[MUSIC] "What are my beliefs and values?" Now, in the first slide, Michael Davidson talks about teachers, who know really that their role is one of facilitators, and that learners are active participants with agency, and with much to contribute. But in practice, that's not how teachers usually approach their classes. That's a good start for our discussion for this session, the tension between values and practice. A question of values, and we are going to distinguish in four categories of values. What are universal values? What are cultural values? What are institutional values? And here when you talk about institutional values, you're talking about your school maybe, and your personal values. Now, universal values. There is a commitment to four values. We might not get this right all the time in the world, but there is this commitment of values of non-violence, of truthfulness, respect for human life, and tolerance. But in your school, what are the values in your school? And what is the tension between the values you hold, and, perhaps, the values that are held at the school. Let me give you an example. When I started teaching, many years ago, when I taught at a girls' school. One of the punishments for girls who came late into a class, was that they had to stand on the chair for the first 13 minutes of the lesson. When I arrived at the school I thought this was a silly punishment, I thought, that was just going to humiliate the girls, and it wasn't going to help in the learning, with somebody standing on a chair with the books in their hands. And so I resisted that, and for many, many weeks I resisted and refused to give out that punishment. But I also found something very interesting in that very few girls were late to my class. In fact, most of the time the girls were on time. But any instances where it was just not possible, girls would come in a few minutes late. I recall my principal calling me into the office and saying to me, this is the rule of the school, and I have to abide by that, and of course, I disagreed and said, but I don't see how that contributes to learning. I don't see how it contributes to building the self esteem of that young girl. Of course, she disagreed, and so did all the other teachers in the school, because they said, we all have to do this collectively to get the girls to get to class on time. Of course, I resisted it still, until my principal had to instruct me, officially, that if I did not carry out that punishment, I would face a disiplinary action within the school. And I had to give in. And I remember my collegues and my principal for the first time really applauding me and saying, you know that's the right thing to do, and you've made the right decision. Now, have you been in a situation like that, where you have a personal value, something you just don't necessarily agree with, where the value is espoused by the school and so you have to be in line with that. Do you want to think about an example like that, and write about it? So, our values and what do we know? What do I know? What do my students know about values - theirs and others'? What do I express and make visible? Values in my classroom. So, what are the values I really want to prioritize? What are the values I want my learners to know? So, if we look at the universal values that I mentioned right at the outset: a commitment to non-violence. How does that value translate into my class? So, how are we consistent with the values of institution and our own personal values - where there is consonance, but at times there could also be dissonance, where there is a tension between personal values and the values of institution? Now, Professor Jonathan Jansen is the Rector and Vice Chancellor of the University of the Freestate, a large university in South Africa, and my Vice Chancellor. And he talks about dealing with myself. At first starting with my values and changing myself before I'm going to change the people I lead, the institution that I lead and the context of the space that I'm in. It starts with us doesn't it? So, values in action, and here's a wonderful quote of a student from Antigua. "Well, I don't like it when it is a good day, everybody's happy and so then the teacher just starts with an outburst that embarrasses someone and when the teacher does that, it makes everybody feel like, well, she doesn't have no respect for us, so why should we have respect for her?" I think it's a useful quotation, because as teachers we often talk about respecting each other, being tolerant of each other. Yet sometimes, we step backwards into humiliating and disrespecting our students, and may not realise it. Of course, other data of students in Antigua were talking about wishing teachers wouldn't do certain things. And, I want you to reflect on your own teaching here, on the kind of things that you talk about. And I want to bring you to the figure on my behavior right at the top, and what students see, hear, feel and remember. What are some of the things that your students can see that you would be inconsistent with the values you want to introduce it to the classroom. John Dewey says it very nicely. "How many students were rendered callous to ideas? How many lost the impetus to learn because of the way in which learning was experienced by them?" Now, the hidden curriculum is something we've discussed at length in the first course, and in parts of this particular course. And think about how the values you teach in your class through the formal curriculum and how some of the things can be seen outside the classroom. So, let me give you an example - how often in a classroom you may talk about the ills of smoking or how smoking is a bad habit. And if you do smoke, and if you're smoking outside your classroom, or maybe in the town, and if the learners see that; or if you talk about dealing with conflict by having dialog, or if you are having a physical fight or an argument, or the colleague in the school or outside the school. Think how that learner is going to interpret the values that you introduce but also the values that you model. Values that travel. What are the five most important values that you would want every student in your class to have by the time they leave your classroom? And what are you doing in your classroom to make sure that every student shares these values? More important, how do your learners from your class take these values outside your classroom? To their peers, to their family members. So, a value like truthfulness is something you want to move beyond your classroom. So, how are you changing values, or modelling the values that you want to see that is going to change our schools and our society? [MUSIC]
