Important Values in Public Education and How to Teach Them

Values in Public Education
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Values in Public Education
Introduction
According to Rajshree (2016), the youth and children need to be educated to practice the basic values of peace and harmony with self and others. Since children are considered to be the envoys of the future, their education and environment play an important role in shaping their perspective. Most public schools in the U.S have implemented values in their education. Values education is an important part of the curriculum, and because of this, most public schools have attempted to establish and initiate these value-based curriculums that reflect social morality. The high cases of corruption, unrest and violence have led to schools having an added responsibility of ensuring that value education is an integral part of learning.
Important Values in Public Education
The values that I consider most important are honesty, self-control, service, persistence, responsibility, and kindness. These values are vital since they not only reflect on the ideal concepts, but also act as empowering tools necessary for handling the challenges of the contemporary social world. Honesty is a significant value because it encourages openness, respect and builds trust among teachers and students. Professionally, employers in the U.S hire honest individuals since employees greatly affect the company’s reputation (Burgess, 2016). More so, individuals also conduct businesses with people they trust. Self-control is also an important value to be taught in schools because of the rising concern over teenage pregnancy and drug use among the youth in the country. Majority of youth in the U.S who engage in substance abuse are influenced by peer groups (Salas-Wright, Vaughn, Ugalde, & Todic, 2015). Teaching self-control can help students to keep their emotions under control at all times, thus enabling them to make decisions that are based on reason rather than fear. Resultantly, students will spend more time focusing on school attendance and achieving higher grades (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005). Professionally, self-control is important in controlling emotions to avoid making unproductive decisions that can greatly affect other individuals. Teaching students how to serve their classmates and the community can also help to build a better generation of individuals who are more committed and care about the welfare of others. Teaching the value of serving others can ensure that the U.S schools build a generation of leaders who are committed to serving the U.S citizens, instead of pursuing their own interests. On the other hand, persistence is considered the key to achievement. Encouraging students not to give up even though they fail several times helps to build a generation that is more committed to achieving their goals. Persistence will be useful in generating students who will be motivated towards the country’s developments and breakthroughs. Another value is a responsibility which encourages students to be accountable for their success both in school and in life. Teaching students to be responsible ensures that they make choices and take appropriate action that is aimed at leading them towards their overall goals. Teaching...