Using the Teachers’ Values Game to facilitate teachers’ reflection on their own values

Abstract

At present, teacher education is focused on giving future teachers in-depth knowledge of the subject matter they are going to teach, while far less emphasis is placed on preparing them for their role as values educators. As students learn many important values through interaction with teachers, it is important that teachers start reflecting on their values and notice that values can be transmitted not only through subjects which deal overtly with moral content, but also through teachers’ conduct and a school’s overall functioning. In order to urge students to reflect on and discuss their values, the teacher must first acquire the same skills. In this paper I shall ask what universities should do to better prepare future teachers for their role as values educators. I will also show how a methodological tool – the Teachers’ Values Game – based on group discussions of moral dilemmas inherent in practical examples collected from real life, can help teachers to get to know their values and bring their behaviour in line with their own and their school’s shared values.

Keywords: ethical teacher; ethics in teaching; moral dilemma; value; teacher education; values education; values game; values clarification; character education; virtues, principles.