This document discusses the need for and process of value education. It outlines some key points: 1) Identifying basic aspirations and understanding universal human values are important to fulfill aspirations in a continuous way. Values and skills are complementary for success. 2) Evaluating our beliefs is important, as beliefs can change and may not reflect reality. Values should be based on understanding reality and be self-validated. 3) Value education should be universal, rational, natural and verifiable, all-encompassing by covering all dimensions of life, and lead to harmony within individuals and society. 4) Understanding human values involves studying humanity's role in the larger existence of living and non-living things. Value

1. Lecture-1 UNDERSTANDING VALUE EDUCATION By: PriyaJaidka

2. 1.1 Need for Value Education Correct identification of Aspiration: All human beings have aspirations. You may aspire to become a Doctor or Engineer or something else. You must have made few plans for your future. It is important to find out what is basic aspiration. one must need to identify his/ her basic aspiration. Aspiration means “wants” Understanding Universal human values to fullfil our aspiration in continuity: Identifying aspiration is not enough, we need to know how to fulfill our aspiration. Generally, we tend to pursue our goals in variety of ways as per our appraisal and beliefs.. We keep on making experiments, learning from them and accordingly improve our understanding. Complete understanding of human values gives us a definite way to fulfill our aspiration. Complementarity of values and skills: It is important to know what is really VALUEABLE for human being and what is really conductive to a happy and fulfilling life. This is VALUE domain. Then, one should know- How to actualize it? How to make it happen? This is the domain of SKILLS. Hence, there is an

3. essential complementarity between VALUES and SKILLS for success of any human endeavor. Endeavor means “ koshish, prayatna, try” Evaluation of our beliefs: If we look deep into ourselves, we find that each one of us believes in certain things and we base our ‘values’ on these beliefs, which may or may not be true in reality. For example, someone may believe that ‘Metro cities are the best places to live in’ or ‘success is the ultimate thing, by hook or by crook’. These beliefs come to us from what we read, see, hear, what our parents tell us, our friends talk about, what we see on the TV etc. These beliefs change with time, person to person. So, either we can blindly follow our beliefs and assumed values towards making our choices or we can base our choices upon values which are based on understanding of reality and we can ourselves validate them. Technology and Human Values: Technology is only a means to achieve what is considered ‘valuable’ for human being in an effective and efficient manner. It is not within the scope of technology to decide what is valuable. With the understanding of values, we can decide on use of technology and its application.

4. 1.2 Basic guidelines for value education Universal: It needs to be applicable to all the human beings and be true at all places and all times, it need not restrict itself to a certain cast, creed, gender or nationally etc. Rational: It has to appeal to human reasoning, not based on dogmas or beliefs. Dogmas means “belief, pre-decided, dharna” Natural and Verifiable: It has to be “naturally acceptable” to human being which must leads to fulfillment, happiness and conductive to other people we interact with, as well as with nature. We also would like to verify these values ourselves i.e. we don’t want to assume something just because it is written in a book or being told, we must verify them whether they are true for us. All encompassing: It needs to cover all the dimensions (thought, behavior, work and realization) and levels (individual, family, society and nature) of human life and profession Encompassing means “ include as part of something broader”

5. Leading to harmony: The value education is targeted to promote harmony within the individual, among human beings and with nature. Harmony means “ co-ordination, taalmel”

6. 1.3 Content of Value Education What are Human Values? Value of any unit in this existence is its participation in the larger order of which it is a part, for example: value of a pen is that it can write. Then, what is value of human being? This question implies what is the participation of a human being in the bigger order? That bigger order includes human beings, plants, air, water, soil, animals, birds etc. In order to understand human values, we need to study human being along with all that is there in the existence and the role of human being in the relationship with each unit in the existence. Scope of Study: Any course on value education must include: All dimensions- thought, behavior, work & realization All levels- individual, family, society and nature. Accordingly, the content of value education will be to understand myself, my aspirations, my happiness and understand the other entities in existence, understand the goal of human life, the co-existence, the self regulation and the recyclability in nature. It is to learn to live accordance with this understanding by carefully observing one’s thought, behavior and work.

7. 1.4 Process of Value Education The process of value education has to be that of Self- exploration. This self- exploration will be done on the basis of whether the “proposals” are naturally acceptable. Self- exploration will also include verifying the proposals through experiential validation i.e. by living accordingly to them. We need not agree to all that is said but only be ready to investigate into them.