Chapter 1 - Value Education: Meaning, Nature, Need, Importance and Value System

Question- What do you understand by Concept of Values?

Answer -

Concept of Values

Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.

Values in a narrow sense is that which is good, desirable, or worthwhile. Values are the motive behind purposeful action. They are the ends to which we act and come in many forms. Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong and may or may not be considered moral. Cultural values are collective beliefs of a culture.

Some common business values are fairness, innovations and community involvement.

According to M. Haralambos, "A value is a belief that something is good and desirable."

According to R.K. Mukherjee, "Values are socially approved desires and goals that are internalized through the process of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become subjective preferences, standards and aspirations."

According to Zaleznik and others, "Values are the ideas in the mind of men compared to norms in that they specify how people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness to activities and relationships."

According to T. W. Hippie, "Values are conscious or unconscious motivators and justifiers of the actions and judgment."

Values are a standard idea about some aspect of life as compared to certain standards through which people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness to activities and relationships."

Values is a standard idea about desirable, individual behavior, society, etc. These can be a set of rules of conduct and are criteria or standards.

Examples of values are wealth, loyalty, independence, equality, justice, fraternity and friendliness. These are generalized ends consciously pursued by or held up to individuals as being worthwhile in them.

It is not easy to clarify the fundamental values of a given society because of their sheer breadth.

The characteristics of values are:

1. These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just techniques but also an understanding of the strategic context.
2. Values provide standards of competence.
3. They go beyond specific situations to be abstract.
4. Most values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a combination of internal and external factors.
5. These are relatively permanent.
6. These are more central to the core of a person.
7. Most of our core values are learned early in life from family, friends, neighborhood school, the mass print, visual media and other sources within the society.
8. Values are loaded with effective thoughts about ideas, objects, behavior, etc.
9. They contain a judgmental element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable.
10. Values can differ from culture to culture and even person to person.
11. Values play a significant role in the integration and fulfilment of man’s basic impulses and desire stably and consistently appropriate for his living.
12. They are generic experiences in social action made up of both individual and social experiences and attitudes.
13. They build up societies, integrate social relations.
14. They mold the ideal dimensions of personality and depth of culture.
15. They influence people’s behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.
16. They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life. They help in creating norms to guide day-to-day behavior.

Importance of Values

1. Value is the foundation for understanding the level of motivation.
2. It influences our perception.
3. Value helps to understand what ought to be or what ought not to be.
4. It contains interpretations of right or wrong.
5. These influence attitudes and behavior.
6. It implies that certain behaviors or outcomes are preferred over others.
7. These allow the members of an organization to interact harmoniously. These make it easier to reach goals that would be impossible to achieve individually.
8. These are goals set for achievements, and they motivate, define and color all our activities—cognitive, affective, and connective.
9. They are the guideposts of our lives, and they direct us to who we want to be.
10. Values and morals can not only guide but inspire and motivate a person, give energy and a zest for living and for doing something meaningful.

Sources of Values

1. Family: Family is a great source of values. A child learns his first value from his family.
2. Friends & peers: Friends and peers play a vital role in achieving values.
3. Community or society: As a part of society, a person learns values from society or different groups of society.
4. School: As a learner, school and teachers also play a very important role in introducing values.
5. Media: Media such as print media, electronic media also play the role of increasing values in the mind of people.
6. Relatives: Relatives also help to create values in the minds of people.
7. Organization: Different organizations and institutions also play a vital role in creating value.
8. Religion.
9. History.
10. Books.
11. Others.

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