Students Need Virtue Cultivation Over Values Education

Schools should teach universal and timeless virtues rather than attempting to teach a set of values no longer shared by all.

Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash

If I had been around fifty or sixty years ago and you had asked me if public schools should teach values, I would have certainly said yes. Even though we were a diverse population, as a nation, we shared common values that were generally in line with Judeo-Christian principles. Back then, The Ten Commandments could be prominently displayed in schools because, regardless of religious affiliation, most people in America believed murder, adultery, and stealing was wrong and agreed children should honor their parents. 

Today, I would say no if you asked whether public schools should teach values. That may sound strange, considering the current behavior issues teachers and administrators have to deal with increasingly. Still, I no longer believe teaching values effectively in a public school setting is possible. Before you get angry and stop reading, consider that values now vary widely as our public school classrooms become even more diverse and culture changes. The Ten Commandments stopped being displayed in schools because some claimed they violated the First Amendment, but I would argue the lack of universal agreement regarding the last six commands was a major factor as well.

Consider the command to “honor your father and mother.” Who would have imagined that we would be in a place where public schools actively dishonor parents as they keep secrets and withhold important information regarding their children? The next command, “You shall not murder,” seems like it would be widely accepted. Yet, the largest teachers union in the country supports and promotes abortion (the murder of unborn babies) and wants it presented to students as a “right.” 

Few couples would ever claim to have a perfect marriage, and adultery has existed longer than any of us. However, until fairly recently, promiscuity within a committed relationship was frowned upon, or at least not publicly celebrated, and a certain level of public decorum regarding sexuality was expected. Just last week, Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of sex education, proudly encouraged people not to feel shame or shame others for their “kink.” It makes you wonder if the seventh command was exceptionally abrasive to the organization bent on sexualizing children at school.

I could get into the details of the notion that stealing is just considered an act of reparations by some. I could lament the false witness our media bears against so many today. And I could give thousands of examples of how social media has increased a covetous nature in people, cultivating greed and narcissism. But the point is, with such differing views of what constitutes values in our society today, public schools are not capable of teaching them effectively.

Public schools are capable, however, of teaching virtues. Virtues are universal and timeless and focus on moral excellence in any circumstance. They are applicable across families, faiths, cultures, and communities. Virtues are traits that can and should be taught and cultivated outside of current events in our society using examples of individuals who displayed them in the past. Children can learn about courage, patience, honesty, self-control, humility, and perseverance from people who displayed those exact virtues in real or fictional situations. They can be given opportunities in school to practice those virtues through interactions with their peers and teachers and see the impact a virtuous society has on the culture around them.

Some may argue this is impossible because many public school students come from homes that do not embrace or cultivate virtues. That same argument can be made for the values they try to teach. Not all families want schools to teach their children about gender identity, but most families would likely be grateful if the schools taught and cultivated personal fortitude. Unlike the current “values education” material used for Social Emotional Learning instruction that often leaves parents wondering what their children are learning, virtue cultivation could catalyze great conversations in the car or around the dinner table. Imagine how our society might change if families regularly discussed and demonstrated traits like patience, charity, and temperance as homework assignments.

In the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” Virtues are the necessary ingredient students need to thrive and truly experience the freedom this life and nation affords them. It’s time to replace “values education” with “virtue cultivation.”