Student Teachers’ Experience of Values Education and Its Implications for Teacher Education

Despite numerous revisions to the curriculum, teachers worldwide lament the general lack of values and a moral degeneration among learners. Parents and teachers have also become despondent about social media’s overwhelming adverse influence in imparting values to these young people. Those values are crucial in helping them contribute meaningfully to society. Therefore, we are compelled to reexamine and reimagine how education in the twenty-first century acknowledges the role values can play in addressing worldwide challenges youth face. Furthermore, the pivotal role of the teacher in altering this alarming trend through infusing values education into their classroom practice becomes paramount. This chapter aims to report how a selection of student teachers perceive the role of values education, how they infuse values in their daily lessons during their school experience, and their views on teacher training in values education. Through interviews and surveys with 35 student teachers, data indicates the complexities and controversies surrounding their understanding of values education. Interesting patterns emerge regarding their strategies to infuse values in their daily lessons. Finally, the findings of this inquiry suggest important implications for teacher training in values education so that there is an acquisition of core values and fundamental human rights in safe and conducive learning environments.