The Journal of Values-Based Leadership The Journal of Values-Based Leadership
Manuscript 1460
The Role of Teachers in Values Education in Pakistan: A Case of The Role of Teachers in Values Education in Pakistan: A Case of
Early Childhood Education and Development from Pakistan. Early Childhood Education and Development from Pakistan.
Sharifullah Baig
Abida Begum
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Case Study
The Role of Teachers in Values Education in Pakistan:
A Case of Early Childhood Education and Development from
Pakistan
Abstract
The teachers in early childhood education and preschool have a significant influence on
curriculum and daily practices in the class, therefore, have a dominant influence on the
implementation of values education. Deeming values as a social construct, this small-scale
qualitative case study was carried out to explore the priority values of early childhood
education teachers and their ways of teaching values in a school in northern Pakistan.
Interviews and classroom observations were conducted to gather in-depth data from the
school leadership and the teachers. Teachers were found primarily focused on the inculcation
of societal values, behaviors and life skills needed for children to successfully adjust to society.
In this school, teachers are playing a dominant role in the values education of the young
children through role modeling, daily practices and routines and interactions with the parents.
School leadership is focused on values education. While doing so, they are aspiring for other
stakeholders to accept the upper hand of the school values and expect them to facilitate the
inculcation of these values in young children. The school and teachers are facing the problem
of the reluctance of parents to take full responsibility for the values education of their children.
Introduction
Values are the commonly recognized and approved principles, convections, and standards
of society that are transcending specific situations. Therefore, “values appear to be an all-
embracing element of human life; that is, values are connected both to the human mind
and action, and they emerge at the levels of individuals, cultural groups, and societies”
(Johansson, Emilson, & Puroila, 2017, p.14). These principles are the foundation of the
social structure (Dasari, 2017) to cultivate and ensure harmony, peace, and prosperity in
the social order. Hence, values are the “determiners of how people will live in harmony
and peace without hurting one another and become virtuous individuals within the
community” (Khathi, Govender, & Ajani, 2021, p.404).
Human societies are steadily transferring these principles, convections, and standards to
the next generations to ensure a constructive, peaceful, and prosperous society. This
transformation of values to the young generation is taking place at multiple stages of the
family, school, and broader society. School is considered a value-laden context where
implicit and explicit values education is imparted to young children (Ulavere & Tammik
(2017). The schools which are explicitly teaching values education have structured a
concrete plan, and overtly included it into their school curriculum whereas, the schools
which are following the implicit route, are embedding values education in their daily
practices and ethos but it is not included in their formal curriculum (Thornberg, 2016). In
ABIDA BEGUM
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developing contexts like Pakistan, schools are exclusively held responsible for helping
children to differentiate between “right” and “wrong” and help them to effectively face the
challenges of life and become successful citizens of society (Bhatti, et.al 2021). Thus,
values education in school can be referred to the explicit and implicit activities and culture,
designed and implemented by the schools to inculcate skills, and dispositions in young
children so that they can positively enact their roles as an individual and as a member of
the larger society.
“Values are socially approved principles that are internalized mainly through the process
of education” (Dasari, 2017, p. 1404). Therefore, teachers have a pivotal role in the values
education of young children. The critical role of teachers in child development has been
consistently reported in the academic milieu of teaching and learning. The teachers “are
like signposts in the road, to tell you where the road leads to. The teacher should help the
students achieve their full potential and bring out the best in them. Be able to lead them
towards a better tomorrow. Most important of all must be loving and sincere!” (Radha,
2016, p. 56). The role of the teacher becomes even more critical for the values education
of young children at early childhood education and pre-school levels. The daily routine of
ECED like mealtime, activity time and playtime are critical opportunities for imparting
important universal values in young children. The guidance and support by the teachers in
this routine are critical for young children to adopt these values to their real-life
experiences (Tofteland, 2018). The moral actions of young children are highly influenced
by the role of the teachers in acquiring permanent changes in their thinking and actions
(Durmus, 2019).
At the early childhood education and pre-school levels, the teachers have a significant
influence on curriculum and daily practices in the class, therefore, have a dominant
influence on the implementation of values education. Along with this dominant influence,
teachers must possess the required knowledge and specialized skills for the
implementation of values education for young children. “The importance of having
competent teachers in values education cannot be underestimated; failure to make the
right decision about instilling values in students will have fateful consequences”
(Mohamad, et al., 2019, p. 889). Thus, teachers must improve their professional practice
and their ability to include other stakeholders in developing value-based education in their
classes (Odundo, Amollo & Lilian, 2017). In developing contexts like Pakistan, the ability
of a teacher to communicate effectively and develop a consensus between parents and
schools is a paramount skill for values education.
Studies have reported various ways employed by teachers to teach values at the early
childhood education level in many contexts. Some preschool teachers have followed an
indirect approach using Drama and Stories and Games to teach values (Kuloglu, Yasar, &
Ozer, 2021). Some other teachers believe that values education is an effort to comply
with societal values and norms focusing on how to treat others and self-responsibility.
Therefore, they believe role modeling and the use of everyday language to explain values
education are the most appropriate ways of teaching values (Thornberg & Oguz, 2013).
Similarly, studies have reported different values deemed important in different contexts.
Some of the teachers have grouped the values into five main categories “creating the
foundation,” “educational process,” “behavior,” “responsibility,” and “rules” (Kılınc &
Andas, 2022). Some teachers realize the importance of values of equality, peace, self-
respect, and honesty (Dasari, 2017) and others believe that care, respect, and discipline
are important values to be communicated to preschool children (Sigurdardottir, Williams,
& Einarsdottir, 2019). The variation in the realization of values by the teachers and their
ways of teaching values education reported by research is understandable. Values are
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social constructs, shaping and reshaping in the minds of people as a result of their
interaction in society. Akin to all other humans, teachers are living in smaller societies
where the codes of desirability and social dynamics are somehow different from the others
therefore, they have given importance to different values and have employed different
ways of teaching values to the young children. Hence within the milieu of this academic
thought, this small-scale study was carried out to explore the priority values of early
childhood education teachers and their ways of teaching values in this mountainous part
of northern Pakistan. The result of this study has the potential to inform the reader about
the value dynamics of this mountain community and provide a feel of the state of values
education in this part of the world.
Literature Review
The Values Education
The prevailing socio-economic and political environment of the world is demanding robust
and wide-ranging values education for the younger generation to successfully adjust to the
rapidly changing complex society (Cihan, 2014). “The world faces different challenges of
anarchy, oppression, racial, religious, sectarian conflicts, corruption, violence, and war.
Teachers… to realize the values of a higher order of freedom, equality, compassion, and
sense of oneness to make the world a global, peaceful community” (Dasari, 2017, p.
1403). For the realization of high-order values, the values preferences of the teachers play
an important role in the values education of young children and influence the entire value
system of the schools.
In today’s complex world, it is important to acknowledge and understand the pervasive
and obtrusive nature of values for young children (Johansson, Emilson, & Puroila, 2017).
Most of the value education at early childhood education revolves around the inculcation
of obedience to rules and regulations. These young children “imply a position as a receiver
and “doer” of the rules and values in school, rather than an active participant involved in
reflecting and negotiating about different values and rules and the priorities and
justifications they are based on” (Johansson, et al., 2014, p.15). Provision of an
environment for the children to reflect, negotiate, and justify their values is taking values
education beyond the narrow inculcation of “right” and “wrong.” Young children will start
thinking beyond the “control and discipline,” what is “expected” and “normal” is rewarded,
whereas what is “unexpected” and “uncommon” is punished. (Johansson, Emilson, &
Puroila, 2017, p. 16). This line of values education in early childhood education opens the
door for deeming values education as an issue of plurality and acknowledging multiple
ways and approaches for values education. However, understanding the different levels
and types of values is a prerequisite for addressing values education through multiple
approaches.
Values have been classified and typified by various studies from different perspectives. In
this regard, OECD, (2019) has classified values into personal, social, societal, and human
domains which are more relevant to this study. According to OECD personal values are
considered as the individual wishes and choices of a person adopted to live a meaningful
life. Social values are defined as the principles of interpersonal relationships including the
ways through which a person behaves with others and manages conflicts to facilitate the
effective running of the community or society. Societal values have been defined as the
priorities, principles and cultures of society which govern the social order and institutional
life which are endorsed by public opinion. Finally, human values have been considered the
fundamental values which are transcendent across national and cultural boundaries.
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Role of Teacher
Studies in the developing world are consistently emphasizing the role of teachers as the
role model for their students. “Their actions convey more than their words. Students learn
values from what the teachers are rather than from what they say” (Bilal & Gul 2017, p.
4). Teachers are expected to be role models of social, religious, and moral values and
desirable behavior for young children and must play their due role in making them part of
the classroom practices and the school culture (Bhatti, et al., 2021; Bhave, 2016). The
role of schools is the inculcation of values in young children to grow positively and become
contributing members of society therefore, teachers have the critical responsibility of
“shaping child’s thoughts which decide their behavior, and actions later in their life”
(Dasari, 2017, p. 1403).
The knowledge, skill, and disposition of a teacher play a decisive role in the effectiveness
of values education for young children (Mohamad, et al., 2019). “Hence, teacher education
institutions should shoulder the responsibility of producing teachers with values of higher
order to practice them at their schools” (Dasari, 2017, p. 1403). Therefore, professional
development programs must encourage the teachers to be part of the workshops and
seminars to reflect on the practices and sharpen their knowledge and skills for imparting
values education to young children.
The Challenges for Values Education
The teaching of values is not an easy subject. The school administrators expect the
teachers to teach value-based moral concepts through activities whereas teachers are
facing difficulties explaining and practicing moral concepts in their classes. In addition,
there is a high expectation for teachers to be role models for their students. Society
believes that teachers must have high morality and behave well both in the classroom and
in society. This is exerting high pressure on the teachers because they feel that they are
continuously been watched by society (Gui, et al., 2020).
The role of parents is extremely important for the value formation of young children so that
they are able to construct a personality that is desirable both for the family and society
(Sneha & Shalini, 2018). Many studies have reported the role of parents as a problem for
the values education of their young children. Parents are hesitant to take full responsibility
for the values education and the moral development of their children (Mngarah, 2017;
Guzelyurt, 2020). In the Pakistani context most of the parents are from the low to middle-
income category therefore, the priority of these families is to ensure the bread and butter
for the family, not the education of their children (Baig & Funer (2022). Another problem
faced by the teachers is the difference between school values and family values.
Sometimes young children face the challenge when the “good” of the school is considered
“wrong” in the family and the “good” of the family is deemed “wrong” at the school. In
these circumstances, teachers are feeling enormous pressure to find out a way between
the two values and sort out the confusion for the students (Velea & Farca, 2013).
The professional development and training of teachers are considered vital for
implementing the values education in the ECED settings. However, in most of developing
contexts like Pakistan, the state of professional development of teachers is not
encouraging. In the Pakistani context, the overall state of the professional development
and training of ECED teachers is a historical problem in the country. This lack of
professional knowledge and skills has also become a hurdle for the values education of
young children (Baig & Funer, 2022). Therefore, the key stakeholders must understand
the challenges faced by the teachers in implementing values education in the schools and
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extend their support to the teachers to ensure the effectiveness of the values education
of the young children.
Studying the Values Education
A plethora of studies have explored values and values education in early childhood
education and have reported various values and approaches to teach these values in pre-
school contexts. For example, Sahin (2019) collected the opinions of the pre-service
teachers about the value concept and values education. The pre-service teachers believed
that the goal of values education should be to raise good citizens. They also thought
modeling, and cooperating with family would be effective in values education.
In a Turkish context, Kuloglu, Yasar, and Ozer (2021) have studied the views of preschool
teachers on value education and explored that, teachers are following an indirect
approach using Drama and Stories and Games to teach values. The cultural structure of
the families of the preschool children and the large class size is making it difficult for the
teachers to teach values education. The teachers have urged families to be role models
for their children. Similarly, Kılınc, and Andas (2022) studied the values of preschool
teachers. The teachers have grouped the values into five main categories of “creating the
foundation,” “educational process,” “behavior,” “responsibility,” and “rules.” They have
suggested creating cooperation and alignments among families, teachers, and the school
environment for imparting values education to pre-school children. Sigurdardottir,
Williams, and Einarsdottir (2019) studied a Nordic early childhood education context and
reported that the teachers of this context are prioritizing the values of care, respect, and
discipline to be communicated to preschool children. They have also reported that these
teachers are implicitly communicating the values education.
Some of the studies have attempted to compare values and values education approaches
in different countries. Thornberg and Oguz (2013) have studied the perspectives of
teachers on values education in Turkey and Sweden. The teachers believed that values
education is mostly an effort to comply with societal values and norms focusing on how to
treat others and self-responsibility. Teachers have given high importance to role modeling
and use everyday language to explain values education with a lack of relevant professional
knowledge. Likewise, Yenen, and Ulucan (2021) have studied the national and universal
values tried to be taught in Turkey and Ohio of United States. They have noted that “there
are significant differences in value perception as well as differences in practice in both
countries” (p.385). They also found that Turkish teachers are experiencing more problem
as compared to the teachers from United States therefore, the Turkish teachers are more
solution-oriented in their values education practices.
Larysa, et al. (2020) carried out an interesting study in Ukraine and observed the preschool
children giving high attention to the values of happiness, peace, cooperativeness, honesty
beauty, kindness, friendship, and purity. However, they paid the least attention to the
values of humility, tolerance, hospitality, respect, and patriotism. This study gives a new
direction to understanding the inner world of young preschool children.
The above-mentioned studies carried out in different parts of the world have reported
values as a social construct, shaping and reshaping the minds as a result of their
interaction with society. Most of the values and approaches of values education favored
by the teachers are influenced by contextual realities. Therefore, deeming values and
values education as a social construct this small-scale study was carried out to explore the
priority values of early childhood education teachers and their ways of teaching values in
this mountainous eastern culture of northern Pakistan.
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Methodology
This small-scale study was designed to explore how the school leadership and teachers in
a Pakistani context may influence the value formation in young children at early childhood
education. The study has chosen a constructivist approach, believing that the values and
value formation are somewhat specific to the contexts and are ambiguous social realities
and products of the human mind which may change with the change in knowledge and
experience (Branson, Baig, & Begum, 2014). Within the constructivist paradigm,
interpretivism is accepted to understand the subjective, multiple, and socially constructed
views and perspectives of our research participants (Cohen et al., 2000). In addition, the
study recognizes symbolic interactionism for the interpretation and meanings of values by
our participants which they have developed through their interactions in society.
Hence, this qualitative case study is an attempt to find linkages between the phenomena
of school values and the value formation process of young children within the bonded
system of the school (Yin, 2017; Stake, 2005), employing interviews and classroom
observations to collect rich and in-depth data from the research participants (Creswell,
2007). Specifically designed interview protocol and classroom observation format were
used to collect data from the teachers. Separate interview protocols were employed in the
cases of the Section Head and Principal of the school. No classroom observations were
carried out as neither of them was practically involved in classroom teaching at the ECED
level.
This small-scale study has employed a purposeful method for selecting the school and the
06 research participants for three major reasons. First, the school principal and the
teachers at the school voluntarily showed their willingness to be part of the study.
Secondly, the school is enjoying an elite status and is famous in the city for its high-quality
Early Childhood Education. Finally, the researchers were working in the vicinity of the
school, therefore, it was easier for data collection.
The data was recorded in Pakistani language Urdu which was transcribed and translated
into English. The data presented is not meant for quantitative analysis, rather it is purely
for the awareness of the reader. Moreover, the data presented does not claim for
representativeness or generalization, rather it presents the reality of the participants which
may not be same for other schools and participants.
This study followed Creswell’s six steps model of qualitative data analysis of organizing
and preparing the data, reading through the data, coding the data, developing themes and
descriptions, and interpreting the meaning of the themes. The recorded data from
interviews and observations were organized. This raw written data was read through all to
get the overall sense of the information and reflected upon the responses (Creswell,
2009). After transcription and thorough reading, the data was coded using color schemes
keeping in view the focus of the study. These emerging themes were interpreted from the
participants perspectives and a general sense and meaning making of the data was
developed.
Data Presentation
The data presented in this paper is collected from the ECED section of the selected school
which has four teachers with a section head under the leadership of the school principal.
Therefore, the data presented here is based on the classroom observations of 04 teachers
and interview responses of the Section Head, Principal and the 04 teachers at the school.
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Table 1: Demographic Information of the Study Participants
Gender
Male
00
Female
06
Education
Postgraduate in Education
02
Bachelor’s degree
03
Professional Education
M.Ed.
01
B.Ed.
01
Diploma in ECED
04
Professional Experiences
20+ years
02
15+ years
03
10+years
01
Early Childhood Education and Value Formation
The study participants defined ECED as a comprehensive learning approach focusing the
holistic development including the behavioral, emotional, physical, intellectual, and
academic growth of the children. According to Teacher 4 and Teacher 3:
The aim of ECED is to train them for their entire life by taking small steps like placing
buttons and tying shoelaces. Our job is to help them prepare for how to talk, how to
respect elders and younger ones and how to wait for their turns in society
(Interview,
Teacher 4. 07/03/2023).
ECED is an effort to enhance mental and emotional growth of children and is to learn
manners, social skills, and developing a sense of right and wrong which will reflect
throughout their life
(Interview, Teacher 3. 07/03/2023).
The comments of these teachers refer to the values and life skills needed for children to
successfully adjust into society. If the prime focus of early childhood education is helping
young children to successfully accommodate in society, then societal values seem to have
a dominating role over all other values.
The school leadership tried to distinguish their ECED approach from the rest of the schools
in the city. The school principal and the section head emphasized the uniqueness of their
ECED approach. According to the principal “The school is focusing on ethics and morality,
and we are trying to regularly practice it in the school so that it becomes part of the
personality of the young children” (Interview, Principal, 08/03/2023).
Most of the schools are focusing on reading and writing. We are different you know
because our attention is on food, health and how to behave and follow the rules and
regulations in society
(Interview, Section Head, 08/03/2023).
Similar views were shared by Teacher 2 highlighting the practical steps which are being
taken by the teachers for the values education of the children. According to her:
We are very careful about the child’s behavior. Once we notice misbehavior, we teach
them good behaviors and patience through moral stories and help them to learn how
to follow the values and culture and how to adjust in the society
(Interview, Teacher 2,
06/03/2023).
The perspectives of the participants reveal that the school is more focused on behavior
management and following the rules and regulations which are rooted into societal values
and their ECED approach believes in a deliberate inculcation of societal values in young
children.
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The Articulated Values in ECED
In their interviews, the school principal, section head and the teachers articulated a variety
of values that they believe to be part of an effective ECED education. In their interviews
they mentioned values like morality, trust, following the rules, good behavior, taking turns,
respect, patience, gratitude, role modeling, a sense of responsibility, helping others and
sharing and caring. It is important to note that except for trust, respect, sense of
responsibility, sharing and caring, all other values mentioned are rooted in societal values
and are an effort to help the children to learn these values so that they can comfortably
adjust to the social environment.
Table 2:
Values Articulated by the Teachers in their Interview
Values
Demonstrated
Frequency
Values Demonstrated
Frequency
Morality
1+1+1+1+1
Gratitude
1+1
Trust
1+
Role modeling
1+1
Follow the rules
1+1+1
Sense of responsibility
1
Good behavior
1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1
Respect for Religion
1+1
Taking turns
1+1+1+1
Helping others
1
Respect
1+1+1
Caring
1+1
Patience
1+1
Sharing with others
1+1+1
Among the articulated values, morality and good behavior emerged as the most
emphasized and frequently mentioned values that the teachers believe to be a learning
goal at ECED. The school leadership believes that the children at ECED “must learn how to
greet the elders and say thanks, and welcome” (Interview, Principal, 08/03/2023). “They
should also learn the difference between right and wrong” (Interview, Section Head,
08/03/2023).
The school leadership seems to be successful in transmitting their worldviews about child
nurturing to their teachers. Similar views were emanating from the interviews of the
teachers who were emphasizing good behavior and morality as the cornerstone of their
ECED approach. For example, teacher 4 emphasized that in ECED “children must learn the
art of how to behave with elders and younger ones, how to talk with others and wait for
their turns (Interview, Teacher 4, 07/03/2023). Similarly, for Teacher 3 the children at
ECED “should learn social, moral and religious values” (Interview, Teacher 3,
07/03/2023).
The school seems to believe in helping young children to be role models of societal values.
They expect their “teachers to be role models and practically demonstrate positive
behavior in front of the young learners. Young children will imitate their teachers and
become role models in society” (Interview, Teacher 3, 07/03/2023). Similar views were
shared by Teacher 2 saying “I must be a role model of good behavior for my students so
that they learn from my behavior” (Interview, Teacher 2, 06/03/2023).
Universal values like respect, trust, gratitude, and a sense of responsibility were
occasionally mentioned by some of the teachers however, they were not as frequent as
good behavior and morality. Times and again, the school leadership and the teachers were
emphasizing good behavior and morality. The views of the Principal and the Section Head
were consistently reflected in the perspectives of the teachers.
Demonstrated Values in ECED
In classroom observations, the teachers were found practicing a variety of values in their
respective classrooms. The values of caring, respect, taking turns, gratitude, following
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rules, helping others, sharing with others, supporting others, honesty, peace-loving,
cleanliness and equality were observed in the classes.
Table 3: Values Demonstrated by the Teachers in their Classrooms
The classroom observations revealed some dominant values deliberately practiced by the
teachers. The values of care, taking turns, sharing things with others, supporting others,
and following the rules were more frequently practiced than the other values.
Teacher 1 was particularly focused on the seating arrangements of the children. Three
times, she went to the children and helped them to sit in an organized way and ensure
that they were following her seating arrangement. A child was struggling to work
because he did not have a pencil. The teacher noticed this and instead of providing a
pencil from her stock, she asked the students to share a pencil with this child. One
child shared a pencil, and the teacher praised him for his generosity and asked the
class to clap for this child
(Classroom Observation Teacher 1, 15/03/2023).
During lunchtime, it was ensured that the children were performing cultural prayers and
sharing things with others.
The teacher sat in a circle with the children and asked them to collectively pray before
lunch. She gave a short lecture on sharing lunch with others and encouraged the
children to share their lunches. Children shared their lunches and created a loving
relationship in the class. She helped the children to follow the rules of praying after
lunch and closing and cleaning (
Observation Teacher 2, 15/03/2023).
While working with the materials, the teacher frequently went to every child and
encouraged them to work together. Students were found encouraging each other and
supporting each other.
Three children were very active in supporting the others which was noticed by the
teachers and made a clapping for them. The teacher was trying to ensure that each
child is getting an opportunity to share her work and ask a question however, while
doing so she was strictly following the rules of raising their hands and waiting for their
turn
(Observation Teacher 3, 16/03/2023).
At the start of the playtime, the teacher developed rules with the help of the children.
During the play, they were frequently reminded to follow the rules. “Five times she
reminded the children to follow the rules. She also switched the play materials among
them to ensure that children are happily sharing the materials” (Observation Teacher 4,
20/03/2023).
The observation of these values in the classroom are providing important inklings for the
definition of good behavior frequently articulated by the teachers and school leadership in
their interviews. The teachers were found more focused on the values of care, taking turns,
sharing things with others, supporting others, and following the rules and tried to ensure
that the children are practicing it in their daily routine. Therefore, it can be concluded that
for this school, good behavior means caring, taking turns, sharing things with others,
supporting others, and following the rules.
Values Demonstrated
Frequency
Values Demonstrated
Frequency
Caring
1+1+1+1+1
Sharing with others
1+1+1+1
Respect for others
1+1
Supporting others
1+1+1+1+1
Taking turns
1+1+1+1+1
Honesty
1
Gratitude
1+1+1
Peace loving
1+1
Following rules
1+1+1+1+1
Cleanliness
1
Helping others
1+1+1
Equality
1+1
10
During the concept time, “the teacher gave the concept of Allah and religious teaching of
living peacefully and respecting each other” (Observation Teacher 1, 15/03/2023).
Another teacher was found keen to ensure that children are supporting each other during
the activity time. “In this regard, she gave a short lecture to the children on how they can
spread respect, honesty, and peace in society, neighborhood, and relatives through
supporting each other” (Observation Teacher 2, 16/03/2023). She also tried to practice
the value of equality by taking special care of the children who were comparatively quiet
and do not want to speak. “She went to each of them and asked to share their views with
the class” (Observation Teacher 2, 16/03/2023).
Hence, most of the values articulated by the teachers and school leadership in their
interviews were reflected in their classroom practices. However, the frequency and
intensity of the values were found inconsistent across the articulation of values and
classroom practices. Some of the values were found to be leading in their interviews and
some other values emerged more dominant in their classroom practices.
Role of Parents in Values Education
The school leadership seems to expect the parents to uphold the values of the school and
facilitate the teachers for engraining certain values in the young children. According to the
principal, “Parents must know that modernity does not mean boundaryless independence.
Parents need to help their children to learn social and moral values and make them part
of their habits” (Interview, Principal, 08/03/2023). The section head of the school refers
to the policy of orienting the parents about the value formation process of young children
in the school and expecting them to strengthen these values at home. She said, “In our
parent-teacher meetings we give an orientation to the parents at the start of the academic
year about the expectation of the school from the students about how to behave and how
to talk” (Interview, Section Head, 08/03/2023).
The teachers are at the forefront of facing the parents and convince them to facilitate and
inculcate the school values in their children. In this regard, teachers shared mixed
experiences that they are having with the parents. According to Teacher 4:
The school is arranging parent-teacher meetings in which we are individually
suggesting to the parents to take care of the behavior of their children. We are telling
them not to fulfill their unnecessary demands and give them moral boundaries to
interact
(Interview, Teacher 4, 07/03/2023).
Similarly, Teacher 3 said “They are emphasizing parents to change their attitude and give
time to their kids to help them to learn the manners needed for society” (Interview, Teacher
3, 10/03/2023). The school is expecting the parents to facilitate the school for the
inculcation of certain values that the school believes to be helpful for the children to
successfully adjust in the local society.
Challenges for the School
The school is facing certain challenges in the value formation process of the children in
the school. The sensitivity of some children and their resistance was identified as a major
challenge. In this regard Teacher 1 said,
Some of the children are over-sensitive and have acceptance issues. In these cases,
we are facing problems. You know when we are trying to help them to learn these
values they react and sometimes refuse to obey. Sometimes it becomes very difficult
for us
(Interview, Teacher 3, 07/03/2023).
11
Cooperation by the parents was mentioned as the second problem which is being faced by
the school. According to the school principal, “Some parents are not supportive. They are
having high expectations from teachers, but they are not supporting us for the overall
development of their children” (Interview, Teacher 3, 07/03/2023). According to the
Section Head, “Parents are forcing the teachers to focus on teaching ABC and teach
numbers. Their mindset is different. They are not focusing on the values and behavior
development of the children” (Interview, Section Head, 08/03/2023).
Teachers also shared their challenges of working with the parents at the classroom level.
Lack of cooperation and behavior issues by the parents are identified as the main
problems faced by the teachers. Teacher 2 shared her problems in the following words:
Some parents do not attend the meetings. Some parents are very sensitive. In
meetings, they complain and ask the teachers to be responsible for everything. They
feel parents have no responsibility for the social and moral development of the kids
(Interview, Teacher 2, 06/03/2023).
Similarly, Teacher 3 mentioned a value formation conflict between the school and the
parents. According to her,
Teachers are facing behavior and acceptance issues with some parents. When we give
them feedback about the behavior and social and moral development of their children,
they say that their children are very good at home. They simply disagree with us
(Interview, Teacher 3, 07/03/2023).
The large size classes and inclusiveness of the school were also identified as a major
challenge for the school for the values education of the school. According to Teacher 4,
“You know we have large classes with 33-34 students. Above all, we are an inclusive
school, so we have some children with mild and moderate disabilities. In this situation
values education becomes challenging” (Interview, Teacher 4, 07/03/2023).
Discussion and Findings
Teachers were found focused on the inculcation of values, behaviors, and life skills needed
for children to successfully adjust to society. The perspectives of the participants reveal
that the school is more focused on behavior management and following the rules and
regulations which are rooted in societal values. If the prime focus of early childhood
education is helping young children to successfully accommodate in society, then societal
values seem to have a dominating role over all other values. This finding is consistent with
the previous studies (e.g., Sahin, 2019; Thornberg & Oguz, 2013; Bhatti, et al., 2021)
which reported that the prime focus of values education had been helping the children to
comply with societal values, differentiating between “right” and “wrong” and raise good
citizens. Johansson, et al., (2014) and Johansson, Emilson, and Puroila, (2017) have
added a new scholastic dimension to this aim of values education claiming that in such
situations, children are expected to be the “doer” only and get the least opportunity to
involve in reflecting and negotiating about different values and rules with justifications.
This can lead to the indoctrination of certain values in young children by teachers and other
adults without giving them enough opportunity to reflect and negotiate the worth of the
values on offer. If school aims to prepare children for society, then a balance must be
sorted between mere inculcation of societal values and the provision of the opportunity for
the children to reflect, negotiate, and justify the values.
The school principal, section head, and teachers have articulated a variety of values like,
morality, trust, following the rules, good behavior, taking turns, respect, caring, patience,
12
thankfulness, role modeling, sense of responsibility, helping others, and sharing with
others. These mentioned values and others like gratitude, supporting others, honesty,
peace-loving, cleanliness, and equality were found in their classroom practices. Many of
the research studies have reported peace, cooperativeness, honesty, role modeling, care,
respect, and discipline as the perceived values of the teachers in different contexts
(Thornberg & Oguz, 2013; Sahin, 2019; Larysa, et al., 2020; Sigurdardottir, Williams, &
Einarsdottir, (2019). However, it is important to note that the values reported across
different context are somehow similar and consistent, but less information is available on
the actual meaning that are attached to each value in different contexts. For example, role
modeling is consistently reported as a value but less has been stated about the specific
benchmarks, qualities, and ingredients of a role model in different contexts. Future studies
can focus on the benchmarks, qualities, and ingredients of constantly reported values in
different contexts. Studying this aspect of values can provide critical inklings for the
realization of high-order international values across the world.
The school leadership and the teachers are explicitly emphasizing the values education
and aspire to transform the school into a value-laden environment for young children. This
is in line with the views of Ulavere and Tammik (2017) and Thornberg, (2016), who
considered schools as a dominant value formation place where values education is
explicitly and implicitly imparted to young children. The school seems to be ready to
shoulder the responsibility of helping children to differentiate between “right” and “wrong”
(Bhatti, et.al 2021). While doing so the school aspires other stakeholders to accept the
upper hand of the school values and expects them to facilitate the inculcation of these
values in young children.
The teachers were found more focused on the values of care, taking turns, sharing things
with others, supporting others, and following the rules and tried to ensure that the children
are practicing it in their daily routine. Therefore, it can be concluded that for this school,
good behavior means caring, taking turns, sharing things with others, supporting others,
and following the rules. The views and perspectives of the teachers at this school are
aligned with Thornberg, (2008) who noted that the efforts of the teachers are mostly
focused on helping the children to learn and demonstrate desirable behavior as an integral
part of values education.
The school leadership and the teachers appear to be unsatisfied with the existing role of
parents in values education. They have highlighted the reluctance of parents for taking full
responsibility for the values education of their children which coincides with the results of
Mngarah, (2017) and Guzelyurt, (2020) who explored that parents are hesitant to take full
responsibility for the values education and the moral development of their children.
Similarly, some teachers pointed out the problem of values conflict between school and
the family which affirms the views of Velea and Farca, (2013) who reported that sometimes
young children face the challenge when the “good” of the school is considered “wrong” in
the family and the “good” of the family is deemed “wrong” at the school. This kind of
situation has critical implications for the teachers in values education and home-school
relationships.
In this school, teachers are playing a dominant role in the values education of the young
children through role modeling, daily practices and routines and interactions with the
parents. It was found that the “Value preferences and value system of teachers determine
their thought, speech, and actions which influence not only the students but also the whole
school system” (Dasari, 2017, p. 1403). The teachers are at the forefront of values
education and sorting out values-related discourses with parents, acting as a bridge
between the school and the parent community.
13
Conclusion
Values are pervasive and obtrusive shaping and reshaping in the mind of an individual as
a result of the interactions in society. This small-scale scale study reports the role of the
school leadership and the teachers in values education. It also explored the perceived
values and practiced values of the teachers in their classroom context. The finding is
mostly consistent with the studies elsewhere in the world however, a need was felt for
studying the actual meaning, benchmarks, qualities, and ingredients attached to each
value in different contexts and cultures.
____________________________________________________________________________
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About the Authors
Sharifullah Baig
Mr. Sharifullah Baig is a faculty member of Aga Khan University (AKU) Institute for
Educational Development (IED) Professional Development Center North (PDCN) – “AKU-
IED PDCN” – and has experience of more than 18 years in the profession of teaching and
learning. Baig was engaged in designing and implementing field-based educational
projects and educational research, particularly in the field of human values and student
behavior management. In this connection, he has disseminated substantial research
works through international journals focused on values in educational development.
He can be reached at [email protected].
Abida Begum
Abida Begum is Senior Instructor at the Professional Development Center North (PDCN)
which is a component of the Aga Khan University, leading the teacher education and
research initiatives in the remote region of Gilgit Baltistan Pakistan. She has teaching
expertise and experiences in Early Childhood Education and Development, Educational
Leadership and Management and English and Urdu languages. She remained part of many
educational research projects and has been continuously contributing to scholarly
literature by generating indigenized knowledge and disseminating it to wider communities
through newspapers, national and international journals. Her main research areas are
Peace Education, Leadership and Management, and on Students Dropouts and Behavior
Managements Issues at school level.
She can be reached at [email protected].
