Chapter 2 – Clarifying values

Introduction

In modern society, we may – and we must – choose the values that we think are important and meaningful for us. In making such choices, we are using our freedom of person, thought and belief and also our freedom of expression when we confess to our views in public. Therefore the exercises in this chapter address a key principle of human rights – the freedom of person or the individual.

As the illustration shows, however, personal freedom comes with the need to make choices. Free people can be very lonely people. No one can, or should, teil us what to believe in or what values we should choose. And we must make a choice – or how eise would we know what is important in life? Choosing values is therefore a key issue for young people in their effort to answer the question: Who am I? What is my identity?

From a different point of view, from the needs of society as a whole, we find that freedom of the individual will lead to a pluralistic society, with its members adhering to different values and beliefs. Pluralism can be a source of conflict. This gives rise to the question as to which values our community and our democracy rely on, for example appreciation of compromise, non-violence or integration of minorities. As a rule, if the members of a society succeed in agreeing on the rules of peaceful, non-violent argument and decision making, they can deal with a lot of controversy in their views and interests.

All these questions are equally important in the micro-society of a school class and in society as a whole. In a democratic community, no individual or authority has the right to define values for all. Rather, citizens will negotiate a minimum agreement on certain values. Therefore it is not the teacher’s business to define values in terms of political correctness or a particular parry, belief or ideology. The students need to learn how to make use of their freedom of thought and how to share their choices with others.

These exercises support the students by developing their skills of negotiation. They become aware of the fundamental principle of reversibility. They understand that our choice of values has a lot to do with our social situation and our interests. In every exercise, how the students argue – peacefully and in mutual respect – is just as important as what they actually argue in favour of or against.