The Elements of Values Learning

10. Value education is a double job.

Teaching values in school is not only the responsibility of the school itself, but also it can make a positive difference in the school atmosphere. If values exist and it is practice by the students in school it will make a positive difference in moral attitudes and behaviors of students. It will be easier for the teacher to teach students to learn. Schools wishing to do value education need to be confident that: 1 there are objectively worthwhile, universally agreed-upon values that schools can and should teach in a pluralistic society. 2 Schools should not only expose students to these values but also help them to understand, internalize, and act upon such values.

d. The Elements of Values Learning

Moreover, in reading lesson, four important elements of value learning are present. These elements are stimulators, activities, questions, and teachers Frankel, 1997: 85 Regarding the first element in reading lesson, the stimulator is the text. Texts provide students with information or data that stimulates them to think about values. Texts also provide guidelines for students to reflect values Frankel, 1997: 86. Here, short story has a function not only to give the information as the stimulus to think about values but also has the function to present the model to reflect the values itself. The second element is activities. Activities in values learning in reading lesson are important because they help students to have a better understanding about texts and also give students oppurtunities to process value that they read in the text. Frankel 1997: 103 stated that activities such as discussion and summary of a text help students understand and evaluate what they have read. Students can also process value by relating values that they read in the text with their own ideas and experience. The third element is questions. In facilitating values learning in reading lesson, questions are needed because they stimulate students to think about values in the text and consider their own value. Frankel 1997: 86 argues that the essence of any exploration of values lies in the questions a teacher asks. It means questions can not be separated from the process of promoting the students’ values of life. The fourth element important in values learning is teachers. Activities and questions need the fourth element in order to be done efficiently and effectively. Teachers are needed to provide class activities and to guide students through explanation and classroom discussion. This means that teachers serve as ethical mentors Lickona, 1991: 71. According to Suparno 2000: 6 teacher should act as a facilitator, hence teacher as well as providing class activities; teacher also gives encouragement to students. This means that teachers should encourage students to express their own ideas and opinions about values they read in the text.

e. Twelve Units of Living Values