Abstract
This chapter begins by noting that the relationship between values education and the promotion of wellbeing needs to be clarified if these two concerns are to be incorporated into the curriculum. It analyses alternative conceptions of the role of wellbeing and values education in the curriculum, with particular attention being given to Personal and Social Education and Citizenship Education within the National Curriculum in England. It differentiates various conceptions of wellbeing, including the following: whether it is seen narrowly as a state of mind or more broadly as human flourishing; whether it is open to objective measurement or only to subjective perception; whether it is seen as a short-term state or a long-term condition; and how far its achievement is seen as dependent on social conditions. It shows that official attempts to differentiate Personal and Social Education from Citizenship Education in the English National Curriculum have led to discussion of values being located mainly in the latter, while wellbeing is associated mainly with the former. It is argued that this demarcation makes too sharp a distinction between the personal and the political (where there is no such distinction in underlying values) and rests on too narrow and individualistic a view of wellbeing.
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Notes
- 1.
The reference to England rather than to the United Kingdom is deliberate, since in areas of values education and concern with wellbeing there are significant differences between different parts of the United Kingdom (arguably, the approaches of Scotland or Northern Ireland may be better than that of England). Also, the National Curriculum to which I refer below applies to England and in most respect to Wales but not to Scotland or Northern Ireland. To avoid the complexities of untangling throughout this chapter which remarks apply to which parts of the United Kingdom, I shall refer only to England throughout.
- 2.
It is often suggested that knowledge and understanding of the values and beliefs of others can be important in the development of tolerance and respect for others, and hence in the maintenance of harmonious coexistence between different cultures in a plural society. The relevance of such knowledge and understanding to an individual’s own self-reflection, and hence to wellbeing, is less often noted.
- 3.
Often in England there have been different public agencies responsible for advice, policy or administration of different aspects of education. This loose structure was reflected in the 1990s in attention to spiritual and moral development: within a space of 3 years, papers were published on the subject by Ofsted (1994), the National Curriculum Council (NCC, 1993) and the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA 1996).
- 4.
Most notably the case of James Bulger, a toddler abducted and killed by two boys who were aged 10Â at the time.
- 5.
The statement can be downloaded from http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/Values-aims-and-purposes/ (accessed June 1, 2009). It is also reprinted in Talbot and Tate (1997). For commentary on the statement and follow-up work by SCAA see Haydon (1998).
- 6.
The Statement of Values survives in a somewhat attenuated form in more recent National Curriculum documentation: see ‘Values underpinning the curriculum’ at http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/aims/index.aspx (accessed June 1, 2009).
- 7.
- 8.
The above comparison is based on the 2007 programmes of study for PSHE in Key Stages 3 and 4 and for Citizenship in Key Stages 3 and 4 (QCA 2007a–2007f). These are available as downloads from http://www.qca.org.uk. Changes may have been made to the PSHE programmes by the time of publication of the present volume.
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Haydon, G. (2010). Values and Wellbeing in the Curriculum: Personal and Public Dimensions. In: Lovat, T., Toomey, R., Clement, N. (eds) International Research Handbook on Values Education and Student Wellbeing. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8675-4_12
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