Unit I - Introduction To Value Education

Topic: Understanding Value Education

Character oriented education that instills basic values and ethnic values in ones psyche is
called value based education.
One definition refers to it as the process that gives young people an initiation into values,
giving knowledge of the rules needed to function in this mode of relating to other people, and to
seek the development in the student a grasp of certain underlying principles, together with the
ability to apply these rules intelligently, and to have the settled disposition to do so.

Significance of Value Education

Value education is important to help everyone in improving the value system that he/she
holds and puts it to use. Once, one has understood his/ her values in life he/she can examine and
control the various choices he/she makes in his/ her life. One has to frequently uphold the
various types of values in his/ her life such as cultural values, universal values, personal values
and social values.
Thus, value education is always essential to shape ones life and to give one an
opportunity of performing on the global stage. The need for value education among the parents,
children, teachers etc, is constantly increasing as we continue to witness increasing violent
activities, behavioral disorders and lack of unity in the society etc.
Value education enables us to understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and
also indicate the direction for their fulfillment. It also helps remove our confusions and
contradictions and enables us to rightly utilize the technological innovations.

Human Values:
Human values are a set of emotional rules people follow to help make the right decisions
in life. Values are used in every day decision making at work and at home. Good values instill a
sense of integrity, honesty and diligence in people. Without good values, people would become
corrupt, dishonest and undependable as people and employees.

The Role of Value Education:

Value education plays a very important role in creating a better society, more ethical
organizations and groups, and better human beings. Let us take a look at how it does this:
1. Value education can help to build human beings who possess strength, integrity and fortitude
based upon ancient Indian values.
2. Value education builds the values of cooperation and peace as well as tolerance.
3. Efficiency can step up if a person possesses the right values. This may include punctuality,
keeping ones word, professionalism, lack of bias or prejudice etc.
4. Creating cordial relationships between people by encouraging the values of respect, love and
affection.
5. Promoting personality development and social cohesion.
6. Regeneration values of national pride and integration towards nation- building.
7. Building character in the young people who will lead the country in the future.

1
8. Inculcate moral and spiritual values in the minds of students and making them aware of the
teachings of Great Men so that they may learn from their examples.
9. Promoting harmony between nations and creating a peaceful world order.
10. Identifying the core universal values of:
a. Truth (Satya)
b. Righteous Conduct (Dharma)
c. Peace (Shanti)
d. Love (Prema)
e. Non-Violence (Ahimsa)
11. To help create a foundation of the quality of life and strike a balance between external and
internal values.
Thus value education can play a significant role in the betterment of individuals, groups
and society at large. This is shown in the figure below:

Purpose of Value Education

Need for Value Education

Correct identification of our aspirations. The subject which enables us to understand what
is valuable for human happiness is called value education (VE). Thus, VE enables us to
understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also indicate the direction for their

2
 fulfillment. It also helps to remove our confusions and contradictions and bring harmony at
all levels.
Understanding universal human values to fulfill our aspirations in continuity. Values
form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Once we know what is valuable
to us, these values becomes the basis, the anchor for our actions. We also need to understand
the universality of various human values, because only then we can have a definite and
common program for value education. Then only we can be assured of a happy and
harmonious human society.
Complimentarity of values and skills. To fulfill our aspirations both values and skills are
necessary. When we identify and set the right goals and produced in right direction. This is
known as value domain, the domain of wisdom, and when we learn and practices to
actualize this goal to develop the techniques to make this happen in real life, in various
dimensions of human endeavour (struggle). This is known as domain of skills.
Hence, there is an essential complementarity between values and skills for the success of
any human endeavor.
For example, I want to lead a healthy life. Only wishing for good health will not help me
keep my body fit and healthy and without having understood the meaning of health, I will not
be able to choose things correctly to keep my body fit and healthy.
Evaluation of our beliefs. Each one of us believes in certain things and we base our values
on these beliefs, be they false or true which may or may not be true in reality. These believes
come to us from what we read, see, hear, what our parents tells us, our friends talk about,
what the magazines talk of, what we see from TV etc. Value Education helps us to evaluate
our beliefs and assumed values.
Technology and human values. The present education system has become largely skill-
based. The prime emphasis is on science and technology. However, science and technology
can only help to provide the means to achieve what is considered valuable. It is not within the
scope of science and technology to provide the competence of deciding what really is
valuable.
VE is a crucial missing link in the present education system. Because of this deficiency, most
of our efforts may prove to be counterproductive and serious crises at the individual, societal
and environmental level are manifesting.
Hence, there is a strong need to rectify this situation

Basic Guidelines for Value Education

In order to qualify for any course on value education, the following guidelines for the
content of the course are important:
Universal: It needs to be applicable to all the human beings irrespective of cast, creed,
nationalities, religion, etc., for all times and regions.
Rational: It has to appeal to human reasoning. It has to be amenable to reasoning and not
based on dogmas or blind beliefs.
Natural and verifiable: It has to be naturally acceptable to the human being who goes
through the course and when we live on the basis of such values it leads to our happiness. It
needs to be experientially verifiable, and not based on dogmas, beliefs or assumptions.

3
 All encompassing: Value education is aimed at transforming our consciousness and living.
Hence, it needs to cover all the dimensions (thought, behavior, work and realization) and
levels (individual, family, society, nature and existence) of human life and profession.
Leading to harmony: The value education ultimately is targeted to promote harmony within
the individual, among human beings and with nature.

Types of Values
Life comes with its ups and downs. But there are certain mindsets that affect our life for
the better and some that affect it for the worst. These mindsets that affect our life for the
better can be called as values. It stands true that all people have different values in life; there
are some important values in life that should be considered by all. Not because these are the
values that we follow, but because it could truly make this world a better place. Here is the list of
important values to have in life.
Understanding
Respect
Discipline
Honesty
Love

Content of value education

The scope of value education includes all dimensions (thoughts, behaviour, work and
realization) and all levels (individual, family, society and nature existence).
Accordingly, the content of value education will be to understand myself, my aspirations,
my happiness; understand the goal of human life comprehensively, understand the other entities
in nature, the innate inter-connectedness, the co-existence in the nature- existence and finally the
role of human being in this nature/existence entirely. Hence, it has to encompass understanding
of harmony at various levels and finally, learning to live in accordance with this understanding
by being vigilant to ones thoughts, behaviour and work.

Process of Value Education

The process for value education has to be that of self-exploration, and not of giving
sermons of telling dos and donts. Whatever is found as truth or reality may be stated as a
proposal and every one is to be encouraged to verify it on his/ her own right. Various aspects of
reality facilitating the understanding of human values will be presented as proposals. We need to
verify these proposals for our self and examine our living in this light.
In other words, the process of value education adopted here is that of self exploration
which includes two things: verification at the level of natural acceptance and experiential
validation in living.

Conclusion
Value education is required to correctly identify our basic aspirations, understand the
values that enable us to fulfill our basic aspirations, ensure the complementarity of values and
skills, and to properly evaluate our beliefs. It also facilitates the development of appropriate
technology and its right utilization for human welfare.

4
 Topic : Self Exploration

Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within
myself, what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self
exploration we get the value of ourself.
The value of any entity is its participation in the larger order. In the case of human being,
to understand what is valuable, we need to study ourselves and the larger order around us,
which is everything around us.

Human being Nature/Existence (all that exists)

(other human, animals, plants, soil, etc)
Participation

We live with this entirety (family, friends, air, soil, water, trees, etc.) and we want to
understand our relationship with all these. For this I need to start observing inside. What we are
doing is we are observing outside, but not inside (what I feel when I saw this).

Meaning and Purpose of Self Exploration :-

1. It is a process of dialogue between what you are and what you really want to be: It
is a process of focusing attention on ourself, our present beliefs and aspirations vis--vis what
we really want to be (that is to say, what is naturally acceptable to us). If these two are the
same, then there is no problem. If on investigation we find that these two are not the same,
then it mans we are living with this contradiction (of not being what we really want to be)
and hence, we need to resolve this contradiction this conflict within us. It is a process of
discovering that there is something innate, invariant and universal in all human beings. This
enables us to look at our confusions and contradictions within and resolve them by becoming
aware of our natural acceptance.
2. It is a process of self evolution through self investigation: It successively enables us to
evolve by bridging the gap between what we are and what to be. Hence, the self
exploration leads to our own improvement, our self evolution we will become qualitatively
better.
3. It is a process of knowing oneself and through that, knowing the entire existence: The
exploration starts by asking simple questions about ourself, which gives our clarity about our
being, and then clarity about everything around us.
4. It is a process of recognizing ones relationship with every unit in existence and
fulfilling it: It is a process of becoming aware about our right relationship with other entities
in existence and through that discovering the interconnectedness, co-existence and other in
the entire existence, and living accordingly.
5. It is a process of knowing human conduct, human character and living accordingly: It is
a process of discovering the definitiveness of human conduct and human character and
enabling one to be definite in thought, behavior and work.
6. It is a process of being in harmony in oneself and in harmony with entire existence: This
process of self exploration helps us to be in harmony with ourself and with everything
around.

5
7. It is a process of identifying our innateness and moving towards self organization and
self expression: This process of self exploration helps us to identify our swatva and through
that acquiring swantantrata and swarajya.
Swatva: Innateness of self the natural acceptance of harmony
Swatantrata: Being self- organized being in harmony with oneself
Swarajya: Self-expression, self- extension living in harmony with others
Swatva Swatantrata Swarajya
The swatva is already there, intact in each one of us. By being in dialogue with it, we
attain swantantrata enabling us to work for swarajya.

Content of Self Exploration

1. The Desire/Goal: What is my (human) Desire/ Goal?

2. Program: What is my (human) program for fulfilling the desire?
The main focus of self-exploration is myself- the human being. Basically, it should dwell
on the following two key questions:
1. What do I really want in life, or what is the goal of human life?
2. How to fulfill it? What is the program to actualize the above?
In short, the above two questions cover the whole domain of human aspirations and
human endeavour. Thus, they form the content of self- exploration.

Process of Self Exploration

Whatever is being presented is a PROPOSAL.

Dont assume it to be true immediately, nor reject it without proper exploration.
Verify it in your own right, on the basis of it being naturally acceptable to you,
o Not just on the basis of scriptures
o Not on the basis of equipment/instrument data
o Not on the basis of the assertion by other human beings.
Therefore, it is essential to carefully ponder over these on your own right. Neither accept
these as true immediately nor reject them prematurely without proper exploration.
Dont just accept / reject these only on the basis of the following:
Because something like this/ different from this, has been mentioned in scriptures,
Or, because it has been preached/ denied by some great men,
Or, a large number of people possess such a view / a different view,
Or it is claimed to have been verified through some physical instrument or, claimed that
this is beyond the domain of verifiability by physical instruments.
Then what to do
Verify on the basis of your natural acceptance
Live accordingly to validate it experientially
o If the proposal is true in behaviour with human leads to mutual happiness
o If the proposal is true in work with rest of the nature leads to mutual prosperity
Results in realization and understanding
On having realization and understanding we get
o Assurance
o Satisfaction
6
 o Universality (Applies to all time space and individual)
Remember, it is a process of self- exploration, therefore, it has to be authenticated by you
alone by means of verification at the level of natural acceptance and experiential validation. The
process is shown in the diagram below
Take for example: a proposal- respect is a value in human relation. When I verify at the
level of natural acceptance, I find that it is naturally acceptable to me. Similarly, when I behave
with respect, it is mutually fulfilling to me and to the other.
Thus the proposal is True. If it fails on any of the two tests, it is untrue.
This verification leads to realization of the truthfulness of the proposal and it becomes
part and parcel of my understanding. It is reflected in my thoughts and in my behavior.

- It is a proposal Process of Self Exploration

o Dont assume it to be true
o Verify it in your own right
 Not on the basis of scriptures
 Not on the basis of readings from instrument
 Not on the basis of others
- Self verification
live according to
Proposal
Verify on the basis behaviour with work with rest of the
of your natural human leads to nature leads to mutual
acceptance mutual happiness prosperity

Mechanism of Value Education

If one can explore and understand the self in such a manner that he/she grasps the essence
of the self there may never need to be any reason for psychological help at a large stage. The two
mechanisms for self exploration may be identified as;

Natural Acceptance, and

Experiential Validation.

Natural Acceptance:
Natural acceptance implies unconditional and total acceptance of the self, people
and environment. It also refers to the absence of any exception from others. Once we fully and
truly commit ourself on the basis of natural acceptance, we feel a holistic sense of inner
harmony, tranquility and fulfillment.
Actually natural acceptance is way to accept the good things naturally. Learn everything
that is good from others, but bring it in, and in our own way absorb it; do not become others.
In other words natural acceptance is process understand ourself first. Try to find out the
ego stage. Try to reduce that. Open our eyes and look around. The world is full of good things.
We need to accept the right naturally. Once it starts coming naturally, we will feel that we are
actually upgraded ourself and now we are above then the rest of the world. Problems are the part
of life and natural acceptance is the answer of that.

Characteristics of Natural Acceptance

a. Natural acceptance does not change with time
b. It does not depend on the place
c. It does not depend on our beliefs or past conditionings

7
 d. This natural acceptance is constantly there, something we can refer to
e. Natural acceptance is the same for all of us: it is part and parcel of every human being, it
is part of humanness

Experiential Validation:
Experiential validation is a process that infuses direct experience with the learning
environment and content. It may be regarded as a philosophy and methodology in which
the direct experience and focused reflection of the individual helps to increase knowledge,
develop skill and clarify values.
We are often told to accept ourselves for who are. Most of what we know about our self
is not only through our own opinion of our self but also because of how others view us. When
what we already believe to be true of us is validated by some situations, phenomena or outcomes.
We may term it as experiential validation.

What is the State Today?

Today, we are not oriented enough to evaluate our beliefs or assumptions and we treat
them as our personal life. We generally keep them secure in the name of personal life and
freedom. We usually become very sticky about them without really verifying them. When these
come in conflict, we try hard to search out justifications and make all efforts to defend our own
assumptions. In the process, we cheat us ourselves as well as others.

What is the Way Out? What Do We Need To Do?

Realization and Understanding:
As we continue with the process of verification of proposals on the basis of our natural
acceptance and test it out in our living, it ultimately results in realization and understanding in us.

- It is a proposal
Process of Self Exploration
o Dont assume it to be true
o Verify it in your own right
 Not on the basis of scriptures
 Not on the basis of readings from instrument
 Not on the basis of others
- Self verification live according to
Proposal
Verify on the basis behaviour with work with rest of the
of your natural human leads to nature leads to mutual
acceptance mutual happiness prosperity
Result in
Realization and Assurance
Understanding Test Satisfaction
Universality
Keep asking again and again:
what is my natural acceptance?
Time Space Individual

The answer we get should be assuring, satisfying and universal. Universal means the
answer should be same for everyone. They are invariant with respect to time, space and
individual. If the answers we get do not fulfill any of the criteria it means the answer is most
likely coming from our past beliefs/conditioning and not from our natural acceptance.
8
 Topic : Basic Human Aspirations Continuous Happiness and Prosperity

Happiness
Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love,
satisfaction, pleasure or joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical
approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. Happiness may be described
as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities. There may be three kinds of happiness:
pleasure, engagement, and meaning. In other words, freedom from want and distress,
consciousness of the good order of things, assurance of ones place in the universe or
society, inner peace and so forth. Happiness is the state of mind, where we feel good in most of
the walk of life.
Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life;
or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion.
Some researches, such as David T. Lykken, have found that about 50 % of ones
happiness depends on ones genes, based on studying identical twins, whose happiness is 50 %
correlated even when growing up in different houses. About 10 % to 15 % is a result of various
measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health,
income, sex and others. The remaining 40 % is a combination of unknown factors and the result
of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. These actions may vary
between persons; extroverts, for example, may benefit from placing themselves in situation
involving large amounts of human interaction. Also, exercise has been shown to increase ones
level of momentary subjective well being significantly.

Prosperity
Prosperity is the state of flourishing, thriving, success or good fortune. Prosperity
often encompasses wealth but also includes other factors which are independent of wealth
to varying degrees, such as happiness and health.
The word means the sum of three aspects health, wealth and wisdom. Almost all of us
feel that wealth alone means prosperity and try to explain this phenomenon on this non-existent
or half fact. This is the state of enlightenment towards better life and happy society.

Difference between Prosperity and Wealth:

Wealth is a physical thing. It means having money or having a lot of physical facilities or
both. Prosperity is a feeling of having more then required physical facilities.

9
Prevailing Notions of Happiness and Prosperity:
We are trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and
consumption of physical facilities. It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and
threatening the human survival itself. Some of the consequences of such trend are summarized
below:
At the level of individual rising problems of depression, psychological disorders,
suicides, stress, insecurity, etc.
At the level of family breaking of joint families, mistrust, conflict between older and
younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, etc.
At the level of society growing incidence of terrorism and naxalism, rising
communalism, spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations, etc.
At the level of nature global warming, water, air, soil, noise etc. pollution, resource
depletion of minerals and mineral oils, etc.

Topic : The Programs to Fulfill Basic Human Aspirations

Basic Requirements for Fulfilling the Aspirations

The basic requirements for fulfilling the aspirations of every human being are:
Right Understanding: This refers to higher order human skills the need to learn and
utilize our intelligence most effectively.
Good Relationships: This refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person builds in his
or her life at home, at the workplace and in society.
Physical Facilities: This includes the physiological needs of individuals and indicates the
necessities as well as the comforts of life.
We can say that these requirements are patterned on the lines of the hierarchy of needs.
Abraham Maslow has given the concept of the hierarchy of needs. According to him there are
five needs which can be placed in a hierarchy depending on which needs a person initially strives
to fulfill. The lowest needs are the physiological needs. Once these are fulfilled, they are
followed by safety and security needs. These are followed by social needs. The next level of
needs relates to the persons need for self-esteem. The highest order need relates to the need of
self-actualization and will only become important if all the other needs are fulfilled.
10
We can verify this by a set of proposals.
Physical facilities are necessary for human beings.
Physical facilities are necessary for human beings and they are necessary for animals.
Physical facilities are necessary and complete for animals, while they are necessary but not
complete for humans.

For Animals : Animals need physical things to survive, mainly to take care of their body.
For Humans : While physical facilities are necessary for human beings, they are not complete
by themselves to fulfill our needs. Our needs are more than just physical facilities;
Besides physical facilities, we want relationship.
By relationship, we mean the relationship we have with other people, or human beings;
father, mother, brother and sisters, our friends, our teachers; we desire good relationships with all
of them.

We Want:
In Relationship: Mutual Fulfillment: If there is a problem in relationship, we feel uneasy, it
bothers us. Even if we are interacting with someone, and something we said or did offends them,
it makes us uneasy; i.e. we want mutual fulfillment in relationship.

In Physical Facilities: Prosperity in Us, Enrichment in Nature: Prosperity means the feeling
of having or being able to have more physical facilities than is needed. If we dont have the
feeling of prosperity we will exploit others. Similarly as we interact with nature for our various
physical needs, either exploit nature or enrich it. But our natural acceptance is that we want to
live in harmony with nature.

11
What is Our State Today
In Relationship
We are unable to have fulfilling relationships all the time: in family, outside family, and
as a society in the world at large.
In Physical Facilities
We want to feel prosperous, but end up working only for accumulation of wealth. We
want to enrich nature, but are exploiting it, destroying it.

Why we are in This State? Living with Wrong Assumptions

What is the Outcome of the Misconception?

At the level of individual Rising problems of depression, anxiety, suicides, stress,
insecurity, increasing health problems, lack of confidence and conviction etc.
At the level of family Breaking up of joint families, mistrust and disharmony in
relationships, divorce, generation gap, dowry deaths, neglect of older people etc.
At the level of society Growing incidences of terrorism, violence, communalism, racial and
ethnic struggle, corruption, adulteration, sex-crimes exploitation, wars between nations,
proliferation of lethal weapons etc.
At the level of nature Global warming, weather imbalances, depletion of mineral and
energy resources, deforestation, soil degradation etc.
All the problems are a direct outcome of an incorrect understanding, our wrong notion
about happiness and prosperity and their continuity this is an issue for serious exploration.

12
What is the Solution? The Need for Right Understanding
In order to resolve the issues in human relationships, we need to understand them first,
and this would come from right understanding of relationship.
Similarly in order to be prosperous and to enrich nature, we need to have the right
understanding. The right understanding will enable us to work out our requirements for
physical facilities and hence correctly distinguish the difference between wealth and prosperity.
With nature as well, we need to understand the harmony in nature, and how we can complement
this harmony.

Two Categories of Persons

Presently, as we look around, we find most of the people in the following two categories:
SVDD Sadhan Viheen Dukhi Daridra Materially deficient Unhappy and deprived.
SSDD Sadhan Sampann Dukhi Daridra Materially affluent - Unhappy and still deprived (not
so prosperous)
While the natural acceptance of all human beings is to be:
SSSS Sadhan Sampann Sukhi Samriddha Materially adequate Happy and prosperous.

Our Program: Understanding and live in harmony at all levels of living

1. Right understanding
2. Relationships
3. Physical facilities
Our state of happiness or unhappiness depends on the above three aspects. If we have
right understanding, then we can be happy in ourselves and we do not have the right
understanding, then we have problems. Thus, our happiness depends on the fulfillment of these
three basic requirements.

Our State Today:

There is conflict/contradiction in our thoughts or living at most of these levels of
existence, we are unable to naturally accept our own thoughts and living. These problems are
basically because of lack of right understanding. We do not even understand ourselves properly.
What we need how much of it do we need, what we value we have not understood this
properly.

Animal Consciousness and Human Consciousness

Giving all priorities to physical facilities only or to live solely on the basis of physical facilities,
may be termed as Animal consciousness
For animal, physical facility is necessary as well as complete whereas for human beings it
is necessary but not complete.
Working only for physical facilities is living with Animal Consciousness.
Working for right understanding as the first priority followed by relationship and physical
facilities implies living with Human Consciousness.
There is a need for transformation from Animal Consciousness to Human Consciousness.
It can be accomplished only by working for right understanding as the first priority.
This transformation from Animal Consciousness to Human Consciousness forms the basis
for human values and values based living. This is the prime objective of the present course.

13
14