Teachers' understanding and implementation of Values Education in the Foundation Phase

Abstract

In the light of the declining moral standards in South African society, there is a need for children to be supported and developed on their journey towards responsible adulthood. The school is regarded as one of the most relevant stakeholders in the teaching of values for the moral development of the younger generation in particular and broader society in general. I observed how teachers impart values to leaners through the subject Life Skills that also includes the moral aspect. This study employed a qualitative research method using a case study of four schools and twelve teachers. The four schools were purposefully selected to obtain a deeper understanding of the participants' experiences from different perspectives. The selected schools are from different socio-economic backgrounds. Two schools were selected from rural areas. However, the areas differed in the sense that one was in a traditional village under the authority of a tribal chief while other was on trust land bought by the residents. One school was selected from an informal settlement and one from a semi-urban area. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were conducted to gather data. Teachers were interviewed after school and field notes were taken to record data collected from the participants in order to examine how teachers understood and implemented teaching values education in the foundation phase. These values include, amongst others, social justice and equity whereby freedom of choice and access to education are highlighted. The study found that the professional training of life skills teachers and multiculturalism during life skills lessons, i.e. the cultural differences between the teachers and learners as members of a community, need to be addressed. The study also recommends that a relationship of trust between parents and schools should be established to help enable teachers to address the issue of moral regeneration in our society. Classroom observation was conducted during the collection of data. School policy documents were analysed and teachers were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of how they understood values and how they contributed to the development of young citizens. From the observations and interviews, it could be deduced that teachers have different understandings of values education. It was also found that teachers find it difficult to contextualise and reconcile cultural values with the values that they are supposed to teach at school. The recommendations based on the findings of my study include the professional training of Life Skills teachers and the promotion of multiculturalism during Life Skills lessons where the cultural differences between learners and teachers are addressed. The study also recommends that the relationship of trust between teachers, parents and the larger society should be entrenched in order to assist teachers to instil values in young learners.