“Every teacher is a Values Education teacher.”
Regardless of specialization or subject matter, every teacher must develop good habits and instill values in all of their learners. Earlier this day, we had a seminar regarding the Values Integration in our respective disciplines. Values integration, in this sense, means going beyond merely teaching the content and the competencies, and taking a step further to inject life lessons and morals within the class discussion.
As future English teachers, how exactly do we integrate values in our lessons?
Literature is, without a doubt, the easiest way to integrate values in our class discussions. There is always a heartfelt message to find in every poem, a meaningful realization to uncover in every prose, and a worthwhile lesson to keep with us in every story we read.
Teaching students the art of communication and self-expression is the aim of English teachers.Â
In teaching them the language macro-skills, we strive to teach them not only to listen well, but to listen with their ears and with their hearts, to listen to both the spoken words and the silent messages hidden within.Â
We strive to teach them not only to speak fluently, but to speak with grace and with dignity, with wisdom and with compassion, with a purpose, with sense.Â
We strive to teach them not only to read carefully, but to read for knowledge, for appreciation, for understanding.Â
We strive to teach them not only to write correctly, but to write in order to express, in order to share, in order to educate.
Of course, as English teachers, we also teach them the structure of the English language and the rules of grammar so that they may not be misunderstood by people and they may be able to fully express themselves to their heart’s content.
And this? This is how we teach them values.
