Sources of Teachers’ Values

Author(s):

Vivienne Collinson

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations

Format:

Paper

Session Information

01 SES 06 A, Teachers' Understandings & Business Meeting

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-29

10:30-12:00

Room:

NIG, HS I

Chair:

Maureen Killeavy

Contribution

For millennia, societies have been aware that each generation learns values, but the sources from which people learn values remained relatively unexplored. In today’s world, learning from teachers seems an obvious source, yet teachers in my graduate courses generally seemed uncomfortable with the word ‘values’ and several said, “I don’t teach values in my classroom.” There are at least two sound reasons for researching teachers’ understanding of values. First, scholars associate self-knowledge of one’s values, along with the capacity to integrate and live those values, with ‘good’ or ‘expert’ teachers (Agne, 1999; Boyer, 1995; Combs, 1982; Hamachek, 1999; Rallis & Rossman, 1995). Second, the literature is consistent that values are “internalized so deeply that they define personality and behavior as well as consciously and unconsciously held attitudes” (Burns, 1978, p. 75; Dewey, 1916; Jarrett, 1991). Even if teachers do not explicitly discuss values with students, they cannot avoid modeling their own values. Aristotle began the formal debate by opening his Eudemian Ethics with the fundamental question, “How and by what sources does virtue arise?” (Sherman, 1989, p. 199). Since then, philosophers have written much about values, but few have written specifically about sources of values or the development of values in teachers (Heath, 1994). General references, though scattered, are plentiful concerning sources of values for young children, less plentiful concerning sources of values for adults. Sources of values for teachers are rarely discussed in the literature on teacher development and are usually mentioned only in passing in books or articles dealing with other aspects of teaching. Values themselves may remain unexamined, hidden, or invisible, but the visible results of values can be observed in people’s decisions and actions, choices and behaviors. Values also appear to be learned and refined over time; in adulthood, particularly through self-knowledge, reality, and reflection (e.g., Murdoch, 1970; Ryle, 1972). According to Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masias (1964), the highest levels of learning in adulthood reflect an organization of personal values into a coherent worldview and display of behaviors consistent with one’s philosophy of life. This paper presents sources of values found in a survey of the literature, then extends and illustrates them with unanticipated data from a qualitative study of exemplary second-level teachers in the USA. Research on sources of values, especially among teachers, is rare, but as this paper suggests, the topic holds potential as a worthy topic for teachers’ continuing professional development.

Method

The original purpose of this study was to use grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) to explore exemplary teachers’ thinking about teaching and an ethic of caring. Jackson (1968/1990) argued that “it is likely that in every school system there could be found at least a handful of teachers who would be called outstanding by almost any standard” (p. 115). Following this premise and Hunter’s (1953) reputational method of selection, I invited groups of teacher peers in 31 school systems to nominate exemplary second-level teachers who care about learning (see also Marshall et al., 1996). The final sample, selected from the larger pool of nominees, included 81 teachers in the USA. Each participant completed a pre-interview survey that solicited professional information and then engaged in a semi-structured, three-hour interview that was taped and transcribed. Sources of values emerged as an unanticipated subset of a coded theme.

Expected Outcomes

In addition to a dozen sources of values found in the literature, the participants in this study identified two additional sources. Each source is described and illustrated with data. The teachers in this study not only articulated their values and sources of values, they could not discuss their pedagogy, interactions with students, or their reasoning without elaborating their values. The literature and this study indicate that teachers serve as powerful models in the development of children’s values, so development and refinement of teachers’ values appears a worthy topic for continuing professional development. The findings in this study may serve as a point of departure for re-thinking the role of values in ‘good teaching’ and the role of teachers as a source of values. CPD could help teachers understand, articulate, and synthesize their own values into a coherent worldview and to appreciate how their values influence their work and interactions.

References

Agne, K. J. (1999). Caring: The way of the master teacher. In R. P. Lipka & T. M. Brinthaupt (Eds.), The role of self in teacher development (pp. 165-188). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Boyer, E. L. (1995). The educated person. In J. A. Beane (Ed.), Toward a coherent curriculum (pp. 16-25). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1970). Two worlds of childhood: U.S. and U.S.S.R. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper-Row. Combs, A. W. (1982). A personal approach to teaching: Beliefs that make a difference. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: Free Press. Gardner, J.W. (1981). Self-Renewal: The individual and the innovative society. New York: W.W. Norton. (Original work published 1963) Hamachek. D, (1999). Effective teachers: What they do, how they do it, and the importance of self-knowledge. In R. P. Lipka & T. M. Brinthaupt (Eds.), The role of self in teacher development (pp. 189-224). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Heath, D. H. (1994). Schools of hope: Developing mind and character in today’s youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Hemming, J. (1968). Moral education. In A. J. Ayer (Ed.), The humanist outlook (pp. 115-127). London: Pemberton. Hunter, F. (1953). Community power structure: A study of decision makers. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press. Jackson, P. W. (1990). Life in classrooms. New York: Teachers College. (Original work published 1968) Jarrett, J. L. (1991). The teaching of values: Caring and appreciation. London: Routledge. Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives (Book 2): Affective domain. New York: David McKay. Marshall, C., Patterson, J. A., Rogers, D. L., Steele, J. R. (1996). Caring as career: An alternative perspective for educational administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(2), 271-294. Murdoch, I. (1970). The sovereignty of good. London: Routledge. Purpel, D., & Ryan, K. (1975). Moral education: Where sages fear to tread. Phi Delta Kappan, 56(10), 659-662. Rallis, S. F., & Rossman, G. B. (1995). Dynamic teachers: Leaders of change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Ryle, G. (1972). Can virtue be taught? In R. F. Deardon, P. H. Hirst, & R. S. Peters (Eds.), Education and the development of reason (pp. 434-447). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Sherman, N. (1989). The fabric of character: Aristotle’s theory of virtue. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Straughan, R. (1988). Can we teach children to be good? Basic issues in moral, personal and social education. Bristol, UK: J.W. Arrowsmith. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Author Information

Vivienne Collinson

Michigan State University (ret.)

Grosse Pointe Park

220

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