Informed by the most up-to-date research from around the world, as well
as examples of good practice, this handbook analyzes values education in
the context of a range of school-based measures associated with student
wellbeing. These include social, emotional, moral and spiritual growth -
elements that seem to be present where intellectual advancement and
academic achievement are being maximized. This text comes as 'values
education' widens in scope from being concerned with morality, ethics,
civics and citizenship to a broader definition synonymous with a
holistic approach to education in general. This expanded purview is
frequently described as pedagogy relating to 'values' and 'wellbeing'.
This contemporary understanding of values education, or values and
wellbeing pedagogy, fits well with recent neuroscience research. This
has shown that notions of cognition, or intellect, are far more
intertwined with social and emotional growth than earlier educational
paradigms have allowed for. In other words, the best laid plans about
the technical aspects of pedagogy are bound to fail unless the growth of
the whole person - social, emotional, moral, spiritual and intellectual,
is the pedagogical target. Teachers and educationalists will find that
this handbook provides evidence, culled from both research and practice,
of the beneficial effects of such a 'values and wellbeing' pedagogy.