A Study on Values Education: “From Roots to the Future”

Abstract

Values are the behaviors and ways of thinking that guide human life and shape social relationships. The education of values, which are an important part of spiritual culture, begins in the family and continues, mostly implicitly, in educational institutions. One of the educational components of the teaching programs renewed with the Turkey Century Education Model of the Republic of Turkey has been determined as “National and spiritual values as a moral compass: Virtue-Value-Action Framework.” The purpose of this research is to investigate the sources of national and spiritual values, which are one of the components of the renewed teaching programs under the “Turkey Century Education Model” and are intended to be carried “from the roots to the future,” and to reveal the roots of the values expected to be realized in students within the scope of the “Virtue-Value-Action Framework” with examples. In line with this fundamental objective, the “document review” technique was used in the research; the data obtained from the relevant documents were described by conducting content analysis within a plan according to the values specified in the Turkey Century Education Model. Research on social values was conducted by drawing on history, literature, sociology, and different disciplines in the scientific and cultural fields. In the spiritual realm, the Quran and Sunnah, which serve as sources for values education in Islamic literature, have been examined. The study sought to identify indicators that would contribute to the formation of a discipline of national and spiritual values education that would shed light on the present day. The Turkey Century Education Model's “Virtue-Value-Action Framework” explains the values clustered around the umbrella values of respect, responsibility, and justice with examples from the past to the present. It is anticipated that these values are universal values that aim for what is good and right on earth, and that when blended with each society's own history and culture, they can be transmitted to new generations more easily and comprehensibly. The research describes how the pursuit of peace for humanity, the effort to create peaceful families and happy societies, and the need to create a livable environment have always been among the social goals of every era and have been nourished by national and spiritual values.