ETHICS, INTEGRITY AND APTITUDE

IAS TOPIC - 1.5

G.S.
PAPER-IV

Role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values

Values
Values are concerned with character and conduct of a person and evaluate the voluntary
and habitual actions of individuals with reference to their being right or wrong. They are
moral principles or standards, which define what is right and good in human conduct.

Further some degree of variance is possible in value systems in different social

environments, in which a person lives and acts­ be it the family, the neighbourhood, the
place of work, the community or the country at large. However, at the root of all the value
systems, there are certain Universal Values, which are uniformly accepted. Such values
lead to the betterment of the entire humanity. In the given culture, some deviations may
come in the value­system due to the compulsións of the circumstances then prevailing.
Such deviations hold good in those circumstances and time only but do not hold good
forever.
The deviations in the value systems only lead to conflicts and wars and are againts
human development.
There are certain qualities/emotions, which are accepted as Universal Human Values
such as non­violence, gratitude, humbleness, forgiveness, integrity, honesty, patience,
innocence etc.
Personal values are those beliefs principles, which govern our perceptions and actions.
A value is what is desired or what is sought or what is important in life. The things in
which people are interested, things they want, to desire, to be or become, feel obligatory,
worship or enjoy. In other words, Values refers to the important and enduring beliefs or
ideals about right and what is wrong, what is good or desirable and what is not.
Values are shared by the members of a culture and society and they exert major influence
on individual behaviour. Values are important to the study of organizational behaviours

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because they lay the foundations for the understanding of attitudes and motivations and
because they influence our perceptions.

Need for inculcating values

Modern training and education has failed to produce citizens of character and integrity.
Roussou had said “back to nature”, but now is the time to say, “back to basic values”. The new
generation is drifting away from its history and culture. The crime and violence have spread to
all spheres of life. Without any doubt, the scientific discoveries have given rise to realistic
optimism, materialistic accomplishments, but the problems of inequity, conflicts, poverty,
apathy and anxiety are on the rise. This has proven that there is a great inadequacy in our
system and the education given in science and technology to our youth has failed to inculcate
human morals. Several thousand years old value­based cultural traditions of India have encoded
massively while in contrast, deterioration of value is experienced worldwide. This is why political
and economic corruption, scandals, scams, anti­social and anti­national activities are steadily
rising. The rapid degradation of values calls for a rethink on our priorities in life.
The human tradition of discipline has vanished from all institutions of society with the inevitable
consequences of inefficiency, corruption, injustice, destruction, conflicts, terrorism, frustration
and unhappiness. Against these, values such as love, truth, non­violence, patriotism, integrity,
punctuality, self­discipline, compassion, acceptance, courage, courtesy, equality, self reliance,
self­control, cleanliness etc. are required to be inculcated in the young mind.
Inculcating values
The environment of family, society and educational institutions leave a strong imprint
on the child’s psyche. They play a significant role in the inculcation of Values specially
social, emotional, moral, spiritual, democratic and environmental values. The conduct
and behaviour of elders of the family and teachers influence the conduct and behaviour of
the child very strongly. The thinkers and psychologists have laid great emphasis on the
creation of such environment and atmosphere in the institutions and the family which is
conducive for the inculcation of human values and for all round development of the child’s
personality. Watson, one of the leading psychologist declared, “Give me any child, I will
make him what you desire.”

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 Role of family, society and educational institution

The Role of Family

Several things have changed so far in life, however, the task, role and function of
families have not changed with time. The family has a responsibility to pass on to the
children many truths and values, and competencies. Family is regarded as the first school
of life. In order to shape the child to find his or her place in society with confidence, the
family needed throughout the life of a child.
A child is a product of a family. The values of the family reflect in his/her behaviour.
Family values are based on the relationship of affinity and touch mostly feelings, emotions
and interests established on mutual respect of people living in a family.
Mothers are the first teachers. She teaches eternal values of Truth, Right Conduct,
Peace, Love and Harmlessness (Non­Violence) to the child. From their mothers, children
acquire self knowledge, self confidence, learn self­satisfac­tion, self­worth, the capacity for
self­sacrifice and realise themselves as human beings, competent to move beyond the veil
of I, Me, Mine, to kindness, friendship, generosity, compassion, tolerance, responsibility and
service to so­ciety. These qualities, they acquire in the family.

Family helps inculcating Basic values. The family plays an important role in
developing values, mainly moral and spiritual values in the children. It also plays
the most important role in building the character of the child and transforms him into a
good human being.
 Truthfulness: Children are taught to tell the Truth in family for the first. Children
are consciously taught the capacity to distinguish between truth and untruth.
Perhaps it is the family where we learn first what truth is and what is not the truth.
 Self values: Pastimes and activities are learning opportunities where wants, needs,
desires and whatever else drives children clash with the real world, where children
learn to know their world, self knowledge, their role and place in family as a learner,
as a social unit, I, Me, Myself, my skills, my ability, my problem solving skills, my
intelligence, my contribution.
 Right conduct: the Right Conduct includes manners, health awareness,
helpfulness, responsibility, independence perseverance and courage. These are

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 fruitful, life­enhancing skills and abilities. These are inculcated within family by
direct teaching, modeling, reward and punishment.
 Mannerism: The family is the place where children learn good table manners, to
eat properly, to keep themselves clean. This learning’s impart the values of good
manners and responsibility.
 Helpfulness: Children learn helpfulness when they help around the home, in their
bedrooms, and in fulfill­ing household chores. Perseverance is learned when a self­
set task or a family task is pursued to completion and satisfaction.
 Peace: peace leads to self­satisfaction. The role of families in inculcating Peace is
profound. Living peacefully as a basic idea made the part of life in family. Learning
to live together and interior balance, something which is a priceless gift.
 Love: love is the glue of all existence. Love binds families. Moving the children
beyond that attitude of I, Me, Mine, continual grasping and wanting to unselfish, self
worth, self sacrifice and insight is perhaps the most important responsibility of all
families.

Mechanisms used by family to inculcate values

Direct Teaching: children are thought the values of the time directly. In the course
of interactions among family members children learn about the prevalence and importance
of several values.
Reward and Punishment: behaviour and attitude inconsistent with the desired vales
are punished while consistent behaviours and attitudes are rewards. Gradually children
learn appropriate values and behaviour.
Modeling: The person who posses desirable values becomes role model. Their
behaviour is worth to imitate. The children are exposed to the role models of the society.
This inspires the members to imitate them.
Identification: children and junior members of the family inculcate the values of
elders through identification. Identification is an unconscious process of imitation. Children
have a natural tendency to identify themselves with their parents, other family elders.
Children adopt them as their personal role models for emulation and imitation. The
identification with them and hero­worship triggers off the process of imbibing their qualities
and translating them into behaviour, unconsciously, particularly in respect of social and
moral perspective and scenario.

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 Role playing: During the process of development, we all play various roles of our
mythological heroes and heroines. While playing their role we come close to the values and
ideals of them. This helps in imbibing of these values.

The Role of society

The society is an extended family which is characterized by diversities of individuals,
and the interests of families and communities. Every society also has certain shared
characteristics that its members endorse, adopt and employ, which influence the collective
decisions taken by it. There is a reciprocal relationship between an individual and the
society of which he or she is a part. Social mores/customs/traditions are internalized
during the process of growing up within a society. Individuals, families and communities
that comprise a society have the duty to avoid pursuits, advocacies, methods and goals that
undermine values.

The Role Of Educational institutions

India is world famous for its rich cultural and spiritual heritage. It was because of our education
which laid great emphasis on learning of essential values of life. But, education at present
with its emphasis on consumerism and cut throat competition for success has side lined its
central concern for overall development of personality. The values are required not only for the
personality development of an individual. However, these are key to the survival of the entire
humanity. Education is the most powerful agent of inculcating such values.
 Sri Prakash Committee on Religious and Moral Instruction (1959)- “Every effort
must, therefore, be made to teach students true moral values from the earliest stages
of their educational life. If we loose these, we shall be a nation without a soul.”
 Kothari Commission (1964-66)- “A serious defect in the school system is the absence
of provision for education in social, moral and spiritual values. A national system of
education that is related to the life, needs and aspirations of the people can not afford
to ignore this purposeful force.”
 National Policy on Education (1986)- “The growing concern over the erosion of
essential values and an increasing cynicism in society has brought to focus the need
for readjustments in the curriculum in order to make the education a forceful tool for
the cultivation of social and moral values.”
 Ramamurti Committee (1990)- “Education must further provide a climate for the
nurture of values, both as personalized set of values, forming one’s character and
including necessarily social, cultural and national values, so as to have a context and

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 meaning for actions and decisions, and in order to enable the persons to act with
conviction and commitment.”
 Programme of Action (NPE) 1992­ “The framework emphasized value education as
an integral part of school curriculum. It highlighted the values drawn from national
goals, universal perception ethical considerations and character building. It stressed
the role of education and combating obscurantism, religious fanaticism, exploitation
and injustice as well as the inculcation of values.
 International Commission on Education (1996)­ The need of value education has
also been felt in all over the world. International commission has described that there
are four pillars of learning: 1. Learning to know. 2. Learning to do. 3. Learning to live
together. 4. Learning to be.

Teachers can play a vital role in developing values. He/she must succeed in conveying the
larger ideals of service to the community, virtues of tolerance and respect for all faiths,
importance of character, integrity and discipline and the value of humanism to his pupil. The
later should also be made aware of our heritage and culture. They should develop a mature
attitude towards religion.

A UNESCO report on education for the 21st century entitled Learning. The Treasure
Within also pleads for an education which is ‘rooted in culture and committed to progress’.
Developing a harmonious and integrated personality would just not be possible if the system
does not inculcate values embedded in the culture, heritage and traditions. Indian heritage,
culture and values need to be thoroughly studied, analyzed and incorporated comprehensively
in the educational system right from the pre­primary stage to higher education.
Injection of information into young minds has been taking place on a massive scale, but character
and personality development has not received the attention it deserves. Creation of the right
environment which helps and encourages young minds to resolve personal and moral issues
independently is of utmost importance. Although it is not an easy task but it needs to be done
at all costs.
Since character of people may decide the destiny of a nation, the educational system
should develop character, courage, comradeship, discipline, leadership, secular outlook, spirit
of adventure and sportsmanship, and ideals of selfless service.
Emphasis should be laid on the study of the life of great sons of the soil whose ideas and ideals
have moved the world, because such a practice may provide an insight to the younger generation
for character development and spiritual sensitivity.
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