Lets talk about important values for schools to teach:

I asked my respondents: What values do you feel are important to teach in schools?  These are some of the things they said.


"I think everyone in a society has the responsibility to model the virtues that make us all human: trustworthiness, respect, fairness, responsibility, caring, citizenship."  


"Values such as honesty, teamwork, and healthy competition"


"I feel that is important to model and promote values in schools such as respect, tolerance, kindness and honesty."

"Children need to experience values such as respect, responsibility, cooperation/collaboration,kindness, and tolerance in school."

I would agree with all of these folks.  I think that through the use of modeling in the classroom, these values can be taught.  Integrating these values into lessons and daily school life will create a comfortable and safe place in which students can learn.  Necessity is the mother of invention and our students need to be given values that will help them construct a meaningful life.  These sets of values will translate well into society because I believe that they are all things that we expect from each other.  They will allow our students to function and lead a flourishing life beyond the schoolyard.  Although being intentional about modeling behaviors is sometimes hard to fit in, I think that in the long run it will pay off.  Being a part of a classroom climate where certain values and behaviors are taught and expected will not only enrich the students' learning experiences, but also the teacher's ability to convey that learning.  We can go on and on about the various pitfalls of integrating these values into our schools but the fact of the matter is that the presence of these values will enhance our students' learning for school and for life.