The educational reforms and efforts for inculcation of positive values through our educational process is one of the most challenging task of the contemporary times. The emphasis on value oriented education in our new education policy should be welcomed in this context.
Professor Jaap Schouten, a distinguished Dutch educationist who is devoting himself for Value Education in teacher training was good enough to accept our invitation to spend some time helping us in developing ways of integrating thoughts and action programmes for inculcating Value Education through teacher training. As a visiting professor Mr. Schouten worked with me and the Gujarat Vidyapith faculty in the quest of avenues of Value Education. He pleaded that values have no boundaries. We are grateful to professor Jaap Schouten for agreeing to make ideas available to a wider international audience through this monograph "Value Education: Beyond the Borders." I hope this monograph will act as a source to all those who are interested in making education and human development closely linked with some eternal values of life.
This first paragraph describes the purpose of the book, its aims and objectives (1.1.1) and states some introductory remarks on the question whether values are related to schools (1.1.2).
1.1.1 The Purpose of the Book.
The main underlying premise of this book is that education is too important to be determined only by people within the borders of a school or a country. The time of rigid Nationalism has passed. We all are going to live in a World Community, and our successors shall face that phenomenon more and more.
If that is true, then 'Education' faces a new, very important and formidable challenge. Today's youngsters (say 12 to 15-year olds) get more information over the last ten years than people (aged 40-50) received in the first 30 years of their life.
So it may be true that there is still a certain information gap between the Western and Eastern (or Northern and Southern) world as far as technological skills and possibilities and scientific knowledge are concerned, but there also exists a gap between the rich spiritual experiences of the Eastern Countries and the so-called Secularism of the Western World.
Perhaps the two can be complementary.
It is with this basic premise and this paradigm that the present volume deals with its subject: To Look Beyond the Borders of the Nations.
Some years ago a Sociologist Prof. T. K. N. Unnithan, former Vice-chancellor of the University of Rajasthan (India), took the initiative to start an International Research Program on Value Education. The program started a year ago, under the auspices of The Netherlands University Fund for International Cooperation (NUFFIC). So far, The Netherlands, India and Indonesia are involved.
It was decided that from each of the three countries, at least one University should work on the program. Thus the Free University in Amsterdam, Gujarat Vidyapith in Ahmedabad and the Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia are active in it.
The main target group of this book are all the teachers and professors in the three countries just mentioned, who are of will to be involved in the program. It aims to present basic information about the most important educational.
psychological and sociological issues related to this program. The second target group could be those teachers who are interested in the problem of Value Education and want to refresh their knowledge on this important topic.
What are those issues?
The first chapter outlines some preliminary remarks on educational affiars dealing with Value Education to make clear what actually is the philosophical and practical background the author wants to start with. The second chapter about 'Values' points out those critical issues and meanings of this central concept. Then follows in Chapter 3 four approaches in Value Education in the Western World.
Another important theme is explored in Chapter 4, wherein four Models of Teaching are presented.
Chapter 5 gives information as to how the curriculum of Teacher Education Programs should be organized, so that skills, theoretical knowledge and practical performance are integrated.
In Chapter 6 some suggestions are made on how to start the program.
In the last Chapter the teachers are cheered up, and encouraged to start (again) with the most difficult task of imparting Value Education. A Code of Ethics is the final topic of this book.
I am indebted to Prof. Ramlal Parikh who asked me to write this book during my visiting Professorship at the Gujarat Vidyapith in Ahmedabad in February 1990 and to Navajivan Press for their kind co-operation.
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