To Our Readers

Welcome to the eleventh issue of Living Values e-News, the electronic newsletter of Living Values Education.

"The ultimate aim of education is preparation for life", wrote Pestolozzi, the 18th and 19th Century Swiss educator. And in a polarized world where those of us with different options open to us often find them hard to choose between while many people are pitifully devoid of such possibilities, there is an urgent need for a close re-evaluation of the values the human family lives by. A central part of our continuing lifelong learning must therefore be for each of us to reflect deeply on and develop a clear understanding of the value choices open to us and then to adopt values conducive to our own good and that of society. Such values must become an integral part of each individual if they are to be woven into the fabric of society as a whole. So if education is to fulfill its higher purpose and provide a real foundation for life for the whole person, it must have positive values at its heart and the resulting expression of them as its aim. 

Living Values seeks to support educators in such work by offering practical, relevant and user-friendly materials and support for values education. In fulfilling such role, LVE has taken a major stride forward with its five main books being published for international use earlier this year, as reported on below. Translation of the materials is also ongoing, from English into Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Karen, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese; books in some of these languages are already available. 

Reports also continue to come in of the tremendous benefits that educators, parents and students are finding once they have started carrying out values-based activities. Ultimately, it is an inherent part of human nature to respond positively to values such as peace, respect, honesty and love and we relish the opportunity to experience them and make them a central part of our lives. 

LVE endeavours to help in the provision of such opportunities through its network of concerned individuals and we warmly welcome hearing from our readers with one or two success stories (or even not-so-successful stories!) of values activities that they've tried in their classroom or with their friends or family. So read on .... and, as ever, we hope that you'll do more than just read: please also send us your news - and go out and make some news!

With warmest wishes
The Editor

Focusing on the Value of: PEACE!   -   Activities for Parents, Children and Young Adults

Living Values Education (LVE) is a values education programme. It offers teachers and facilitators a variety of experiential values activities and practical methodologies to enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 key universal values: Cooperation, Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Humility, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance and Unity. LVE also has special materials for use with parents and caregivers, children affected by war and children affected by earthquakes.

In the first article of this edition of Living Values e-News, we announce the publication of LVE's Living Values Activities series of books by Health Communications, Inc. In this newsletter, and the months ahead, we'll be bringing into focus each of the values covered by LVE, excerpting from the books selected ideas and activities on each value. We start with the value of Peace as when teachers are taking up LVE we always suggest that they start with Peace. It is the foundation of many other values and it has been our consistent experience that all students are concerned about a peaceful world - even those who may actively fight. They are almost invariably finding the peace activities to be relevant and interesting while teachers appreciate the way the activities help reduce resistance and lack of motivation in certain students.

In its purest form, peace is inner silence filled with the power of truth. Peace is the prominent characteristic of what we call ‘a civilized society,’ and the character of a society can be seen through the collective consciousness of its members.

So what does peace mean to you? What is peace? When do you feel most peaceful? What do peaceful relationships give to the world? Do parents teach peace most powerfully when they are peaceful? How effectively can  we teach it if we're not at peace ourselves? What would a peaceful world be like? We invite you to use this focus on peace, perhaps to reflect on peace a couple of times in the next few days or do one of your favourite activities that give you that experience. You can read an excerpt on peace from Living Values: A Guidebook to stimulate thought; please click as indicated below for activities on Peace for Parents, Children and Young Adults. Young adults may wish to explore a few of the ideas with family or friends while parents may wish to take up some of the activities with their children. And do let us know how you get on or if you've got other experiences or activities you'd like to share! 

Excerpts from Living Values Activities for Young Adults    Excerpts from Living Values Activities for Children Ages 8-14  Peace Ideas at Home for Parents    Excerpts from Living Values Activities for Children Ages 3-7  Peace Ideas at Home for Parents

"Peace must begin with each one of us.
Through quiet and serious reflection on its meaning, new and creative ways can be found to 
foster understanding, friendships and co-operation among all peoples."

Mr. Javier Perez De Cuellar,
Secretary-General of the United Nations, September, 1986

Forthcoming Events

Australia: Values Education Programme for Teachers
17th to 20th July 2001, Adelaide

LVE and APNIEVE (the Asia-Pacific Network for International Education and Values Education) are inviting educators and would-be educators to a 4-day, non-residential LVE training led by international LVE trainer, Ruth Liddle.

For further information, please contact Jason Roberts at: 
bkadelaide@bigpond.com.au 

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Brasil: National Forum on Living Values in Education, A Vision of Peace
27th April 2001, Canela, Southern Brasil

A Living Values National Forum will be held in Canela on 27th April with the backing of the State Cabinet of Education, and representatives of the cabinets of education of the cities of Porto Alegre, S? Leopoldo and Canela in attendance. A children's choir will inaugurate the Forum and workshops and panels will include Living Values in Arts, Conflict Resolution, Self-Esteem for Educators and Living Values in Education. Private and state school educators and organizations outside the school sphere will share their experiences of using LVE while a children's recorder ensemble and a theatre group from Porto Alegre will also perform. Forum supporters include the University of Caxias do Sul which is also asking for an extension course on Living Values. 

For further information, please contact:
brasil@livingvalues.net 

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Cambodia: Living Values Train-the-Trainer
May 2001, Phnom Phen

LVE has been working with UNESCO and the Ministry of Education to organise a 5 day LVE training for Educators and Trainers in May to be conducted by Diane Tillman, LVE's International Coordinator for Content and Training, following which the Programme will be piloted by UNESCO and the Ministry of Education.

For further information, please contact:
cambodia@livingvalues.net 

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India: Train-the-Trainers sessions 
1st May to 8th June 2001, Mount Abu, Rajasthan

Four hundred teachers from Andra Pradesh are coming in groups of eighty, each batch undertaking a week's Train-the-Trainer programme before returning to their schools where they will be able to make use of the newly-translated Living Values Activities for Children Ages 3-7 in Hindi.

For further information, please contact:
india@livingvalues.net 

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Japan: Three-day Training Seminar
28th to 30th April 2001, Tokyo

This 3-day training seminar for those interested in facilitating LVE programmes for educators and parent groups will be led by Ruth Liddle, international trainer and Living Values Education Coordinator for South Korea.

For further information, please contact Evelyn Sasamoto at:
japan@livingvalues.net 

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UK: Fifth Annual LVE Train-the-Trainer 

The fifth annual International Living Values Education Train-the-Trainer session will be held at the Global Retreat Centre in Oxfordshire, starting at 5.30 pm on 28th July 2001 and concluding with lunch on 1st August.

People attending the LVE Train-the-Trainer will include educators, teacher-trainers, education officials and psychologists. In previous Oxford TTTs there have been participants from twenty or more countries. The TTT is not a values conference; it is a workshop on how to implement Living Values Education. It provides the opportunity to:

• Become acquainted with LVE and a framework within which values-based learning can be implemented within a system;
• Explore skills for the creation of a values-based atmosphere or ethos, participating in sessions that can be duplicated when conducting LVE training in local communities;
• Be part of an open and active process in which participants explore ways in which values can expressed and modelled; 
• Be part of a team in experiencing values activities for children and young adults;
• Network with other educators committed to positive self-development for children;
• Become familiar with selected components of the LVE Educator Training Guide; and
• Gain a sense of enthusiasm for involvement with LVE and values education.

It is our expectation that the professionals that attend will already have existing skills in training adults or facilitating groups and will be willing to commit themselves to conduct two LVE trainings in their own community. The seminar does not focus on developing facilitation skills.

This TTT is an invitation-only event and as no more than 70 guests can be accommodated at the Global Retreat Centre, participation is limited to a few from each country. Those interested in being invited should either contact their LVE, or, if there is none in the relevant country, LVE's International Coordinator, Gayatri Naraine, at
lv@livingvalues.net 

There is no charge for the LVE training and the Global Retreat Centre hosts guests without a fee for room or board. However, voluntary contributions are welcome and participants will need to take care of their own transportation requirements. 

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USA: Third Annual LVE Educators' Retreat

The third annual USA Living Values Educators' Retreat will be held from 23rd to 26th August 2001 at Peace Village, Haines Falls, in upstate New York. Once again, Peace Village will be transformed into a learning laboratory for Living Values educators from the USA and Canada.

Notes Ed Wondoloski, President of Living Values: An Educational Program, Inc.: ?It?s always exciting to observe the dynamic when educators of like mind come together to allow their creativity to be shared jointly in an extended weekend.? While the focus of the forthcoming retreat will be on the needs of schools in the USA and Canada, as in the past, a limited number of places will be available for educators from outside the USA.

Last year about 40 educators from the USA and Canada, and from as far away as Mexico, Trinidad and Mauritius, met at Peace Village. Amongst them were teachers, guidance counsellors, doctoral students, university professors and a school principal. The agenda included sharing circles, application of values in the classroom by subject matter, creating a values-based climate in the classroom, giving music and movement a values base, and strategies for values development. Reflecting on their time together, Martha Rickey, assistant principal from Public School 31 in Brooklyn, New York, observed: ?The August retreat was a wonderful way to get the school year started. It was so refreshing to speak, interact and exchange ideas with other professionals who have similar values.?

The objectives of this year's Living Values Educators' Retreat are for participants to:

• Have a clear sense of how to introduce values into the classroom;
• Be equipped with an age-appropriate values-based curriculum, which integrates values education into subject matters; 
• Practise values-based activities during classroom simulations; and 
• Become acquainted with available LVE support and resources.

US Third Annual LVE Educators' Retreat detailed information - including Invitation, Agenda, Q&A and Online Registration. 
 
For further information, please contact Ed Wondoloski at
usa@livingvalues.net 

Worldwide Happenings

HCI publishes LVE's Living Values Activities Books!

Health Communications, Inc., the publishing house in the USA best known for its Chicken Soup for the Soul series, just published LVE. Bright and colourful covers grace the  five books which can be ordered from HCI either directly at  www.hci-online.com or through the Living Values web site. Or, contact the Living Values Education Coordinator near you for larger orders and a special price!  The book titles are:

• Living Values Activities for Children Ages 3-7 
• Living Values Activities for Children Ages 8-14 
• Living Values Activities for Young Adults 
• Living Values Parent Groups: A Facilitator Guide 
• LVE Educator Training Guide 

Release of Framework for Action on Values Education in Early Childhood

This report was developed at the International Workshop on Integrating Values in Early Childhood Programmes and Services that was co-organized by UNESCO and LVE and took place in Paris, France from 20th to 22nd November 2000.

By way of background, the Education for All 2000 Assessment shows that of the more than 800 million children under 6 years of age in the world, fewer than a third benefit from any form of early childhood programmes. The situation is made more difficult by demographic pressures, increased urbanization, poverty, social exclusion, greater numbers of out-of-school children, AIDS, growing violence among youth and the impact of globalization.

Research confirms the importance of the early years in positively influencing children in a long-lasting way. The value orientations of children are largely determined by the time they reach the age of formal schooling. The first steps towards a lifetime of peaceful, non-violent activities, of respect for one-self and others and of appreciation of diversity may be taken during early childhood as children begin to mature and put into place their cognitive and affective frameworks.

During the 1999 UNESCO General Conference, representatives of several Member States expressed their concern about young children who did not receive the proper quality of education, or were not exposed to any education at all, or were part of communities where crucial values were being eroded. They also expressed their desire to find ways in which those values can be strengthened. UNESCO has received many requests from Member States relating to the issue of values education for young children both within a formal and non-formal educational framework, but also, for example, street children. Bernard Combes, from UNESCO's Early Childhood and Family Education Unit, approached Living Values at the end of 1999 with the request from Member states to discuss further ways in which LVE and UNESCO could work together in this particular area.

Building on this, in early 2000, UNESCO's Early Childhood and Family Education Unit launched, jointly with Living Values, an international initiative on  "Early Childhood and Values Education". This started an international discussion on the theme of Early Childhood and Values Education involving, among other aspects, the distribution of a questionnaire to Living Values Education Coordinators and educators, UNESCO National Commissions and field offices and other early childhood partners throughout the world. The questionnaire sought to identify experiences in this area, solicit recommendations on forms of concrete and practical action, and suggest ideas that could help prepare materials for Member States, educators, parents and others on this issue.

Review of the responses to the questionnaires, and further discussion, led to the decision to hold an International Workshop on Integrating Values in Early Childhood Education which duly took place from 20th to 22nd November 2000 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Developed during the Workshop was a Framework for Action on Values Education in Early Childhood, which is now available for reading and downloading in 4 formats - html (as a web page), .pdf, .doc and .rtf 

To help continue the momentum for positive action in this important field,  an Early Childhood section will be launched on the Living Values web site later this year. Do please send any relevant materials, ideas or experiences to us at:
content@livingvalues.net 

El Salvador: Disaster leads to special Living Values Earthquake Supplement

At the request of educators in El Salvador, a special Living Values Earthquake Supplement has been developed for children ages 3-7 and 8-14. After the recent January earthquake, many children did not return to school, and those that did were reported by their teachers to be more aggressive and anxious and lacking interest in their studies. A five day training from 26th to 30th March 2001 was organized and hosted by Balby Leon, Living Values Education Coordinator for El Salvador, Amparo de Turcios, founder of Colegio San Francisco de Asisi, and the Brahma Kumaris. Educators from several schools and the Universidad Tecnologica attended the training which was conducted by Diane Tillman and Valeriane Bernard, LVE's coordinator in nearby Costa Rica. The teachers were wonderful and demonstrated great love and compassion for the children. The day after the training, two of them started the lessons in one of the communities most affected by the earthquake!

For further information on the Living Values Earthquake Supplement, please contact: 
content@livingvalues.net

Turkey: Successful first training in Turkish

From Istanbul came this report by Sema Ozsoy, Living Values' coordinator for Turkey:

"A one-day training seminar for educators was held on 16th December 2000 at Bilfen College. The 60 participants were mainly teachers and staff of Bilfen College which consists of about 12 different kindergarten, elementary and high schools. This was the first LV Seminar to be conducted in Turkish and it was run by Bulent Ozsoy with Sema Ozsoy and Sevgi Gucum  also contributing in different parts of the seminar. The aim of the seminar was to present Living Values and demonstrate exercises which teachers could use in their classrooms.

The following points were emphasized in participants' evaluation forms:

1. All parts of the Programme were considered useful, especially the exercises on values, such as the mobile, value tree and creative visualization.
2. The interactive style of the seminar, working in groups and participating in the learning process, as well as the audio-visual presentations, contributed to the overall usefulness of the exercises.
3. The majority responded that there was nothing unsatisfactory in the seminar.
4. The approach of interactive learning and the use of silence appealed to many and they felt that they could apply these in their classrooms. 
5. With the awareness of values that the seminar created, the teachers felt enthusiastic to use the activities in their classrooms and considered extending their use to parents, their own families and community. 
6. The seminar was evaluated as very effective and extraordinarily effective in general. The contents and methods introduced received high scores. Some suggested that live examples and case studies would also be helpful. 
7. All participants suggested that other schools should also have the benefit of LVE and said they would inform others.

Bilfen College afterwards offered its auditorium free of charge to LVE for other seminars."

Vietnam: CamboKids develop a taste for Peace Cake

Living Values Education Coordinator in Vietnam, Trish Summerfield, filed this report with Living Values e-News:

"On the 19th and 20th February a group of 32 teachers and staff from CamboKids, a Cambodia-based NGO that works with Khmer street children, using a variety of games and activities, visited Vietnam and participated in two one-day Living Values trainings. It marked the first time we have conducted the training with a group of Cambodian teachers. It turned out to be two fun-filled days in which the group participated enthusiastically throughout. They particularly enjoyed the activity where they divided into groups and made world peace cakes. They felt confident that this was an activity which the children they work with would really enjoy. The training was also a wonderful opportunity for our Vietnamese LVE volunteers to meet with their Khmer neighbours and gain a greater understanding of them. Several close friendships were formed."

Lebanon: Training and Implementation stride ahead

From Beirut, we received the following reports of activities there and in Mount Lebanon:

"On 13th January, fifty educators from different schools in Mount Lebanon attended a one-day training in Brummana High School. This included the theoretical background of LVE, hands-on activities and personal experiences of working with the Programme at the American Community School that were shared by Rula Kahil (the local Living Values Education Coordinator) and Allie Farnlof. Educators were impressed with Living Values and a decision was made during the training session to start implementing it in Brummana High School in two weeks' time. In view of this, another training session was requested for the School's teachers to strengthen their skills and  give more opportunities for hands-on activities. The follow-on session was a great success. Teachers enjoyed the activities and got the chance to watch a video of different grade levels undertaking them at the American Community School in Beirut. LVE has now started in the school and the lower elementary school published their first journal on the value of Peace which contains children?s reflections, art work and views on Peace."

"On 31st March a one-day training was conducted at the American Community School in Beirut, attracting some 50 educators from different schools in the Beirut area.

The training was a combined effort of a team of teachers from the American Community School. The team included seven teachers that have been working with LVE in addition to young student teachers from the American University of Beirut and Lebanese American University.

The training was done in two parts. The first part was presented by Rula Kahil and Allie Farnlof and included the Programme?s theoretical background, guided imagery and exercises and skills needed for a values-based atmosphere. It also included conflict resolution techniques that were demonstrated through a role-play done by two-second grade students and Rula Kahil. One of the students played the role of the mediator and demonstrated skills and steps needed in conflict resolution. The two students, Dina and Mariam, also shared their own experience of Living Values and how they transferred this learning to their homes. Dina talked of teaching her sister and brother how to resolve their conflict and Mariam shared how she taught her mother that ?Arms are for Hugging and not for Hitting?. The girls showed courage and self-confidence in speaking in front of a large audience that included their parents, who responded with pride, love and respect for their children's courage. It was a very good learning experience for all teachers, students and parents.

The second part of the training was a hands-on exercise in which the auditorium was divided into 4 locations and participants rotated from one to the other on hearing a signal.

At each location, a teacher from a different grade level had an activity or a videotape to share with participants. Educators got the chance to work on the activities and to ask the teachers how the Programme was working for them. The Principal of Brummana Primary School in Mount Lebanon attended and showed participants the journal that was published after they finished LVE's Peace Unit.

The whole day was very successful and after the training was over most of the teachers stayed on to look around the auditorium where the work of students from different grade levels was displayed. There was great eagerness to look at the LVE sample books and Arabic translations and one of the schools, Al-Rawda Pre-school, made a commitment to start the Peace Unit directly after the Easter break."

What's NEW at livingvalues.net

• Values Education in Early Childhood - a Framework for Action
  Please see our story above for full details. The Framework itself is available here.
    
• Link to On-line ordering of LVE books
  As reported above, the five main LVE books are now available for purchasing on-line. You can link to the Publisher's site here.

Submit your News

Please send us:

• your success stories in using Living Values for the Impact section of our website;
• photographs for the News section of our website; and
• students only, your stories, experiences, feelings and inspirations about Living Values for the Children Participate section of our website. 

Hard copies of text and/or images may also be sent to the Living Values Office in New York: 

Living Values Education 
Office for the United Nations, 
866 UN Plaza, Suite 436, New York, NY 10017 USA 
Fax: +1 (212) 504 2798 

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