“Intelligence plus character that is the true goal of education.”– Martin Luther King
Kothari commission has rightly mentioned that “Destiny of nation is being shaped in her classroom”. What we learn in the class room that should be reflected through our behaviour in the society. Some of ways through which value inculcation among students can be done by educational institutions;
- Curriculum and discipline of Moral Philosophy – School curriculums must have lessons on moral issues and a subject of moral philosophy. This will impart theoretical knowledge on moral philosophy to students so they can practice them in personal life. For examples, Gandhi Seven Sins, lessons on Indian and western philosophical traditions will be helpful in order to unleash moral faculty of students.
- Observation learning and peer influence – Student generally observes their peer group, teachers etc. in school and learn from their behaviour. For example, one who gets into the company of bad boys may start learning in appropriate behaviours.
- Visual Perception – Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment by processing different information such as symbols, images, drawings, charts etc. It is also powerful tools for communication of attitudes and values among the students.
- Anecdotes – Anecdotes are the real life experiences which portray genuine human feelings and expressions. This may create a lasting impression on a student’s mind. For examples, sharing anecdotes from the lives of Gandhi, Lincoln etc. may inspire children to live virtuous life.
- Group activity – Group activity includes role playing, games, group discussion, group projects etc. Through these activities, students learn the value of team spirit, co-operation etc.
- Dialectical style – Socrates was the founder of this style which helps in negative hypothesis elimination. For example, discussion and debate among peer groups help in improve moral faculty of the students.
- Social control – Schools are responsible for teaching values such as discipline, respect, obedience etc. Schools teach conformity by encouraging young people to be good students, hardworking future workers, and law-abiding citizens.
- Cultural Innovation – Educational institutions create and transmit cultural values. The teacher does not transmit the same knowledge but by adding his experience he transmits updated values.
- Social Integration – Educational institution moulds a diverse population into a unified society. It creates social organization in the society by harmonizing the attitudes, ideas, customs and sentiments of the people which is quite important in nations with social diversity like India.
- Social Placement – Educational institution enhances meritocracy by rewarding ability and effort regardless of social background and provides a path to upward social mobility
- Enforcement mechanism – Schools, being the formal place of socialization have strong enforcement mechanism wherein students are rewarded for pro-moral behaviours and punished strictly for immoral behaviours. For example, Cheating in examination is heavily punished by schools and those who top the examination are rewarded in front of everyone.
Challenges/Limitations
- Lack of value education – Most of the school curriculums aimed towards imparting technical skills while the moral teachings are largely ignored. For example, Focus is more towards teaching applications of Artificial intelligence, genetic editing technologies etc. but moral concerns associated with it, is largely ignored.
- Religious Educational institutions – Such as Madarsa and Right wing schools are alleged to impart improper values among students. For example, various Madrassa are found to inculcate ‘Jihadist tendencies’ among students.
- Politicization of curriculums – Recent debates surrounding changes of curriculum or alleged attempt of rewriting the history. For example, controversy surrounding accounts on Veer Savarkar and Tipu Sultan in history books are seen as an attempt to communalise school curriculums.
- Methodology of teaching – Learning through observation, activity and experiences are largely ignored. This causes only the cognitive development of students instead of moral and spiritual development.
- Educational institutions as industrial hubs – In the Market society as Michael Sandel points out, even basic necessities are put on scale. Even Education institutions are working as industrial establishments working solely with money mindedness. This is causing decline in the quality of education, in addition, there is rising inequality in terms of accessibility and affordability of quality education.
- Conflicting values – Institutions such as family and society may have an overriding effect what a child learns in school. For example, Children are taught value of secularism in schools but at home their parents may preach them communal values.
