The Values for Australian Schooling Kit which will be distributed to all schools will provide print, DVD and poster resources for values education professional learning and for conducting school values education forums.
Another DVD resource available to schools which can be used to support the design and delivery of school values education forums is the Discovering Democratic Values: Teaching and learning civic values (2004) DVD.
Produced originally for the Discovering Democracy programme, Discovering Democratic Values is a professional learning DVD, which examines a variety of perspectives in civic values education. It provides models and ideas as a stimulus for schools to reflect on their own practices and consider opportunities for implementing values education relevant to their own school communities.
As a resource for use in school values forums, this DVD offers a number of school case study segments which can be used as ‘discussion starters’ and as a means by which forum participants can reflect on other school experiences in relation to their own school practices.
Examples of values education activities from Discovering Democratic Values: Teaching and learning civic values.
View the following case studies that tell stories of Australian schools engaging their communities in values education programs.
* Whole school values education - Salisbury High School, SA (commences 11.15 min)
* Democratic values in a whole school values program - Point Lonsdale Primary School, Vic (commences 24.30 min)
* Congruence: home and school, policies and practice - Modbury School, SA (commences 30.35 min)
Discussion questions
Ask the forum participants to consider the following questions about one or all of the case study schools.
* What values are important to the school?
* How does the school make its values explicit?
* What process has the school used to define its values?
* How have students, parents and teachers been involved in the process?
* In what ways are parents and the wider community linked to the school?
* What benefits has this brought for parents, the community and the school?
* How are the guiding principles for values education outlined in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools(2005) exemplified?
