News  -  November to December 2002

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In This Issue: Focusing on the Value of: Responsibility    From the Editor's Desk    Worldwide Events Argentina, Brazil and South Africa: Training for Street Children Agencies Australia: Weekend for Parents and Children Australia: Teacher Trainings Australia: Introductory Workshop on LVEP for Educators China: International Symposium France: Living Values Training Course Jamaica: Training Programmes for Teachers Singapore: Dialogue on Transitioning to Values-based Discipline Singapore: Refresher Workshop on Understanding Cooperation Singapore: Educators' Training at CHIJ Katong Primary School Switzerland: Introductory LVEP Session United Kingdom: Annual International Train-the-Trainer  Worldwide Happenings Argentina:  LVEP School?s children receive award in UNESCO?s ?Draw Me Peace? contest Canada: LVEP reaches diverse groups Israel: LVEP children receive special award in UNESCO?s ?Draw Me Peace? Romania: Educators and schools open doors to Living Values Seychelles: LV Educator Seminar and National Conference South Africa: Living Values by candlelight Vietnam: Street Educators try the new street children activities Coming soon to Living Values e-News ....  Focus on Simplicity - in our next issue Subscribe and Submit News Submit your News Subscribe to e-News Thank You!     Previous Issues of Living Values e-News

To Our Readers

news@livingvalues.net

Welcome to the nineteenth issue of Living Values e-News, the electronic newsletter of Living Values: An Educational Program.

 

As education systems seek to reorganize themselves so that they may better provide for the needs of our children and youth, increasing universalization of primary education, expansion of higher education and rapid social, economic and cultural changes are converging to exert tremendous pressure on secondary education.  With this in mind, the 8^th UNESCO-APEID International Conference on Education was convened in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2002 with the aim of developing new visions and strategies for secondary education reform.  As Conference organisers put it:  ??.secondary education is facing certain challenges concerning diversification of structures, expansion, involvement of parents, decentralisation, encouragement of local participation in running schools, curriculum reforms, the blending of local and national contents in the curriculum, the use of ICT, improving assessment and evaluation system, the transition from school to higher education and to the working world and the training and professional development of teachers.  In the future, secondary education will have to face further problems that are emerging due to contemporary shifts that are taking place inside and outside the system, such as from an industrial to a knowledge economy, from the traditional to the emerging technologies for the delivery of education, from local to international concerns and from academic learning to the learning of values.  Another important shift ? from Education for All to Quality Education for All has far reaching implications.  Accordingly, the quality of education is becoming redefined to include broader national development goals, the educational endeavours of shaping a well-rounded person with greater effectiveness and higher efficiency."

 

Living Values participated in the Conference, emphasising the need, given this context, for values education to move from rhetoric to reality.  Referring to the ubiquitous presence of value questions in daily life, Living Values? paper continued:  ?The question, then, is not so much how to fit values into the curriculum but how can there be any justification for leaving them out of the curriculum.  Instead of a bolt-on approach, trying to add extra content to an already packed curriculum, values need to be built-in, to both content and practice, as they need to be to our understanding of ourselves as individuals.  Values such as love, honesty, respect and responsibility are central to our concept of the human person and if education is to be complete and to address the whole child or youth, and indeed constitute a complete curriculum, it must expressly address values questions and see them as inseparable from cognitive development.?  

 

Contextually relevant and empowering values-education has a role to play in ensuring that the rights and needs of all people are met as part of the move towards overall sustainable human development.  In this regard it is not just those within the educational system that need to be provided for ? the disadvantaged, excluded, at risk and unreached must also be reached as well.  In our last issue we reported on the completion of the first two LVEP books of activities for street children and in this issue we report on successful trainings held for street educators in Indonesia and Vietnam while also announcing forthcoming trainings to be held in Brazil and South Africa.

The LVEP website - at http://www.livingvalues.net - warmly welcomes hearing from educators with one or two success stories (or even not-so-successful stories!) of values activities that they've tried in their classroom. 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: RESPONSIBILITY - Activities for Parents, Children and Young Adults

content@livingvalues.net

LVEP is a comprehensive values education programme. This innovative global character education programme 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, Cooperation, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance, and Unity. LVEP also has special materials for use with parents and caregivers, children affected by war, street children and children affected by earthquakes.

LVEP's Living Values Activities series of books is published by Health Communications, Inc. In each newsletter we bring into focus one of the values explored by LVEP, excerpting from this award winning series selected ideas and activities on each value. In the last edition the focus was on happiness; this edition focuses on responsibility.

 

A responsible person fulfils the assigned duty by staying true to the aim.  Duties are carried out with integrity and a sense of purpose. Global responsibility requires respect for all human beings.

What strengths within me allow me to be responsible?  Responsibility is a unique value which brings contentment to the self and benefit to others. A truly responsible person is a creator of positive change.  Explore the Reflection Points on Responsibility below in the light of your own experiences.

Reflection Points from Living Values Activities for Young Adults, Responsibility Unit.

• Responsibility is doing your share.

• Responsibility is accepting what is required and carrying out the task to the best of your ability.

• If we want peace, we have the responsibility to be peaceful.

• If we want a clean world, we have the responsibility to care for nature.

• When one is responsible, there is the contentment of having made a contribution.

• As a responsible person, I have something worthwhile to offer ? and so do others.

• A responsible person knows how to be fair, seeing that each gets a share.

• With rights there are responsibilities.

• Responsibility is not only something that obliges us, but is also something that allows us to achieve what we wish.

• Each person can perceive her or his own world and look for the balance of rights and responsibilities.

• Global responsibility requires respect for all human beings.

• Responsibility is using our resources to generate positive change.

To explore a few Living Values Activities on responsibility please click as indicated below for activities on Responsibility 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 Responsibility Ideas at Home for Parents   Excerpts from Living Values Activities for Children Ages 3-7 Responsibility Ideas at Home for Parents

"As members of the United Nations, we also bear a responsibility towards each other. Finally, we share together a responsibility to the world community for seeing to it that the principles of the Charter and of the international law and procedure which we have slowly but surely been building, are interpreted with judgment as well as with vision, and with moderation as well as with justice.'"

Mr. Lester B. Pearson, President of the seventh session of the UN General Assembly,
October, 1952

Worldwide Events

training@livingvalues.net   -  Online Calendar of Events

Argentina, Brazil and South Africa: Training for Street Educators and Agencies Caring for Street Children with Simultaneous TTTs

Argentina: 8-19 May 2003
Brazil: 24 April-5 May 2003
South Africa: 10-21 July 2003

Trainings for street educators and agencies caring for street children, with simultaneous train-the-trainer (TTT) sessions, will take place this year in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa.  For those who wish to be trainers in Living Values Activities for Street Children (LVASC) the training will be for ten days, while the training for street educators or other educators who wish to use the LVASC materials with street children will be for seven days. 

LVEP?s new books, Living Values Activities for Street Children Ages 3-6, LVASC Ages 7-10 and LVASC Ages 11-14 will be available for these trainings.  Written for use with small or larger groups of street children, the activities in these books can be used in different settings and at different tiers of service.  The materials contain adapted Living Values activities on peace, respect, love and cooperation and a series of stories about street children who form a street children family.  The stories serve as a medium to educate about and to discuss issues related to domestic violence, death, AIDS, drug sellers, drugs, sexual abuse and physical abuse.  The stories are combined with discussions and activities to help children and youth develop tools to release and deal with their pain while developing positive adaptive and protective social and emotional skills. 

 

During the training, street educators will be engaged in a conversation about the needs they see and their experience in creating steps towards a trusting, values-based relationship with street children.  Topics will include understanding the elements build into this psycho-social process, building active listening skills and learning the methods necessary to teach the protective social skills covered in during LVASC lessons.  Educators will be asked to participate in simulated groups, to identify needs within the group they are working with locally and to use mime, puppets and picture boards as instructional tools. 

 

The LVEP Team in each of these three countries will send to the LVASC TTT experienced LVEP Trainers who conduct regular LVEP Educator Trainings. These local trainers will assist during the TTT and constitute the support, follow-up and monitoring team for street educators who attend the training.

Trainees will typically be from agencies that care for street children and other educational organizations involved in educating street children, either in formal or non-formal settings. Each agency or organization that sends educators must commit to teaching at least three LVASC lessons a week to street children. This will allow, for example, children from 7 to 10 years of age to complete all 77 LVASC lessons in six months.  The LVASC lessons are considered of utmost importance as street children are in dire need of protective social skills. The agency or organization must also commit to allowing only educators who have been trained in LVASC to teach the LVASC lessons.

 

It is recommended that each agency involved send several street educators, or other educators who actively work with street children, as well as two people who have the educational qualifications and facilitation skills to be LVASC Trainers.  It is suggested that potential trainers be psychologists, social workers or educators with a background in psychology.  Excellent group process skills are important.  After these educators attend their second LVASC training, they may participate in small group sessions as co-trainers.

For further information, please contact:  
argentina@livingvalues.net  
brazil@livingvalues.net  
southafrica@livingvalues.net  

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Australia: 

Living Values Weekend Workshop for Parents and Their Children
21-23 March 2003 ; Wilton , NSW

LVEP Teacher Training
15-18 May 2003; Frankston, Victoria

Introductory workshop on LVEP for Educators
5- 7 September 2003; Leura, Blue Mountains, NSW

For further information, please contact:  
australia@livingvalues.net  |  Phone: 02 4784 2500

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China: International Symposium with workshops on ?Giving Value to Values Education?

13-14 June 2003; Hong Kong Institute of Education

Hosted by and held at The Hong Kong Institute of Education this symposium will focus specifically on the practice and practicalities of teaching Values Education in schools.  The event?s rationale is that there is widespread agreement that one of the main aims of basic education should be to equip children in schools with values and attitudes that will enrich their own lives, and enable them, as thoughtful and sensitive citizens, to contribute to society, and that the main problem with values education is therefore not its justification, but rather how to teach it in the classroom.

 

The symposium will attempt to draw together examples of best practice in Values Education from across the Asia Pacific Region, including but not be limited to, LVEP.  Keynote speakers will help to set the context and inspire discussion.  Workshop sessions will provide opportunities to engage with practical teaching approaches that can be used in the classroom.  

 

The organisers are currently calling for presenters to lead practical training workshop sessions, based on their experiences of teaching Values Education in schools ? either as a separate subject, extra-curricular activity or in the context of teaching their main subject area.  Those wishing to lead a workshop are requested to send a proposal, of not more than 400 words, to the email address below for onward transmission to and review by the organizing committee; requests for further information about attending the Symposium as a participant should also be sent to this address.

 

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

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France:

Living Values Training Course

10-12 January 2003, Moissac, South France

A Living Values training course is organized in Moissac, in the south of France, by the French LVEP Coordination Team from Friday 10 January at 6.OO pm to Sunday 12 January 2003 at 1.00 pm. There will be arts oriented activities on five values.

 

Un s?inaire de Formation ?la m?hode Living Values est organis??/p>

Moissac (Tarn et Garonne) par la Coordination Fran?ise, du Vendredi 10 janvier 2003 ?18 H 00 au Dimanche 12 janvier ?13 heures, avec des activit? ?base artistique permettant d'approfondir plus particuli?ement cinq valeurs.

Pour toute information et inscription: 

 

T?/ Fax: 33 1 46 36 20 44
E-mail: france@livingvalues.net 

 

For further information, please contact:  
france@livingvalues.net  |  Phone: 33 1 46 36 20 44

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Jamaica: LVEP Educator trainings

 

24-25 January 2003; Montego Bay
26-27 January 2003; Negril
30 January-1 February 2003; Kingston  

These, the first LVEP trainings to be held in Jamaica, will be conducted by Ed Wondoloski, Professor Emeritus from Bentley College School of Business, USA, assisted by Dr Simon Clarke, Dr Dolores Brissett and local LVEP coordinator, Chirya Reisling.

 

For further information, please contact:  
jamaica@livingvalues.net  |  Phone: +876 952 1743 

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Singapore: Dialogue on Transitioning to Values-based Discipline

20 January 2003; Bukit Merah Secondary School, 1.30-3.30 pm  

Bukit Merah Secondary School, which uses LVEP school-wide in its pastoral care sessions, will be hosting Ruth Liddle, LVEP Coordinator for South Korea, in this afternoon dialogue on the what, why and how of Values-based Discipline.

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

___________________________________

 

Singapore: Refresher Workshop on Understanding Cooperation

21 January 2003; Haig Girls' School, 1.30-3.30 pm

Appropriately taking place at Haig, the only school in Singapore where all the teachers are trained in LVEP, this workshop ? led by Ruth Liddle ? will encourage participating teachers to reflect on the value of cooperation and share ideas on how to transmit it.

 

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

___________________________________

 

Singapore: Educators' Training at CHIJ Katong Primary School

23-25 January 2003

Organized by the school's Vice Principal, Sylvia Liew, a keen supporter of values-based education, this 3-day LVEP educator training will be conducted solely for all 60 or so teachers of the school, the first such training in Singapore and is intended to lead to the taking of practical steps to create a values-based learning environment at CHIJ Katong Primary School.

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

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Switzerland: Introductory LVEP Session

2.00-6.00 pm, 1 February 2003; Maison des Charmettes, Lausanne  

The Swiss Association for Living Values has organized this introductory workshop session which will be conducted in French for primary school teachers.

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

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UK: International Train-the-Trainer Session

29 July-3 August 2003; Oxfordshire

The seventh annual International LVEP Train-the-Train programme will, as in previous years, be held at the Global Retreat Centre just outside Oxford, England.

 

In view of the popularity of this event, invitations to it are extended by national LVEP Coordinators; those wishing to be considered for an invitation should contact their country coordinator, or, if there is none, they should submit their name, experience and qualifications to lv@livingvalues.net.

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Worldwide Happenings

Argentina   LVEP School?s children receive first prize in UNESCO?s ?Draw Me Peace? contest

argentina@livingvalues.net

Warmest congratulations to the children at Colegio Jose Hernandez/Fundacion Hernandiana in Buenos Aires, Argentina on winning first prize in UNESCO?s ?Draw Me Peace Contest? in the 4 to 5 year old category!  Juan Horacio Seferche, the head of the College, and Maria Haydee, the main teacher, have worked with LVEP for several years.  As Moira Lowe noted, ?The school has been an amazing example of values.?  Many thanks to UNESCO for their inspiration in holding this contest for children around the world; amongst its outcomes: a clear demonstration that children believe in peace.

Canada   LVEP spreads widely within the local community

canada@livingvalues.net

LVEP Coordinator for Canada, Gudrun Howard, reported on a flurry of activities in recent months:

Canada?s first three day LVEP training took place in Halifax from 15^th to 17^th August 2002 at the Universalist Unitarian Church and was conducted by Diane Tillman, assisted by Judy Johnson and Michael Frank.  There were 22 participants including three school administrators, several elementary and junior high teachers, as well as participants from Family Resource Centres around the province.  The group reignited their appreciation of the role of values in their own lives and expressed much inspiration about working with children; many seeds for action were planted.  The creator of the League of Peaceful Schools has requested training for administrators and teachers throughout the Halifax Regional School Board and a Unitarian Church lay minister is publicizing LVEP through an article he is writing for a local magazine.

 

The second three-day training was held in Vancouver from 22^nd to 24^th August 2002 followed by a one-day TTT attended by 20 of the 31 trainees.  Participants included teachers from pre-school to high school, personal coaches, facilitators, a mental health professional and a martial arts teacher and came not just from British Columbia and nearby Yukon province but also from as far away as California, Iceland and Turkey.  Everyone expressed gratitude for LVEP and left with concrete plans for its implementation in their specific fields.  The 20 trainees who stayed on for the TTT found it to be very helpful as it deepened the initial training as well as providing training for the acquisition of presentation and facilitation skills.

 

A small group of 10 educators, including three who have been actively implementing the LVEP in their classrooms, gathered together in Halifax on the 24^th November 2002 to share inspirational stories about their work with LVEP.  More so even than their words, teachers? faces shining with enthusiasm were the clearest evidence of the Programme?s success.  A selection of some of the reports is below, including several from teachers who couldn?t attend but sent their stories in to be read:

 

?      A grade one classroom was transformed to include a "circle" space as the centre of the classroom with the desks around it; this visibly demonstrated the importance of "circle time" as the foundation of the classroom learning environment.

?      A family resource centre has been using the peace activities with parents and equipping parents with activities to take home and try with their children.

?      The Immigrant Settlement Association is using Living Values as a basis for supporting immigrants to live their own values as they integrate themselves into their new surroundings.

?      A YWCA (Young Women?s Christian Association) childcare centre is using the peace star puppet and finding that this is helping enthusiastic, listening students.

?     The YWCA afterschool programme is experiencing the benefits of the imagination exercises after a long day at school.  In one exercise, everyone lies on mats on the floor and imagines that they are taking rocket ship trips to swing on stars in outer space.

?      Terry Choyce is tirelessly promoting the Programme on her CKDU radio programme through production of pamphlets, taking books to all her teacher contacts and writing an article for the Source.

?      The Unitarian Church is planning to use LVEP this year.

 

There were also visitors from Alabama, including someone who will be working with the restorative justice programme with the Department of Justice and a Voice of Women representative; an educator training is planned for the summer so that more educators will have the opportunity to attend the training.

By way of other Halifax news, LVEP will be presented at the Catch the Wave national conference in May 2003 at St. Mary's University in Halifax and a two-and-a-half-hour experiential session will be conducted in the context of creating safe schools in safe communities.

 

Meanwhile, in Calgary, Alberta, a very successful LVEP training took place; dealing primarily with parenting concerns, it offered ways to implement LVEP in the home and, for three social worker participants, in the workplace.  Amongst the 14 participants were two young teenagers who attended along with their parents and were an inspiration to everyone present.  During a small group activity session focusing on the value of Respect, Kelly Sagan, 13, wrote the following lines:

 

?Respect gives Love, Generosity, Excitement and Happiness. It helps us to have a safe clean environment with no fear. If we were all respectful of (others) and the environment it would help us to live in this world with harmony.?

Israel   LVEP children receive special award in UNESCO?s ?Draw Me Peace? contest

israel@livingvalues.net

The drawings of the children from the Rotem pre-kindergarten in Ramla have won a prize for their work for UNESCO?s ?Draw Me Peace? contest with a submission entitled "Listening to Understand.?  The kindergarten teacher, Irena Haimov, is part of the team that started Living Values in Israel two years ago and her young students? work was for the 4-5 years? old age-group.  Enjoying the support of their parents, the children worked with much enthusiasm and colour copies of their drawings are being made for an exhibition.

Romania  Educators open their hearts and schools open their doors to Living Values

romania@livingvalues.net

At the invitation of Centre for Professional Development of Educators (Casa Corpului Didactic de Suceava) two educator training programmes were organised:  a three-day training from 28^th to 30th October 2002 that brought together 36 trainers and educators from the districts of Suceava and Falticeni and a two-day training on 31^st October and 1^st November attended by 26 local nursery school teachers.

 

The first workshop sought to introduce the methodology and spirit of the Living Values programme through a practical and interactive approach, and included discussion and experiential activities regarding:

 

• Awareness of the rationale and practice of a values-based approach to education, from a personal point of view, as well as in the capacity of teacher and as a developer of values in children;
• Communication skills needed to put a values-based approach to education into practice;
• Clarification and practice of the values in LVEP and the influence of its approach on the role of the educator; and
• Using a variety of methods, such as role-play, songs, music and movement, drama and art, exploration of the values of respect, love, co-operation, peace, freedom and unity.

The educators benefited greatly from the interactive approach and their understanding and love for fundamental human values was reawakened, inspiring them to put what they had learned immediately into practice in their classes.  Participants commented that the experiential approach of the programme helped them renew confidence in themselves as people and as educators.  Everyone, including pupils from Falticeni, was given the opportunity to bring his or her own personal, cultural and traditional contribution to the programme.  After taking part in the three-day training, the Director of the Centre, Mrs Luiza Butnariu, and her pedagogical team proposed a follow-up programme as well as further training in the region as part of their programme of continuing professional development for educators.

 

Four schools in Cajvana and a nursery school in Suceava invited the Living Values trainers to visit them to offer a glimpse of the educational situation in the Bucovina region.  Many thanks to LVEP Trainer Sue Emery and LVEP Coordinator for France Monique Liger, who conducted the training with the valuable assistance of Alexandru Matei, Romanian interpreter.  

Seychelles   Living Values educator seminar and national conference

seychelles@livingvalues.net

The National Council for Children (NCC) is the focal point for the Living Values Programme in the Seychelles and its Director, Ruby Pardiwalla, also serves as the National LVEP coordinator.  She recently filed this comprehensive update on activities in this beautiful Indian Ocean nation:

 

?In May 2002, a Living Values Train-the-Educator seminar was conducted for over twenty educationalists from the non-formal education sector working with children.  One of the recommendations of this workshop was that Living Values be introduced in the formal school curriculum.  LVEP Coordinator for China, Chris Drake, who was one of the facilitators at this seminar, met with the Minister for Education in the presence of the NCC Director, Ms Ruby Pardiwalla, to discuss ways of promoting the Programme.  Between May and September 2002 working sessions were held between NCC and the Ministry of Education and Youth, culminating in the organization of another training session, in September 2002, for a group of Deputy Heads and Studies Coordinators from all state schools on the main islands of Mah? Praslin and La Digue.  The four-day workshop was facilitated by Chris Drake and Maryline Low Hong, the NCC inter agency trainer, who had followed a LVEP Train-The-Trainer in Oxfordshire in July 2002.

 

The workshop was opened by the Ministry of Education?s Director-General for Schools, Mrs Jeanne Simeon, who said that there was ?a need for people to learn to understand, determine and appreciate what was of value to individuals and the community and to develop attitudes and values that could enable them to live harmoniously.?  She also added that ?educators are the shapers of behaviour and the ones who held the keys to instilling the ideals of universal values of peace, respect, cooperation, tolerance, unity and others in learners.?

 

At the closing session the participants shared their plans in the presence of the Principal Secretary of Education who handed over certificates to the trainees.  Their comments on the workshop included the following:  ?This workshop has helped me better understand my own children as well as those that have been entrusted to my care.?  ?It has broadened my knowledge and skills as to how to go about instilling in others the benefits I?ve gained and how it could also help to minimise the behaviour problems we are encountering in schools.?  ?This will help me become a better person.  Both my pupils and colleagues will experience the same thing.?  ?Without values nothing will work so I intend to invest my full energy and commitment in teaching this.? 

 

Tuesday 2nd October marked the opening of Teachers? Week in the Seychelles.  To launch the week?s activities a Living Values Conference was organised jointly by the Ministry for Education and Youth and the NCC and was well attended by Ministers, Principal Secretaries, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Members of the National Assembly, Head teachers and Members of the Parents? Education Council.  Children from Mont Fleuri School gave the participants an ?avant-gout? of Living Values by performing two songs while Mrs Geva Rene, Chairperson of the NCC, in her welcoming address reminded participants of the message of commitment delivered by children at the U. N. Special session on Children in New York earlier in 2002:  ?We have the will, the knowledge, the sensitivity and the dedication.  We promise that as adults we will defend children?s rights with the same passion that we have now as children.  We promise to treat each other with dignity and respect.  We promise to be open and sensitive to our differences.  We are children of the world, and despite our different backgrounds, we share a common reality.  We are united by our struggle to make the world a better place for all.  You call us the future, but we are also the present?.

 

The Conference was officially launched by the Minister for Education and Youth who said, ? Let us try to bring values into the heart of education and the learning experience of our children and youth.  Let us through Living Values promote a better world, a world in which we all live our values, love, trust and respect each other and move into the future with cooperation and understanding.?

 

In the keynote address, Chris Drake set the context:

"Education fails if its outcome is an individual who is intelligent, skilled and knowledgeable but unable to live, work and get on with others.  We must not just learn about respect and understanding but to be respectful and understanding of others and their rights and freedoms.  To live in society is to accept the moral obligation, and civic duty, of being conscious that society comprises other human beings with rights and desires that must be acknowledged if not accommodated.  However insignificant it may seem, even the smallest of courtesies or expressions of civility can make life much easier and pleasanter for others, as well as contributing to the smooth functioning of society overall.  Our actions do have an immediate impact on other members of society and their effect includes the fact that, starting from a young age, youth but also adults, observe the actions of others and then emulate what they see.  This makes all of us educators by the example ? good or bad ? of our actions.  As educators one and all we must envision the future we want and commit ourselves to doing what we can do to weld the present to that better tomorrow.  Education is of particular relevance in our endeavours to promote a free, egalitarian and harmonious society since, nurtured by education, it is in the human heart and mind that love, kindness, respect and responsibility may grow and flourish for all."

 

The President of the Seychelles, in his message to the teachers on ?Teachers? Day?, reinforced the emphasis on values in his statement that teachers are ?the key to everything that we do in education for they also have a crucial duty to inculcate in children and youth fundamental values that are required to eliminate hatred, injustice, discrimination, hostility and other sources of conflict that are detrimental to global peace and harmony.?

Conference participants undertook several Living Values activities and it was encouraging to see burnt out Head teachers relaxing and enjoying reflection exercises.  If they enjoyed it so much what about the children? 

On the 3rd October, Mr. Drake and the LVEP Coordinator, Ruby Pardiwalla, met with all the staff of the School at La Digue, one of the outlying islands.  Since three educators from La Digue School have been trained in Living Values it was considered an opportune moment to introduce Living Values in the school and, following this initial sensitisation, it is hoped that all staff will in due course undertake LVEP training.

 

During Mr. Drake?s mission, talks were held with the Principal Secretary, Director General and Director of The National Institute for Education (NIE), and with the Minister of Education, on how to chart the way forward.  It was decided that all teacher trainers would benefit from a Train-the-Educators workshop and, given that the NIE is also responsible for Curriculum Development in schools, consultancy would also be sought for appropriate ways of integrating Living Values in our curriculum.

 

Since the Conference, a few head teachers have expressed the wish to run sessions on Living Values for all their school staff.  The response is very encouraging and it is now up to decision-makers to act on this.?

South Africa   An enthusiastic response and ?Living Values by Candlelight? in Johannesburg

southafrica@livingvalues.net

LVEP coordinator for South Africa Grace Grimsell filed this report with Living Values e-News:

?A successful one-day LVEP training was held at Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School in Johannesburg on 12^th October 2002.  Schools represented were from the D9 District in the Gauteng Department of Education and participating educators left feeling very enthusiastic, having thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.  A participant from the Gauteng Department of Education pledged his support for LVEP and his assistance in arranging future training sessions.

 

All children and young adults who have received Living Values education in the province of Gauteng during the past year organized an evening of sharing which they called "Living Values by Candlelight."  Held at the Johannesburg College of Education on 28^th November 2002, the evening provided the opportunity for the young participants to share, through drama and song, the enrichment and growth they have experienced through Living Values education.

 

A series of one-day LVEP workshops, the first of which was held in August and the last on 3^rd October 2002 , was organized by the Department of Health in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal.  All workshops were well-attended and the last one was rounded off with a visit by all participating educators to Kideo Primary School in Pietermaritzburg ? an appropriate choice as this school has had great success since it incorporated LVEP into its teaching programme two years ago.?

Vietnam   Street educators try the new street children activities in Ho Chi Minh City

vietnam@livingvalues.net

From 7^th to 10^th October 2002, in the heart of Vietnam?s Ho Chi Minh City , a group of 40 educators who had previously had a three day LVEP Educator training gathered together in a simple room on the top floor of a local church.  Here Diane Tillman, the LVEP International Coordinator for Content and Training and author of the new series of Living Values books for street children, conducted a special training for Street Educators and Agencies Caring for Street Children and Children at Risk.  The educators were very eager to learn the new skills included in the specially-tailored training and identified closely with the characters from the stories in the new activities books.  Many of the educators felt that the stories provided a wonderful method not only to help young children develop positive values but also to acquire extremely necessary and practical skills to protect themselves from the numerous dangers they face in their lives on the street.  As part of the local context, it is important to note that even children living with their families are often exposed to the same risks and dangers as street children ? especially if their parents are drug-users ? and many of them go out to the streets to work to help supplement the family income.  These dangers include, notwithstanding that the children may not even be eight years old, being recruited by drug dealers first to use heroin and then to deal in it and being cunningly lured into hotel rooms with promises of money from paedophiles.  During the concluding session of the training, the educators shared very touching experiences and, appreciative of the valuable skills that had been passed on to them, committed themselves to the implementation of LVEP?s values activities for street children.

 

In December 2002 fifteen of the trainees gathered together for a half-day follow-up.  Sharing experiences of using the activities with street children and children at risk, they spoke of how the children listened with attention to the stories and then eagerly answered questions on them.  They reported that after carrying out the activities the children were calmer, more focused and cooperated better with each other; several of the teachers also mentioned that the children were enjoying the relaxation exercises.  The educators are now waiting to use the book of Living Values Street Children Activities for Ages 7-10 that is in the process of being translated into Vietnamese.

 

Also in Ho Chi Minh City, as local LVEP Coordinator Trish Summerfield reported, on 5^th November 2002 Living Values was among a guest-list of only 50 participants ? including the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr Khiem, and senior MPs ? at a one-day conference on methods to rehabilitate drug addicts.  The LVEP coordinator for Hanoi, Khanh, included Living Values in her presentation which was watched with great interest.  In their concluding comments several of the senior dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister, praised LVEP, commenting that LVEP was among the most inspiring approaches to helping those in recovery with their mental state and that LVEP should be taught in all the 65 Drug Rehabilitation Centres in Vietnam.

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