ERIC Number: ED227072
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1982-Aug
Reference Count: 0
The Values Learned in School: Policy and Practice in Industrialized Countries.
Torney-Purta, Judith; Schwille, John
A comparative analysis of values education in the United States, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and Canada analyzed eight assertions: (1) No institution with education as its primary aim can be value neutral; (2) Countries differ in values which characterize their political cultures and in values which are taught in school; (3) None of the countries studied has had a uniformly high level of success in transmitting civic values; (4) The learning of values is strongly influenced by factors outside the school's control; (5) Educational policy has been somewhat effective in bringing about desired changes in values; (6) The learning of values in school is not limited to mandated programs of moral and civic education; (7) Several nations have developed curricular goals to promote common core values; and (8) Television and other mass media have an important and often negative effect on young people's values. It is recommended that coalition agenda be formed, providing a description of values that ought to be learned in school, together with the actions needed if these values are to be embodied in educational practice. (JD)
Descriptors: Behavior Change, Citizenship Education, Civics, Comparative Analysis, Developed Nations, Educational Policy, Educational Practices, Elementary Secondary Education, Ethical Instruction, Foreign Countries, Government Role, Moral Values, Political Influences, Social Behavior, Student Behavior, Television, Value Judgment, Values Clarification, Values Education
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: Department of Education, Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: National Commission on Excellence in Education (ED), Washington, DC.
Identifiers: Canada; East Germany; Japan; National Commission on Excellence in Education; Sweden; United Kingdom; United States; USSR; West Germany
Note: Paper presented at a Meeting of the National Commission on Excellence in Education (Washington, DC, November 1982).