The Minister of Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, has released the report from the Government's Value Education Good Practice Schools Project - Stage 1.

Values education

The study is based on the involvement and findings of 26 clusters of schools across Australia that exemplify good practice in values education.

The National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools identifies nine values in education:

1. Care and compassion: Care for self and others.
2. Doing your best: Seek to accomplish something worthy and admirable, try hard, pursue excellence.
3. Fair go: Pursue and protect the common good where all people are treated fairly for a just society.
4. Freedom: Enjoy all the rights and privileges of Australian citizenship free from unnecessary interference or control, and stand up for the rights of others.
5. Honesty and trustworthiness: Be honest, sincere and seek the truth.
6. Integrity: Act in accordance with principles of moral and ethical conduct, ensure consistency between words and deeds.
7. Respect: Treat others with consideration and regard, respect another person's point of view.
8. Responsibility: Be accountable for one's own actions, resolve differences in constructive, non-violent and peaceful ways, contribute to society and to civic life, take care of the environment.
9. Understanding, tolerance and inclusion: Be aware of others and their cultures, accept diversity within a democratic society, being included and including others.

The National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools [PDF] is available online.

Good practice

The report determines good practice in a school through four criteria:

1. Articulating, in consultation with their community, the school's mission/ethos.
2. Developing student responsibility in local, national and global contexts and building student resilience and social skills.
3. Ensuring values are incorporated in school policies and teaching programmes across the key learning areas.
4. Reviewing the outcomes of their values education practices.

Study outcomes

The report states that good values practice education can:

1. lead to changes in teacher professional practice in classrooms and, in particular, in the way teachers relate to and communicate with their students
2. produce calmer and more focused classroom activity
3. enable students to become better self-managers
4. help students develop greater capacities for reflection
5. increase teachers' levels of confidence in their approaches to their work and their sense of professional fulfilment
6. produce strong positive relationships between students and between students and teachers.

The second stage of the study is currently underway.

The report [PDF 1.7 MB] is available for download.

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