Living Values Education Programme (LVEP)
“I see the world differently as a result of Living Values. The global approach of Living Values is, paradoxically, to see how small the world really is. I realize that the world’s problems –and solutions – are fundamentally values–related. I recognize the unending scope of possibilities: understanding that one can do so much with so little. I now have the courage and self–confidence to do things that are bigger than I am – to keep planting seeds that will ultimately make a difference.” —Kathleen A. Shea, Ph.D., President, IAM Inc., and Florida Coordinator, Living Values, Miami, Florida
Living Values Education Programme is a comprehensive values education programme that provides resources for values–based education, including training and a wide variety of experiential, values–based activities and methodologies for educators, facilitators, parents, and caregivers. These activities and methodologies enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 universal core values: cooperation, freedom, happiness, honesty, humility, love, peace, respect, responsibility, simplicity, tolerance, and unity.
Living Values Education Results:
- Increased student–teacher respect
- Improved cooperation and ability to resolve conflicts
- Increased motivation to learn
- Decreased aggression as respect and caring increase
Living Values Education Background
The Brahma Kumaris were very closely involved in the development and initial phases of LVEP. The programme’s origins go back to the international outreach project Sharing our Values for a Better World carried out by the Brahma Kumaris in 1995. A publication entitled Living Values: A Guidebook was compiled by the Brahma Kumaris to honour the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
In 1996, at a meeting co–sponsored by The Education Cluster UNICEF and the Brahma Kumaris, educators from around the world shared findings of working with values–based approaches in education. The outcome of this meeting was ‘The Living Values Educational Initiative’ and the commitment to compile and pilot a set of values education materials. Two years later the initiative grew into a programme, and the materials were further developed into an award–winning series of five resource books (see below) for use by teachers and facilitators in formal and non–formal educational settings.
Living Values Education Scope & Resources
As LVEP reached into more classrooms around the world, it increasingly began to be implemented by educators of a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures, inspired by the fact that the values it promotes are not limited to any religion, philosophy or group. Living Values is currently being implemented in more than 8,000 sites in nearly 80 countries.
The Living Values series of five books, published in 2000 by Health Communications, Inc., was awarded Learning Magazine’s Teachers’ Choice Award for 2002. Additional materials include Living Values Activities for Refugees and Children Affected by War as well as Living Values Activities for Street Children and Living Values Activities for Drug Rehabilitation. These publications are written within the framework of field experiences from educators from around the world and are set within the context of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and Living Values: A Guidebook.
Living Values Education Administration
In 2004 the Association for Living Values Education International (ALIVE) was established to provide an international home for all Living Values Education activities around the world and the many different national Living Values Education Associations.
While the Brahma Kumaris continue to give their moral support, endorsement and blessings, ALIVE has formed its own independent Board of Directors and International Advisory Committee and has taken over responsibility for the coordination of Living Values Education worldwide.
Under this new structure, Living Values Education continues to invite the active participation of individuals with an interest in values-based approaches to values-based learning. Further information is available online at Living Values.