CONCEPTUALISING

VALUES

JLO 310
2020
COMING TO TERMS WITH THE VALUES
DISCOURSE
• Why do we need to teach values in education?
• Whose values and what values ought to be included in education
and how should it be taught?
• What values do you remember being taught in school? Did these
values serve you well?
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN VALUES,
ETHICS AND MORALS
• The word ethics comes from the Greek word ethos meaning character or custom. In Greek
ethika refers to the principles or standards of human conduct (the way you are supposed to
behave).
• In Latin, principles or standards of human conduct are called morals (coming from mores meaning
customs). The study of principles (or standards of human conduct) is called moral philosophy
• The concept values are defined as that which is worth striving for (Latin: valere) (Old French:
valior) Rokeach (1973) defines values as “an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or
end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of
conduct or end-state of existence”
GROUP DISCUSSION

• Should our emotions determine what we perceive as moral?

ETHICAL DILEMMA
• Mr. Matope is a third-grade teacher in a local primary school. One of the students he teaches
in his classroom is Nelson. Nelson was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) in the first grade. Nelson does not require the services of the special education
teacher; however, at the time he was diagnosed his doctor and parents decided to put Nelson
on medication to help with his ADHD. Nelson’s parents are now divorced and he lives with his
mother during the week; he stays with his father on the weekends. Nelson’s father and doctor
still believe the medication is essential to help him succeed in school. Nelson’s mother and
father disagree about everything. She has begun to withhold Nelson’s medication. Nelson’s
father still gives his son the medication when he stays with him on the weekends. As a result
of the inconsistent medication Nelson has had difficulty paying attention in class, completing
assignments, controlling aggressive behavior, and interacting with his peers. Mr. Matope
knows the importance of consistency in following medication protocols. What should he do
about this situation? What would you do?
VALUES GIVE MEANING TO LIFE
• What makes life meaningful and worth living is partly an expression of who we are and the
values we regard as important.These could be:

• The self: There are people who consider the meaning of life to be centred in the self. The
main question for them is “what is in it for me?”

• Other people: For many the importance of life lies in the significance of others in their lives.
Frankl (1984) used the concept of transcendency to describe this search for meaning by
establishing relationships with others that provides meaning to the self
• Creator/God: The notion of transcendency is not restricted tot other people, but may include
a person’s conception of God and the afterlife. People who find meaning through religion
direct their lives in such a way that they will uphold certain values which they believe will
please God.

• Nature: Some people find meaning in life by striving to live in harmony with nature and to
conserve and protect it. Their values tend to be environmentally oriented and directed.

• Work, studies, leisure or a specific task to be completed: For some people the meaning of
life is to be found a specific task, job or vocation. They tend to value work, a work ethos,
commitment to a task and personal sacrifice to serve the interest of the goals of the job at
hand.
VALUES IN SOCIETY

Values also operate at group, community and social level. In the same way that a personal value system
gives us direction in the choices we make, values are an important consideration in a community and in a
society.

In most communities we can identify a core set of values operating in the community or society that acts
as the main deciding factor in directing the actions and behaviour of community members to what is
appropriate.

Because we as a community attach importance to the things we value, we can derive certain principles
from these values that will direct our decisions and the way we live. For example, because we value
honesty, we will not lie to or deceive others. The rule based on this principle will then be “you may not
deceive others”
Value Derived principles Possible rules
Justice (fairness, equality, No discrimination on the basis of ?
impartiality) irrelevant differences such as
colour, race, creed, gender, etc.
Equality of opportunity
Freedom Freedom of speech, press, thought ?
Freedom of assembly
Freedom of religion
Freedom from threat and anxiety
Respect Consideration of other people’s ?
interests
Maintaining human life and health
Protecting the weak and disabled
Non-violence Do not inflict harm on others ?
Don’t abuse others
MORALS AND MORALITY

• Values are personal and developed from within,

whereas rules are imposed from the outside. If rules
are only externally imposed, there is a real risk that
those who should learn the rules will never
internalise the value-based principles underpinning
the rules.
• Morality, then, may be defined as our ideas of what moral is, how we reason about these
ideas to justify them as moral, and how we act in accordance with these ideas. In other words,
morality is related to that which we value (our personal set of values), and our values will
influence the way we act, but at societal level, morality may take on a more expansive meaning.
The beliefs (what the group thinks) about what constitutes moral behaviour in society may not
embrace all the values that are honored by an individual. Similarly, the individual may not agree
on with what the group regards as morally right or wrong

• Whereas the moral domain is constructed on notions of rightness or wrongness and can pass
a test of universality and impersonality, the domain of social conventions concerns issues
that are considered wrong not because of their intrinsic nature, but rather because of social
agreement that they are wrong. They are therefore alterable by the appropriate social
authorities and apply only to those within in the purview of the social agreement.

• Can you think of examples of social conventions?