Values and good habits in school are increasingly absent resources. And it is that, focusing only on learning the knowledge that children can acquire is not a good strategy, because sooner or later they will also need certain values to know how to correctly apply everything they learn. Without values there can be no positive social results , but… how can we implement them in school?
Many times the need for values to be something that is learned at home and not at school is debated, but the truth is that for the little ones to find the logic to this type of teachings and behaviors, they must be able to recognize them in all those sites around them that influence, in one way or another, their education and development. In other words, school should be another place in which to bet on the teaching of positive and appropriate habits for the incorporation of the youngest in society.
For this reason, and so that it can be a little clearer, in this article we leave you some ideas so that you can carry out a classroom planning that also includes the importance of values and essential habits, without having to incur in those areas that they logically belong to the parents.
Strategies to implement values in the school
- Organize tasks associated with movies
Films are a key resource for understanding essential values and habits in life, and their easy viewing (if appropriate titles are chosen at the level of children) can help children understand things much better . Some films may be related to the classroom, others to the day-to-day life of families, others to special dates such as Christmas… The films should be viewed in the classroom so that they form part of the planning and can be held after discussions and exercises . This is also useful to avoid that a child cannot see it due to lack of time, means or disposition at home.
- Encourage “schools for parents” programs
The “schools for parents” programs that are implemented in some schools seek to address issues related to positive values and habits for children and seek related mechanisms of action . It is in these spaces where parents are explained the problems caused by their children’s lack of values and how to help them solve it. Without the help of parents and teachers as a team it is difficult for children to progress.
- Take into account reading in values as part of the educational program
Within the evaluations, readings and reflections on the values and habits of society can also be taken into account. For young children there are many stories that are designed to transmit values of friendship, coexistence, tolerance and explain their concept with examples. For older children there are more complex stories that they can read with the help of their teachers and parents. For example, many schools use the French classic “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, ideal for promoting reflection on human behavior.
- Promote love from parents to children
It may seem obvious, but it is not a frequent fact in society to promote and contemplate ways of strengthening these relationships, in principle natural. It has been shown that the main source of human empathy lies in the experience of love that parents transmit to their children, and that is why it is very important to influence this aspect to avoid cases of rejected, humiliated or abandoned children . It is necessary that parents have this knowledge and strive to connect with their children in a positive way, and empathy is the best ability that can exist to understand the suffering of the other, their needs and wants.
And you, do you already include positive values and habits in your classroom planning?
