The role of values in the education system

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The role of values in the education system

М. Дубис

И. Карбовничек

The education process in the twenty-first century ought to be the education and improvement of man in all its dimensions. The comprehensive development of the student, education can only provide if it becomes a process of integrating its values around. It is possible when values are present during the entire education and training process. Values play an important role in education and sciences about it. They are a signpost in growing up to humanity. They constitute the source of education and upbringing goals. They set a deep humanistic vision of a human being. The implementation of the desired values is considered necessary within the framework of education and for this purpose teachers, educational institutions and the general public should be prepared. Therefore, education should help people to perceive reality as a set of values that need to be skillfully learned and make them wise reevaluation and acceptance, so that they can be useful for shaping reality and themselves.

Key words: education, education goals, values.

Образовательный процесс в XXI в. направлен на воспитание и развитие человека во всех его измерениях. Всестороннее развитие обучающихся образование сможет обеспечить только в том случае, если превратится в процесс интеграции ценностей. Это возможно в тех случаях, когда ценности пронизывают весь процесс обучения и воспитания. Ценности играют важную роль в образовании. Они составляют источники для целей обучения и воспитания, предполагают глубокое гуманистическое видение развития человека и личности. Для реализации такого подхода в образовании необходима подготовка учителей, учебных заведений и общественности. Образование должно помочь людям воспринимать реальность как совокупность ценностей, которые необходимо усваивать, переоценивать и принимать, тогда они могут быть полезными для формирования окружающей реальности и самих себя.

Современное образование должно характеризоваться аксиологическим отношением, демонстрирующим различные ценностные миры. Именно поэтому необходимы знания о ценностях, раскрываемые такой наукой, как аксиология, которая направляет людей в формировании отношения к миру, понимания норм и обязанностей, в формировании образовательных и жизненных планов. Образование должно готовить людей не только к использованию достижений современной цивилизации, но и к творческому участию в развитии общества. Только человек широко образованный, творческий, способный мыслить новаторскими и альтернативными категориями, готовый сотрудничать с другими, уважающий различия в культурах и обычаях, чувствительный к ценностям и принимающий в качестве ориентиров поведения ориентиры жизни, может справиться с вызовами XXI в.

Образование должно играть значительную роль в формировании новой модели жизни, которая стала бы основой для сотрудничества людей, социальных групп и общностей. Реализуемые образовательные модели должны служить повышению качества жизни, стандартизации международных отношений и продвижению гуманистических ценностей.

Ключевые слова: образование, цели образования, ценности.

Introduction

As a result of social life transformations, its axiological difference and influence resulting from the process of globalisation and integration, new challenges have appeared for education of 21st century. On the one hand these are challenges connected with building the civil society, on the other, with the necessity of feeling fulfilled in a new social-political and economic reality. Feeling fulfilled in a present reality is connected with the need of educating those abilities that will be necessary for efficient and responsible human functioning. Society and the educational system should educate the democratic human being, receiving a liberal education and the one ready for transformations. The changes taking place in the approach towards many problems, cause the necessity of preparing people to meet challenges of the present time. In the face of the social values crisis, moral principles erosion, sense of decency in co-existence among people, degradation of political ethics, and also corruption of morals and family-environmental traditions, the teleology and axiology of education for values is necessary. The comprehensive and effective development can be provided by education only when it becomes its integration process around the values. It is possible when values are present during the whole educational and upbringing process.

Education should provide each person understanding of themselves and others. Passing on knowledge about cultures and spiritual values of other civilizations and respect for others are supposed to be the counterbalance for changes connected with technological and economic advances. The humanistic spirit should accompany these changes for the achievements in that technical field will not turn against human being and universal values that are the basis of its existence.

In the connection to the above the new tasks appeared for education and teachers. The increase of the teacher's role in forming values is possible only under the axiological orientation of the educational process. The teacher should be prepared for the realization of these tasks during his course of qualification studies to perform his profession. Thus, educating future teachers' abilities to develop and create the proper and permanent value hierarchy constitutes the necessary condition for the proper preparation of didactic personnel.

Axiology and value systems in education

Education is a key area for social development of every country. It is treated as the factor enriching the human being, a factor of the knowledge development and the psychological development, improving emotional intelligence and participation in culture based on it [17, s. 28-29]. It is a multilateral, multifunctional, ongoing and interdisciplinary process. Underlining the role of education in changing the world, A. Toffler states that “education should result from the image of the past and at the same time, on the basis of the present times and future should shape the picture of the world. It should develop the necessity of understanding the world changeability” [19, s. 402-403]. The past can help to shape the sense of identity and provides the material for the development and modernization. The present times are connected with understanding the surrounding world, and at the same time ourselves. Whereas the perspective attitude stimulates the human being to functioning in a new reality, in an information society, and then the knowledge society. In all these aspects, one can differentiate the following areas: axiological-cognitive, emotional and practical.

Education in its basic meaning is a work of preparing children, young people and adults to active participation, often in an unspecified as for the new direction, process of suprising for us and ongoing changes [15, s. 132].

Education itself is an autotelic, utilitarian and instrumental value. It should help in understanding ourselves and the world, managing our own life and world and also become the process enabling the multilateral and creative participation in life. It is the value appreciated in the modern world, especially if it is a result of school education, and the effect of which is a diploma proving the professional qualification, thanks to which one can achieve the material success and social prestige. The level and the kind of education is correlated with the development of the evaluative standards and implies the orientation to the individualistic values or collectivist ones. Numerous research prove the connection among the professional roles and the preferred values [4, 9, 16]. [2, s. 11] aptly emphasizes that, “a human being will be his own master as far as education is going to provide him competences that he will sell on a labour market”. Therefore, education and human being competences play the more significant role in a society based on the knowledge. Education is also ” a process consisting in instilling values that are its core in young people. Education effectively serves the multilateral development of a pupil, when it becomes the process of his integration around values. It is possible when the values penetrate the whole process of education and upbringing” [8, s. 36]. Values are often understood as something important and valuable for the individual and society in pedagogy. They are perceived as positive feelings constituting the goal of human aspirations. They constitute the criterion according to which the particular way of thinking of behaviour has been accepted. They are the pillars of social and individual life. They are also perceived as being the internalised standards of behaviour shaped in the process of upbringing.

Therefore they constitute the essential and permanent, but dynamically changing element of culture and education. They are present in human life as permanent believes, they constitute the criterion according to which the particular way of thinking, behaviour and preferences within activity and interest have been accepted. Values are the one of the essential factors shaping the man's attitude within three aspects: emotional, cognitive and behavioural. They constitute the criteria of such an attitude and decisions towards all of these areas that enable human being the integral development and realization of his life's aspirations. They decide about the level of emotionality and sensitivity, quality and store of knowledge and behaviour in particular life situations. The world of values includes both the past values being the cultural heritage of the past generations and new values, current in a present social situation. It constitutes the third environment - after the natural and social environment - in which the human being lives and functions at different plains.

In the modern world one can notice the significant tendency to define the values being the basis of the education. Depending on the country, they are specified and expanded. D. Kerr proposes three categories of countries appealing in different way to the values:

countries that appeal in a minimal way to values in legislation concerning education: Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, the Netherlands, the USA;

countries that appeal to the values in a general way at the country level, and the details are defined by the educational authorities: Australia, New Zeland, Italy, Spain;

countries that define the national values concerning education and society in a detailed way: Japan, Korea, Singapore, Sweden [7, s. 205].

The superior aim of education preparing for life in the United Europe is stimulating the ability of being the European that is the full member of the civilization community. The “Europeanism” is thus a category of common values, awareness of own, cultural traditions that allows for perceiving the educational subjects in a wider context of humanity, coexistance, cooperation in order to solve common tasks.

In the United Europe it is especially important and necessary to obey and promote the system of values connecting citizens of particular countries into a certain integrity which respects and subscribes the same regulations, accepting the dignity of each human being. According to the EU Constitutional Treaty The Union is based on values of respecting the dignity of human being, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and also the respect of the human rights of people belonging to minorities. These values are common in Member States. Therefore the community states of the United Europe should be the area where the values such as: human dignity, freedom, democracy, law and order, respect of the human rights are respected and which are based on tolerance, justice and solidarity. Education has been inseparably connected with upbringing. These are two processes complementing each other, they are effective only when they lead to the meeting, as a result of which the alumnus accepts something by the act of will. That “something” are the values.

Values constitute so called axiological category for upbringing, that helps the individual to find the proper knowledge in what is being important to him or her and important and valuable for the society and what is worth craving. In this regard it evokes in him or her the positive feelings and at the same time it uncovers the aim of further life aspirations [10, s. 135]. Values then, are the key problem for school education. They are present only as the sources of the standard system having an effect on actions of teachers and pupils. Within the course of education we refer to the values that pupils can accept, and even identify with them. Values are the category of education and science about it. They constitute the source of axiological and teleological inspirations and praxeological directives.

Values as a source of aims determination in education

The problem of values, their consideration in the process of education, is one of the most important problems in the world of science, above all, challenge for the teaching practice. It results from the assumption that “for the good of optimal teaching and educational process of values and the aims of the school education are the most important point of reference, and education taken in value categories and aims has become the basic hope for reparing the common endangered civilization” [3, s. 11]. In

J. Delarosa's report [2] the following human rights have been accepted as the priority of modern education: understanding and tolerance, democracy, sense of responsibility, pursuit of peace, health and environmental protection and reducing the poverty. The modern, democratic education understood in such a way should focus on four aspects of education being the pillars of knowledge. These pillars are:

to learn in order to know (becoming wiser and wiser, being able to use the possibilities that lifelong learning gives the people);

To learn in order to act (gaining qualifications and competences enabling the interesting and beneficial work);

To learn in order to live together (learning in order to understand others, cooperation and collaboration);

To learn in order to be (learning for the development of one's own personality).

These pillars outlines new educational quality. They point out the need of additional educational and upbringing actions and define the new aims and tasks. The future challenges arise the need of preparing mainly the young generation to use the achievements of our civilization and to participate in it cratively. That is why it is important to define clearly the aims of education supporting the proper development of the individual and to prepare him or her for self-development, in order to follow the happening civilization changes.

The issues of the educational aims should be taken on the basis of the value nature of the discussion. Thus, the axiological knowledge should be at the basis of the educational aims, defining the direction of the taken actions.

Taking actions and their motives are dependent on the taken value concept.

Within setting the educational aims, understood as the consciously accepted results that the society wants to achieve by functioning of the educational system, and which are dependent on the nature of each society and its educational system, it is necessary to refer to the values [12, s. 64]. The aims are the indicator of the selection and the layout of the educational content, basic criterion in preparing and selecting methods, forms and didactic aids. They also constitute the basis of planning and organisation of participants' actions of the educational process, and also the criterion of the effectiveness evaluation of the didactic process. Values being the source of educational aims, give a deeper sense to the educational aims and at the same time they justify the need of their realization, they decide about the proper course of education. The accepted and propagated values constitute the core basis of the guiding orientation of the educational processes. Education should be understood as the human development in all its aspects: physical, psychological and spiritual, it is a lifelong process, and it should shape the universal values among its participants above all. They focus mainly around the transcendental triad: truth, good and beauty. Each of these values ennobles the particular ways of human nature. The truth improves intellect, good-will, and beauty- feelings. Education relating to the universal, mankind, humanistic values, such as: goodness, love, responsibility, subjectivity, beauty, truth, friendship, self-fulfilment, happiness, tolerance, freedom-constitutes the basic terms for didactics.

It should be underlined that education effectively serves the multilateral development of the individual when it becomes the process of integration around values. It is possible when the values penetrate the whole process of education. During the education, the process of shaping the value system has been created. There are values connected with civic, social-political, family and professional roles appearing. Thus, there is a constant connection among education and values. That is why the universal values should condition the educational process.

Upbringing as the choice of values

Upbringing as the process of conscious shaping the whole personality of the human nature is connected with the responsibility for contents that we hand over in the course of upbringing, and at the same time responsibility for other person.

The axiological knowledge should be the basis of the upbringing, giving the direction of the taken actions. The actions taken and their motives are dependant on the accepted value concept. The shaping of the pupil has been done in the context of the values and cultural achievements. Thus the values are the indicators for the aims of upbringing. K. Denek [3, s. 6] aptly notices that “for the optimal education and didactic process of values and the aims of the school education are the most important points of reference and J. Polturzycki [14, s. 37] that values together with bases create the ideal of upbringing. The axiological inquiries will be important for the process of upbringing only when they will direct to the acceptance and reinforcement of such a value concept that “universally and in the spirit of authentic humanism reflects the justice both to the value world, and the human nature in its individual and social aspect” [1]. One cannot thus examine problems of upbringing in separation from values. Introducing a human being into the world of values is connected with shaping the particular needs and likings, searching for truth, differentiating good and bad things in him or her. It is not an easy process because there are numerous barriers and obstacles in a pupil himself and surrounding world. Values are present in the process of upbringing as a system of standards influencing the actions of subjects. During the course of upbringing we refer to the values that are accepted by the subjects being brought up, and even the ones they can identify with. That is why it is important for the educational and upbringing processes to complement one another and the values can be recognized, understood, accepted and respected. The axiological upbringing includes the axiological education and education for values - according to

K. Olbrycht [13, s. 89] it means development and shaping the sphere responsible for the way of understaning the value concept, for processes of judgements, attitudes towards values and gaining for values.

The element of axiological education is upbringing for values understood as “introducing and justifying the specific way of thinking about the values and specific value selection as bases for shaping the life orientations, basis of general criteria of judgements” [1, s. 47]. It has been supposed to prepare and encourage the pupil to discover, live through, order, realize and create values resulting from accepting the particular philosophy of existance and cognition of the world and man.

Based on the foregoing considerations, each upbringing, if it is not supposed to be a manipulation, must be the upbrining for values. First, with the use of adults, and then independently discovered and voluntarily chosen and accepted ones.

One can differentiate several ranges in the course of upbringing for values, each of them can be realized with different methods, adapted for the particular situations and possibilities of the pupil. These are:

discovering, cognition of particular values, their hierarchy and providing the pupil with the freedom of choice;

education of sensitivity for values as the ability for their perception in the world;

comparing own choices with choices of others;

realizing and consolidating own choices.

Upbringing for values is aimed to fulfil a great role in the process of education, because it contributes to the internalisation of values. It comes down to arise deeper reflection over the values in a pupil, enforce the self-control and self-education. Thus the upbringing being the choice of values, is also a preparation for life in the modern world for co-creating the reality. Therefore, the result of upbringing for values should be the full realization of one's own personality, shown in the depth of humanity, by the choice of values and their fulfilment.

On the eve of 21st century, the upbringing for values should become the guidepost allowing to function wisely and safely among different ideas and outlooks on life, and also to choose the proper values that are the warning against creating and accepting commonly accepted value hierarchy, or the relativist attitude.

Axiological bases of teacher's education

The multifaceted changes in education, changes in thinking about the role of modern school incline to deeper reflection over the teacher's profession. The present time expect, and at the same time demand taking new challenges within education of young generation from the teaching staff (educational). The teacher's profession - unlike other professions- is a specific and unique one, because it is identified with the person who performs tasks connected with teaching and up- brining pupils. The teacher is a person looking into future and preparing himself and others for that. Thus for that “future tommorow” we should prepare future teachers-teachers who apart from serving the new generation, will have vocation conditioning the proper functioning in a profession. The profession should be a passion that with the passing of time it turns into a mastery, conditioning the full professionalism.

The changing conditions of the educational aims realisation in a modern school result in the necessity of possesing the knowledge and competences within diagnosing, projecting and judging the didactic process by the teacher. The teacher is a person concurrently working and organising the didactic-educational process, educating himself, gaining new knowledge and abilities. It is mainly connected with the need of fitting into the bigger and bigger expectations and needs of pupils.

Young trainee teachers should be prepared for the new education system. Today we focus huge attention to the need of the axiological education leading towards the conscious choice of values and defining their hierarchy as the basis for shaping one's own life philosophy. The axiological foundation in teachers' education and their professional activity should be present in the form of triad: knowledge - efficiency-value. It is alarming, as K. Denek [3] and J. Karbowniczek [6, s. 301-303] underlines that the value category takes less place in education, and the realiable realisation of the first two (knowledge and efficiency) depends on the criterion of value. The teacher as a person of the key role for education and the main factor in the realisation of the educational process should be prepared for the difficult feat of judgement, so the pupils would be able to find the sense in the world of different axiological orientations.

Having by the teacher the particular axiological knowledge and the ability to provide knowledge to his pupils in different ways is a must, without which the educational activity is condemned to failure. All the more so, the education has become the tool and chance for planning the social changes, oriented to the humanistic values.

Defining the importance of axiological education of the teacher, one should:

accept that not the particular features decide about the human values, but the fact what kind of person he/she is, thanks to the earlier rooted values [11, s. 40];

accept that values stimulate the communication processes [5, s. 61];

understand that the native hope arises not from the fact what can be, but what kind of person we are [18, s. 54].

The task of the axiological education should be releasing the good, thus stimulating attitudes and pro-social behaviours, shaping culture of feelings and respect, altruism and empathy. That is why it is imporatnt to inspire the models of affirmative behaviours, propagating the values increasing the cofidence towards the other person, sensitivity and ability to communicate with others. The abilities to expressive behaviour are imporatnt in that matter, but also the abilities to read the content of communications coming from others.

The most important thing in a proper education of the teacher is, apart from, the substantive and professional preparation, the defining of one's own ethic identity of the teacher. The constant self-reflection, observation of one's own, advances in understanding our roles, thought over the nature of upbringing and constant asking if the value and knowledge I follow to, and the way I provide it, support the development, or maybe they limit it.

The axiological education of teachers should contribute to the increase in their axiological competences both in a theoretical and efficiency aspects. In theoretical aspect, the education should provide the knowledge about values and judgement and about the conditioning and consequences of different attitudes towards values. Whereas in the efficiency aspect, it should contribute to gaining the ability and efficiency within taking the conscious and individual axiological decisions.

In order for the teachers' education to fulfil the requirements of reality and guarantee the reliable pedagogical and substantive preparation in Europe, there have been lots of debates concerning the profession of the teacher conducted in European Union for many years, mainly in the context of fulfilling the high quality of educating and professional developing. The effect of long-standing discussions of the representatives of educational institutions from the European Union member states, are so called Key Competences in learning through life- European reference frameworks, being the recommendation of the European Parliament and European Council on 18th, December 2006. The functionality of education, its usefulness and adjusting to the changing world are important in that term: Life-long learning has become the necessity for each citizen. We have to develop our abilities and competences, not only for the self-realization and active participation in the life of society, but also in order to function well on the labour market that has been still changing. The European Parlament (2006) and Council appreciate the differences in European educational systems, they underline the necessity to take care of the particular countries with the high quality of education and developing for teachers, within the knowledge, abilities development, and attitudes necessary for achieving the high quality educational effects. The increase of the consonance of training programmes for teachers and their professional abilities so the programmes could give the possibilites of gaining all appropriate competences, necessary in future professional work are recommended within that matter.

The teacher of the 21st, century should be prepared to shape a multidimesional human being, that is autonomous, free, creative and also open and independent. He should develop the pupil according to his needs, interests, attitudes, temperament and abilities. He should constantly educate intellectually, esthetically and morally. Since it influences the fact what kind of person the future teacher would be and at the same time how the future young people would be educated and brought up.

To sum up, it should be pointed out that professional education, development and improvement of the teacher should proceed parallel to the development of the modern school that has to face up with requirements and social expectations and prepare young people for life in the informative society, using the knowledge at work- thus develop the avocation for long-life learning.

Conclusion

The modern education should be characterized by the deep axiological attitude, showing different worlds of values. That is why the knowledge about values is necessary- axiology both the general and educational one, that directs and enhances people in shaping their attitude towards the world, understanding of regulations and duties and forming the educational and life plans. Education should prepare people not only to use the achievements of modern civilization, but also for creative participation in the process of its further existence and development. Only a free human being, extensively educated, creative, able to think in a innovative and alternative categories, ready to cooperate with others and respecting the differences in cultures, customs and behaviour and sensitive for the values and accepting them as directives of behaviour, guidelines of life can manage the challenges of the 21st, century, that is a complete human being.

The education should play a significant role in shaping such a model of life, that would be basis for cooperation of units, communities and also whole societies. The implemented educational models should serve then the improvement of the quality of life, standardization of international relationships and promotion of the humanistic values.

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