Values-based indicators

The International Environment Forum was a partner in an international project that aimed to inspire students to understand ‘achievement’ and ‘success’ in new ways - not just in terms of exam grades, but in terms of acquiring the skills and values needed to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

The former Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL) was a group of educators and researchers who had spent more than a decade learning about the values at the heart of sustainable schools and societies. These values include, among others, trust, compassion, creativity, empowerment, and care and respect for the community of life. IEF led the PERL workgroup to prepare toolkits on values-based activities and indicators for school use.

This research was used to create a set of Values-based Learning activities and assessment toolkits for secondary school (high school) teachers and students. There are three toolkits that are complementary in their uses:

Measuring What Matters - Values-based Indicators: While values underlie much of human behaviour, they have long been considered intangible and unmeasurable. New methods and indicators pioneered by the European Union-funded ESDinds research project (http://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/esdinds/) show how values are expressed and can be measured. This toolkit explains the background and approach for those who want to create their own indicators adapted to their needs.

Discovering What Matters - A journey of thinking and feeling: To what extent have students already acquired the values, as well as the skills, knowledge, attitudes and personal qualities, which will prepare them for tomorrow? Can they understand more clearly what their own values are, and learn to live by them? In which areas do they need more help? This toolkit developed with and for students includes both a menu of indicators and examples of activities ready to use. It can be used directly by student groups.

Growing a Shared Vision - A toolkit for schools: Are we ‘walking our talk’ as educators? Is our school a living example of a vibrant, sustainable community? Do we provide a supportive learning environment for staff and students, and empower them as agents of positive change? This toolkit provides tools to assess whether the educational environment we create for our students facilitates acquiring responsible values.

The three toolkits can be download as pdf files from the links above.