with other participants. Facilitator tip:
Module 2, Resource sheet 2: The classroom climate
Preparation for Module 2, Task 1, Options 1 and 2
Invite participants who are teachers of secondary students to assess and discuss how practical this process is in their discipline area.
Option 2: A case study in values questioning (15 min) Preparation for Module 2, Task 1, Option 2 asked participants to read an extract and to take note of the teacher’s flexibility, her responsiveness to both the student and the moment, her use of explicit values language, her emphasis on reflection and the appeal to students’ empathy and self-knowledge as models of values education pedagogy. Facilitator note:
Invite the participants to share ideas and responses to the article. The group might enjoy a whole group discussion.
•D iscuss how Betty Brands has managed to make values the centrepiece of her teaching. •H ow has Betty Brands created a learning environment in which the students’ life experiences are valued and in which they reflect on their understandings of relationships? At what points does explicit values teaching take place?
•
Teaching about values-laden issues (20 min) Facilitator note:
ome States and Territories will have specific documents that will S be relevant for this activity, eg the NSW policy on controversial
Ask participants to look at the questionnaires they downloaded from the UNESCO website and completed as part of their Preparation for Module 2, Task 3: Teaching about values-laden issues.
UNESCO questionnaire from Preparation for Module 2, Task 3: Teaching about values-laden issues
Suggest participants meet in small groups and compare their rankings. Are there significant differences? Do the differences relate to personal philosophies of teaching or to where you teach, who you teach and what you teach? Would you, on consideration, change any of your rankings now?
Copies of any State or Territory education policy on teaching about values-laden issues
issues in schools.
• • •
Ask participants to briefly discuss the implications of their discussion for their teaching practice.
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Activities
Resources required
Modelling and teaching particular values: the nine Values for Australian Schooling (15 min) The table in Resource sheet 3 recognises teaching of values as content and teaching with values. Given the time available, it might be best to suggest small groups work on a value each. Allocate a value and invite participants to complete the sections of the table. If an A3 version of the chart is possible, on completion of the task, the groups could write their ideas on the larger sheet. Participants need to be able to access the resultant chart for subsequent activities. Emphasise that the final chart will provide a practical ‘guide’ for the next part of this module. Facilitator tip:
Module 2, Resource sheet 3: Modelling and teaching particular values (enlarged to A3 if possible)
The aim is to create a chart of explicit learning and teaching strategies that can enhance teaching practice and focus on the nine Values for Australian Schooling. Participants should use their work on Preparation for Module 2, Task 2 as a resource for this exercise. Suggest that participants share with the group their knowledge of strategies that support values education. Invite a member of each group to suggest a strategy and discuss how it has been used with a person from another group. Ask participants to add to their lists of explicit learning and teaching strategies. Facilitator note:
The resultant insights and notes can be used in Module 3.
A theoretical framework (10 min) The facilitator reintroduces the term ‘quality teaching’ used by Professor Terry Lovat in the DVD interview played at the start of this module. eturn to the Lovat section in the DVD which introduces participants to a R component of contemporary educational theory that underpins the specific meaning and significance of the term ‘quality teaching’. Facilitator note:
Reiterate that, to this point, Module 2 has encouraged exploration of ideas about the roles of the teacher and features of good practice in values education.
DVD Talking Values in Values for Australian Schooling Kit Selection also accessible on Values Education website: www. valueseducation. edu.au
We now take a brief look at an argument about what was missing from earlier theorisations of what constituted ‘quality teaching’. Module 2 SLIDE 8
Show SLIDE 8 Distribute Resource sheet 4 In essence, Lovat is asserting that when best practice approaches, plus teaching and learning are themselves linked with explicit values education, the result is ‘quality teaching’ which yields a much broader and deeper ‘difference’ in student achievement.
Module 2, Resource sheet 4: The Teacher as a values educator
Show SLIDE 9
Module 2 SLIDE 9
The claim supports the underlying assumption of the National Framework that effective and explicit values education in schooling can contribute to improved student wellbeing and resilience as well as better learning outcomes, and, in the wider picture, a more harmonious civil society. Encourage participants to explore the link between explicit values education and ‘quality teaching’ further and read Chapter 1 of Two Sides of the Learning Coin by Professor Terry Lovat, available on the Values Education website. Facilitator tip:
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Activities
Resources required
Quinary of values teaching and learning (5 min) Module 2 SLIDE 10
Show SLIDE 10 Distribute Resource sheet 5 Introduce the quinary of values teaching and learning diagram to recap what has been examined in this module and what will be examined further in the next module.
Module 2, Resource sheet 5: Quinary of values teaching and learning
Ongoing learning and preparation for Module 3 (10 min) odule 3 focuses on curriculum issues – specifically on values in learning M areas, explicit values teaching through focused study on Teaching and Learning Units from the Resource Package and, finally, an exercise to use a values perspective to review units of work the teachers currently teach or plan to teach. Facilitator note:
Module 2: Ongoing learning activities
Ongoing learning Module 2: Ongoing learning activities will provide opportunities for teachers to practise and reflect on their work as teachers of values. Preparation for Module 3 Participants bring hard copies of two teaching and learning units: one of the two primary or secondary Teaching and Learning Units designated for intensive study (Early years – I spy responsibility; Middle childhood – It’s good news week; Early adolescence – Eating green; Later adolescence – Music for free?) and a unit in their learning area they are currently teaching or about to teach. Provide an opportunity for participants to request activities for Module 3 and ask if there is need for clarification. You may need to direct participants to the Values Education website. Facilitator tip:
ncourage participants (again) to make the time to record their E understandings and critically reflect on their values education learnings.
Close the session and provide information on how participants can find out when Module 3 will be presented at the school.
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Preparation for Module 3
Module 2: Slides Module 2 Slide 1
Module 2 Slide 2
Module 2 Slide 3
Module 2 Slide 4
Module 2 Slide 5
Module 2 Slide 6
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Module 2 Slide 7
Module 2 Slide 8
Module 2 Slide 9
Module 2 Slide 10
Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program
Module 2 Resource sheet 1
Modelling values
Here are two different checklists. You are encouraged to read each and add features if you wish. You might also ask what the commonalities are in the checklists.
Checklist for modelling values 1
Checklist for modelling values 2
Consider the way values are conveyed in the following:
Here are some self-assessment questions:
• the way you greet students – when they enter your
• Am I aware of the values that I convey to students? • What values do I model in the way I teach, eg respect,
class; on leaving; in the school grounds the way you greet and respond to colleagues the atmosphere you establish in your classroom the messages that are conveyed by the displays, posters etc in the classroom the class rules you establish – imposed or inclusive the way you establish order/control – your demeanour and tone of voice the principles underpinning your system for rewards and sanctions – the consistency with which you apply them student understanding of your expectations with regard to their behaviour and standard of work ways of demonstrating your valuing of your students and their work, including your feedback to them and assessment processes setting aside time to listen to students the displays, the way the classroom is set out and the general care of the classroom modelling being reflective (ie expressing thoughts and implications of personal actions and responses).
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care and compassion, integrity? Am I consistent in the messages (given in my words and actions) that I give to students during lessons and throughout the school? Am I calm and friendly? Am I able to be calm and reflective when I am under pressure? Do I listen carefully before giving replies to questions? Am I real (myself) and authentic when talking to students? Am I prepared to share my own thoughts and experiences with students?
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Adapted and reproduced with permission of the copyright owner, Dr Neil Hawkes. From Inspire and Develop Positive Values in Your Classroom, 2003.
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Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program ©Commonwealth of Australia
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Module 2 Resource sheet 2
The classroom climate
Learning spaces and the organisation of learning experiences This vignette captures a values teaching moment in the context of a peer support program. Following the vignette is a commentary on the creation of learning spaces and opportunities. The creation of learning spaces and opportunities is referred to as the ‘classroom climate’ in this module. Vignette for discussion The teacher is working with a group of older students (upper primary) who are being tutored in order to emotionally and socially support younger students at school. In preparation for the peer leaders’ advance briefing, Ms Kashin rearranges the room in readiness for the afternoon’s session – the focus of peacefulness. The room has been decorated with resources that signify peaceful places, such as beaches and rainforests. Ambient music is playing in the background. In addition, a range of ‘special’ objects have been placed strategically around the room, including painted stones, soft toys and flowers. Ms Kashin stands at the door as students reenter the classroom, consciously greeting each student with a positive, calm tone. ‘Can you get out your Peer Support boxes and remind yourself of what we did last week in our session? Who can tell me what we did in last week’s session? How do you think it went? Let’s have a think about what we might learn from where we were last week. Yes, Simon – it was about peacefulness – what does that mean again?’ She writes on the board – feeling calm, relaxed, in control, not worried. ‘Did anyone take time this week to practise the quality of peacefulness? Yes, watching TV, kept peace at home, read a book. Yes, on Saturday
The term ‘classroom climate’ refers to more than the utilisation and arrangement of physical spaces. While it encompasses these features, the term also encompasses the dynamics of learning opportunities (movement and interactions) and the atmosphere (or ‘vibe’) of learning experiences. You might discuss: How applicable is this teaching moment and learning opportunity to the teaching of older students or young adolescents?
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I even spent some time on my own, while my son slept in, reading and watching the birds on the verandah. This week with your own group, you will need to ask them what they have done to practise peacefulness. This week you will take your students through another activity related to peacefulness – it’s called finding a special place. What do you think a special place might be?’ Ms Kashin draws a Y-chart on the board. ‘What would a special place look like, sound like, feel like? Feel – safe, peaceful, happy. Look – beautiful, like a beach ... Sound – quiet, with music. Let’s take a minute to think what our own special place might be … just quietly.’ This vignette suggests a number of things about the link between values education and ‘quality teaching’: the calmness that often surrounds values education activity and how that can facilitate learning; the emphasis on being positive and on providing positive reinforcement; the highly structured teaching of the meaning of values by using Y-charts; the spiritual dimension during which the students experience inner calmness; and the preparedness of Ms Kashin to present herself as a ‘real’ person (eg the way she refers to her Saturday morning) to whom the children can relate easily, which, of course, also facilitates their learning. The vignette and the analysis are taken from the Values as the Centrepiece of the School’s Work: A Discussion Paper on Learnings from VEGPSP – Stage 1, Dr Ron Toomey, 2006, pp 15–16 ©Commonwealth of Australia
• Have you tried such explicit (and ‘customised’) creation
of learning spaces with your students? If yes, what did you learn from the experience? If no, would you consider it? How flexible is your school with regard to your creation of ‘customised’ teaching and learning opportunities? Explore other ways by which you could create a positive learning environment or atmosphere. How helpful is a model of the creation of flexible and atmospheric learning spaces to a KLA which requires spaces like laboratories or workshops or studio spaces?
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Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program ©Commonwealth of Australia
Module 2 Resource sheet 3
Modelling and teaching particular values
The values in this table are the nine Values for Australian Schooling. Value
Ways I might model the value to students in the classroom
Ways I might teach the value in the classroom
Care and Compassion care for self and others
Doing Your Best seek to accomplish something worthy and admirable, try hard, pursue excellence
Fair Go pursue and protect the common good where all people are treated fairly for a just society
Freedom enjoy all the rights and privileges of Australian citizenship free from unnecessary interference or control, and stand up for the rights of others Honesty and Trustworthiness be honest, sincere and seek the truth
Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program ©Commonwealth of Australia
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Value
Ways I might model the value to students in the classroom
Integrity act in accordance with principles of moral and ethical conduct, ensure consistency between words and deeds
Respect treat others with consideration and regard, respect another’s point of view
Responsibility be accountable for one’s own actions, resolve differences in constructive, non-violent and peaceful ways, to contribute to society and to civic life, take care of the environment Understanding, Tolerance and Inclusion be aware of others and their cultures, accept diversity within a democratic society, being included and including others
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Ways I might teach the value in the classroom
Module 2 Resource sheet 4
The teacher as a values educator
This extract argues for the importance of the teacher as a values educator.
We live in a time when our understanding of the role of the teacher and the power of values education are coalescing. No longer is values education on the periphery of a curriculum that enshrines the central roles to be played by the teachers and the school in our society. It is at the very heart of these roles. Unlike the assumptions that seem to underpin so many of our concerns relating to structures, curriculum and resources, values education is premised on the power of the teacher to make a difference. While the artefacts of structure, curriculum and resources are not denied, the focus is, appropriate to the insights of the day, on what Hattie ( 2003) describes as ‘the greatest source of variance that can make a difference, (namely the teacher)’.
This quotation sets out an argument that a good relationship between teacher and student enhances students’ learning. A good relationship is informed by, for example, values of respect, attentive listening, inclusivity, respect for and recognition of differences. The quotation identifies unit design, curriculum structures and resources as elements that can make a difference to effective teaching and learning. However ‘quality teaching’ theory posits that it is the dynamics and quality of relationships between teacher and learner enacted through explicit values that is the key to enhanced and effective teaching and learning.
Lovat, T & Ron Toomey (eds) 2007, Values Education and Quality Teaching: The Double Helix Effect, David Barlow, Melbourne. p 12. Reproduced with permission of the Australian Council of Deans of Education.
Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program ©Commonwealth of Australia
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Module 2 Resource sheet 5
Quinary of values teaching and learning
The diagram below identifies five approaches to values teaching and learning. Principles of good practice in values education emphasise that teaching and learning about values, their adoption and practice take place most effectively when it occurs in multiple facets of student experience.
This graphic captures the multilayered nature of values teaching and learning across the whole school.
‘Australia’s future depends upon each citizen having the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life in an educated and just society.’ National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century 1999
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Values for Australian Schooling – Professional Learning Program ©Commonwealth of Australia
Module 2: Ongoing learning activities A number of ideas for ongoing learning are provided to select from. Option A – contains suggestions on how to pursue values teaching in the classroom Option B – looks at further ideas around modelling values Option C – encourages the exploration of new and unfamiliar pedagogies or classroom teaching strategies. Please note that recommended reading is detailed at the end of this resource sheet. Select at least one idea to try from A, B or C.
Option A: Ideas for values teaching 1 F ind ways of exploring values explicitly and implicitly within your class. Choose one value to focus on and select from the following suggestions.
• Plan ways of relating this value to behaviour that
occurs in the classroom – what are examples of this value being enacted? Include students in recognition of the enactment of values – eg cooperation, giving a fair go, showing respect, etc. Design one activity that supports the expression of one value – how is it expressed? How difficult is it to sustain the teaching practice? What challenges are there? Choose stories/poems/current events for class consideration that explore the value in action.
• •
2 Create situations in which values are explicitly addressed in the classroom.
• Explain the meaning of a value. Stories (anecdotes
or narratives or stories of personal experiences, even hypotheticals) can be a good starting point for this. Assist students in reflecting on the value and relating it to their own behaviour and experience. Assist by asking about what they learned from the experience, what was gained, what was given up, what they might have done differently etc. Be prepared to share by referring to your own experience. Values are imbibed when students can relate them to real-life situations. Ask students to consider how their understanding of the value could guide their behaviour in and out of the classroom.
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3 Many teachers incorporate the practice of reflection in their classroom. There are various ways of doing this.
• Begin a class by reflecting about what you and the
students hope to achieve during the session. Set aside time during the teaching day for guided reflection with the students. Give students time to consider their answers before selecting those who are to provide answers; avoid the impression that there is a ‘right’ answer; ask open-ended questions: ‘Could you explain…?’, ‘How would you feel if…?’ Promote active/positive listening. Stop after you have been talking for a few minutes and ask the students to think about what has been said. Ask what the most important points are for them. Use reflective journals (this Professional Learning Program encourages reflective journals as a valuable learning process for participants).
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Module 2: Ongoing learning activities continued
Option B: Ideas around modelling values
Option C: Explore new and unfamiliar pedagogies
Two quotations that invite critical reflection on teaching practices and modelling:
1 Select a pedagogical strategy which is new or somewhat unfamiliar to you or to the group you are working with from the list of websites below.
• ‘I sometimes find myself thinking: am I a very good
role model, do I try hard enough? … Talking to children about values makes me think about my own values and constantly reminds me that perhaps I ought to try a bit harder. I think that you cannot expect children to be polite to you if you are not polite to them.’
•
‘Being a role model simply means behaving in the way in which you would like your students to behave.’
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner, Dr Neil Hawkes. How to Inspire and Develop Positive Values in Your Classroom, p 13, 2003.
• www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/links/ts.htm • www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/effectteach/Thinking/ default.htm http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/teaching.html
•
2 Investigate the approach.
• Clarify its key learning outcomes and key elements. • Critically evaluate how it could play a role in values education. With which student group could it be used most appropriately? In which KLAs?
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Recommended reading on ‘quality teaching’ A short article on ‘quality teaching’ by Professor Terry Lovat is available on the Values Education website: Values Education and Teachers’ Work: A Quality Teaching Perspective, Keynote address at the National Values Education Forum, Canberra, May 2005.
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Preparation for Module 3 Module 3 provides opportunities to examine teaching and learning units which are exemplars of the integration of values into curriculum units. In addition, you examine values in your learning areas and have the opportunity to revisit and reassess your current teaching practice in the light of your understanding of teaching values. In the first section of Module 3 we focus on an analysis of selected Teaching and Learning Units which are part of Building Values Across the Whole School. Two units are offered for study at the primary level and two at the secondary. Primary – select either: Middle childhood It’s good news week or Early years I spy responsibility Secondary– select either: Later adolescence Music for free? Early adolescence Eating green
or
Both the selected units and the suite of units are accessible from the Values Education website www.valueseducation.edu.au Please note that the examination of these units in Module 3 is based on the exploration of strategies, not content. You are asked to select one of the two designated teaching and learning units, regardless of your learning area.
Task 1 1 Select, read and download one of the two selected Teaching and Learning Units appropriate to your level of schooling for study in the module. 2 The units have a particular design. Look at the headings and prepare any questions of clarification about the structure of the units. (A template will be provided during the work in Module 3.) 3 Please bring in your own hard copy of the unit to Module 3.
Task 2 Read ‘Introduction to the Teaching and Learning Units’ in the primary or secondary book in Building Values Across the Whole School. It is also accessible on the website.
Task 3 Select a teaching and learning unit or lesson plan in your learning area that you are currently teaching or plan to teach and bring a hard copy of the unit/lesson plan to Module 3.
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