It is important to highlight the nexus that is established between education and the social objectives to which it must respond on the one hand, and the contribution it must provide to individual development on the other, as the two poles of a string in tension that represent the points of arrival and departure respectively in educational work.
In this sense, it is necessary to start from the consideration that the personality is formed and developed not only under the influence of actions directed towards a purpose of the educational system, but also and in an essential way, in a broad social context, since the subject lives in a society.
What are values? Conceptually defining the term "value" is not an easy task, since it is the object of analysis and reflection by different sciences and in the social sciences, it is still not very clear, because each school defines it according to the ideology that underlies it
Value: it is the "humanized reality with positive significance for man," (Fabelo 1998 P. 20) it is "the socially positive significance that objects and phenomena of reality acquire when they are included in the process of human practical activity." (Fabelo 1989 P. 43)
Every value has significance, but not every significance represents a value, only that which plays a positive role for society.
To understand value as socially positive meaning (Fabelo, 1989) is to see it contribute to the social process, to human development. This means that the socially positive meaning of value is given by the degree to which it really expresses a redimensioning of man, of the relationships in which he lives, and not of isolated subjects, groups or particular social classes.
This objectivity of value transcends particular interests, to place man as a gender at the center. But this is not enough, since its objectivity depends on subjectivity and its social character, on individuality, and vice versa, it means that at the center of the understanding of values are the relations between the objective and the subjective and between the individual and social.
Assessment: it is the subjective reflection in man's consciousness of the significance that objects and phenomena of reality possess for him.
The fundamental difference between these concepts consists in the predominantly subjective character of valuation, as a component part of human consciousness, and the objective nature of values. (Fabelo, 1989 P. 43)
Values as a category are studied by Axiology, (from the Greek axios = value) which constitutes the philosophical theory that conceptualizes the notions of the valuable, in the field of what is beautiful, aesthetic and true, as essences and qualities contained in human creations. We consider it timely and enlightening to state that from a philosophical point of view we understand values as a complex formation of the personality, contained not only in the cognitive structure, but fundamentally in the deep processes of social and cultural life and in the conception of the world of the man, who exist in reality, as part of the social conscience and in close correspondence and dependence on the type of society in which children, adolescents and young people are formed.
From the psychological point of view, values are a reflection and expression of true and real relationships, which are important regulators in the lives of men.
From the pedagogical point of view, this training must be achieved as part of the general, scientific education that adolescents and young people receive: as knowledge, as a product of the recognition of its significance that is transformed in a personal sense and manifests itself as behavior.
After analyzing the concepts of education and value, we are going to refer below to what we are going to understand by value orientations.
At the individual level, when we talk about this problem, we are referring to the evaluative orientations, which is the value made conscious and stable for the subject who values, which allows him to act with an evaluation criterion, revealing the feeling that objects have and phenomena of reality for him, until ordering them hierarchically by their importance, thus forming the scale of values to which the attitude towards life is subordinated.
The evaluative orientations are important components of the personality structure, and are conceived in this way by most of the specialists who delve into this problem, when referring to the personal subjective aspect of the values, although they tend to denominate it in different ways, as we have found the following: attitude system; position in life; personal sense; value for itself; value orientation.
Each society is the bearer of certain values, which are assimilated by the child, adolescent or young person, in the form of evaluative orientations, according to the particularities of the society in which they live, the characteristics of each stage of their development, and personal experience. (Baxter, 1999 P. 4)
Determining the components of each value allows to specify the actions that contribute to the strengthening and consolidation of these in the personality. The components of the values "are those fundamental elements that allow to shape each value based on the characteristics of the external environment that surround the individual and their vital interests, with which educational actions that contribute to the formation of the personality can be specified..
These components make up the internal structure of the securities, which must have a systemic nature. (Aguilar, P.15)
Other concepts of vital importance is that of education in values and formation of values.
In the literature these concepts are used interchangeably to refer to the same process, however, Nancy Chacón states that they are two closely related terms that indicate two planes of the personality formation process; the first with a sociological approach, understands education as a process at the scale of the whole society within the framework of the system of influences and the interaction of the individual with it in order to socialize them as an active and transforming subject, in which students historical-cultural values play an essential role; the second refers to the pedagogical approach, whose process is aimed at the integral and harmonious formation of the personality, in this integrality the place and role of values in said formative process is taken into account,Due to its complexity, a special and intentional treatment must be given, with the precision of the methods, procedures, ways and means, among others. (Chacón 2002 P. 97)
Values are therefore not the result of an understanding, much less of passive information, nor of behavioral attitudes without their own significance for the subject. It is something more complex and multilateral since it deals with the relationship between objective reality and the components of reality, which is expressed through conducts and behaviors, therefore it can only be educated in values through knowledge, skills of assessment reflection in the practical activity with an assumed meaning. It is about achieving behaviors as a result of conscious and meaningful learning in the rational and emotional.
Esther Báxter, for her part, expresses that the formation of values "… constitute the ways or procedures of influence that educators use to pedagogically organize the lives of schoolchildren with the aim of positively influencing the development of their personality in formation."
The formation of values is a process that takes place in stages. According to Cándido Aguiar, notions are formed in early and preschool ages, in primary education there is an expansion of these notions into individual meanings, in junior high school adolescents establish the relationship of notions with social meanings, and in pre-university there is fixation and internal assimilation of socially positive meanings in the form of personal convictions of young people. (Aguilar P. 18 1998)
• The formation of values in Education in Cuba
The school is responsible for playing a decisive role in the formation of values, and for this it is necessary to carry out transformations in the educational work carried out in the centers. It is essential that this is oriented to enhance in each student, those aspects that allow them to know in a more significant way, the historical moment they are living.
Educating man and preparing him for life is an essential task of pedagogy and constitutes one of the fundamental problems that has been taken into account by advanced pedagogical thought in each historical epoch.
In this regard, the maximum leader of the Cuban people, who despite not being a pedagogue by profession, is one because of the immense educational work carried out at the forefront of the nation, stated: “For us education is decisive, and not just instruction. In general, (…) but the creation and formation of values in the conscience of children and young people from the earliest ages, and that today is more necessary than ever. " (Castro, 1997)
In Cuba, the problem of the formation of values from school has its roots in the pedagogical work of prominent personalities who have exercised the teaching profession since the end of the 18th century.
The main theoretical contributions on this topic are found in the work of eminent patriots and pedagogues, among which José Agustín Caballero, José de la Luz y Caballero, Félix Varela, José Martí, Enrique José Varona and Alfredo Miguel Aguayo stand out, among others..
Education begins from the moment it is born and there are many educational agents that act on the human being, the family, the school, the community where they carry out their social life, the school group, the productive entities where the theory and the theory are linked. practice and the mass media.
These educational agents that act on the personality all in one way or another print their stamp, form values, this responds to factors such as:
- Family education. Cultural traditions that go from generation to generation. The idiosyncrasy of each town. The historical roots of the towns. The level of introduction and education received. It depends on your ideas and beliefs. It depends on the material and spiritual conditions in which they develop.
Therefore, the formation of values is a slow, complex process where it is essential to define where we are going to influence, what objectives we pursue and how we are going to achieve it.
The school plays a transcendent role in the formation of the new generations, it carries out the work of instructing and educating, it prepares man for life.
In Cuba, the strategic objective of education is to achieve the comprehensive training of students, this means an action aimed at forming conscious, disciplined men, with a scientific conception of the world, with a high love of work, spiritual wealth, and must be manifested as personal convictions, habits of daily conduct, promoting men fit to live and work in the new society.
This great goal is not a dream, nor a fantasy, but a real possibility conditioned by the existence of the Cuban Revolution, in whose transformative work it has created the necessary gear for the achievement of this purpose, a profound Educational and Cultural Revolution with all and for the good of all.
How to educate in values?
When considering how and when to educate in values, we find that there are various problems that must be known and adequately dealt with. Thus we have that imposing and authoritarian actions sooner or later provoke natural reactions of rejection, submission or dependence in students. In the same way, the method of counseling, but without congruence between what is preached and what is lived, without taking into account the personal experience of the student, causes confusion, which later translates into serious value conflicts. The significant, the evaluative orientation, is not discovered, nor assimilated by maxims and sermons; but by congruence of life and interaction and responsible action.
Sometimes, when the how is to let go, to give total freedom; the student perceives it as a lack of interest, of commitment on the part of the teacher, which makes him feel unloved, abandoned and at the same time indifferent. What happens in these cases, that these negative experiences prevent: the discovery and understanding by the subject of what is good for himself (affective component) and the value does not assimilate or manage to internalize it.
Education in values requires the use of persuasion as one of the fundamental methods, in addition to the conscious and active participation of the subject in their own training, where the performance of any activity has a meaning for itself. This process is facilitated through a committed interpersonal relationship, in a communication that is characterized by an open and frank dialogue, where the experiences and knowledge of each one are shared with authenticity and consistency.
It is also trust and respect for the other, taking into consideration that others are part of ourselves, of the society that is where values are realized, taking on unique and full significance.
In addition to what has been raised, it is necessary to consider that the methods, following the conception of Dr. Amelia Amador, should be oriented in three fundamental planes: those directed to consciousness, which should allow students to know the correct models, of what should be, the social, and the personal and thus lay the foundations for the formation of ideals in correspondence with society.
In this direction, narratives, conferences, seminars, research papers, analysis of biographies of heroes and martyrs, debates and discussions of materials from the press or television, visits to museums, as well as encounters with prominent personalities, the most possible close to their social environment, who are examples to be imitated by the adolescent or young child.
The methods directed to the activity, have as essential objective, that the students, whatever their age, can put into practice the correct ways of acting; In this case, the teachers, during the development of their classes, must use productive methods, where each student has the opportunity to participate actively, in accordance with their real possibilities, making the teaching work become a source of both individual and collective experiences, which reflect the reality in which they live.
The methods aimed at evaluation seek that students have the possibility of comparing what they do with the correct model proposed, both in individual and collective tasks.
In the early ages, this process is fundamentally based on the activity of the adult, the teacher who directs it. In this case, this assessment depends more on external regulation, which gradually translates to self-assessment and self-assessment, until the child's self-regulation occurs.
The teacher is ultimately responsible for the education of his students, and the class offers multiple alternatives and possibilities to achieve it. During its development, the corresponding adjustments or adjustments must be made between the contents that are taught and the characteristics of the group to which they are directed; the social situation in which they live, as well as the family environment of each student. In this direction, the characterizations that the community, family and students make of the centers serve as support.
Depending on age, each classroom receives their classes, students who already have a previous experience, and generally bring internalized a set of norms, habits, and assessments of the world around them. For the teacher, it is of great necessity to know this, since from there it is that he can really carry out a differentiated work taking into account individual differences.
It is important to work in each class, the love of work and the formation of a sense of life, in correspondence with the possibilities and needs of an underdeveloped and blocked country but willing to defend its principles and achievements, as is the case in Cuba.
Also, make the student a participant and protagonist of each action; where they have to constantly strive in the search for any situation, and the teacher will be able to achieve a personal affective relationship with what is done; That he assimilates it as something of his own, only then will it take on a true significance and make it his own and consequently he will learn to value it much more, since it is the result of his own action.
In this work, it is necessary for the teacher, with his personal example and his daily behavior, to become a role model, especially in the early ages, where he has the privilege of being able to achieve a total and positive acceptance by his students.
When it comes to adolescents and young people, he is also a model, but he is not always imitated or taken as a pattern to follow, he is usually the subject of sometimes ruthless criticism from his students; however, when he achieves a sufficiently affective and effective relationship and communication, he also becomes a positive role model.
A fundamental aspect that the teacher must bear in mind in the education of his students and specifically in the formation of values, as a nucleus that guides behavior, and consequently determines their attitudes, is to be capable in each content that they work to treat, to promote sufficient information and participation for each student to achieve knowledge of it, in the most objective way possible and above all establishing the relationships in each case, of this content with life, but not in the abstract, but in direct correspondence with what who lives daily; only then will it have meaning and value for itself.
In addition to the cognitive component, it is necessary to work alongside the affective component, since this component is the one that encompasses the personal relationship with value. It is necessary for them to come to an assessment of what is important, useful, pleasant, good, what they do and what is important for what and why they do it.
The work, both of the pedagogical group in general, and of each teacher in particular, must be aimed at making social values coincide more and more with individual ones.
This is not achieved because students are constantly and systematically told, for example, what to do, what is correct or incorrect, but it is necessary to face them in specific situations, where they have to demonstrate with their behavior the correctness of an action, where they have to assume a position on the matter, argue and defend it.
The foregoing determines that the activities that are organized are the result of group analysis, where each student finds their space and direct role. Studies carried out show that the higher the participation of a subject in the analysis of a value, the greater the stabilizing effect of it.
Educators should not miss the opportunity to use all the forms and possibilities of activating the minds and hearts of their students, such as: individual and collective conversations; group debate, where they have to base and defend their points of view and decisions; carrying out tasks that respond to a common objective; of setting achievable goals sometimes with a little more effort for some; to assess and analyze at the right time why and why the different activities are carried out, what was successful and what was not, and to be able to take the appropriate measures in time.
There are many ways and alternatives that the school has to work in function that the students internalize and make their own the values of the society in which they live, this is possible, to the extent that it is possible to motivate and interest them in a way that they do yours and be ready to defend them to the end.
In this task, student organizations occupy a fundamental place, hence why the activities carried out in the center have to be combined in an organic and coherent whole, always ensuring that they are in line with the interests of the students. where the motivation achieved becomes the driving force behind the actions to be carried out, each of the participants convinced that this is the correct position and the direction to follow, not because they are told, but because they truly feel it as their own, real and achievable.
The formation of actions and evaluative orientations in the student are processes that must be the object of very important attention in class. Both will be linked to the revelation of the value of knowledge that is the object of learning - a quality that gives it its social value
- The assessment may be positive or negative, in relation to the meaning it acquires for the student, which must be expressed by the student at different times in class, by giving them the possibility to raise their ideas, criteria, judgments, reflections, feelings and arguments.
It includes revealing and valuing the link between knowledge and life, considering own projects, ideas to undertake, things to do, according to their age and the content of the subject.
Another important aspect in this direction is that the teacher encourages the student to carry out control and assessment activities, in pairs and groups, as well as self-assessment and self-control, which will allow them to know their mistakes and successes, in a way objective and conscious.
In the activities planned by the institution, it must take into account the actions of the parents and other factors in the community.
All this is part of their work, and therefore should be included in the diagnoses that are made, to know how other adults think of these values, how they act, what the family's form of education is like, and what characteristics the family has. neighborhood or area where the life of the minors takes place.
1.3 Values, main characteristics
A definition in a narrow sense of values would be:
They identify themselves:
- With the material or spiritual (things, facts, people, feelings and relationships). With real qualities external and internal to the subject, of social significance. Said significance refers to the degree to which human resizing is expressed. With qualities of the components of the personality structure, inasmuch as they allow to grasp the meanings through the capacity of the senses in human activity.
They are manifested: Through human activity, which allows us to internalize from reality those qualities that satisfy individual and social needs and interests. In guides and principles of conduct that give meaning to life towards self-realization, progress and human resizing.
They are structured: Due to the changing circumstances of reality, so its content can be expressed differently under specific conditions. They are ranked depending on the development of the personality and the social development of the context.
Values are norms, ideals and principles of action that constitute a means of orientation and regulation of human activity as an expression of the evaluative reflection of reality.
They are norms or rules of conduct expressed in the way that people govern their lives, direct their actions, it is closely linked to the order imposed by society. The individual in his development is shaping his own moral code, it is born from his own life, from their interrelationships, it is the result of the time in which it develops and can drag defects and imperfections from the past.
They are ideal because the individual seeks or tries to approach a model or prototype of perfection or measure in the intention of performing actions or training in judgment of where to lead their forces in the realization of a work, this can lead men to undertake Progressive, revolutionary actions without limits, constituting paradigms of human perfection.
They can also lead to the opposite, to develop negative models that limit the ascent towards social progress.
They are principles because it is a fundamental guide to conduct, a generalization that characterizes the members of a society.
They are oriented to a specific end, developing actions, this activity will result in new knowledge, skills and convictions, hence the sociological and epistemological function is reaffirmed, motivations, feelings and evaluations playing an important role in their actions.
Educating in values means contributing to the integrative function of the individual by assessing the contradictions of motivation, interests, etc.
Education in values must contribute to the internal tendency of the personality to integrate and harmonize internal and external factors and to its autonomy, that is, to self-regulation on the basis of conscious ends, which is of course, in interaction and depending on social reality.
Internalized values make up the essence of the model of personal representations, they constitute the content of the meaning of life, and of the conception of the world, they allow the understanding, interpretation and assessment of the subject and provide the possibility of defining the life project, integrated by objectives and purposes for social activity.
Values are not taught and learned in the same way as knowledge and skills, and the school is not the only institution that contributes to their formation and development.
Another peculiarity of education in values is its intentional, conscious and willing character, not only on the part of the educator, but also of the learner, who must assume this influence from their culture, and be willing to change.
Hence the importance and the need to know not only the ideal model of education, but the characteristics of the student in terms of their interests, motivations, knowledge, and attitudes, which are not isolated from the influences of the environmental environment.
A clear understanding of the objective limits of the environment, of the model to which society aspires and of the student's subjectivity allows better directing educational actions and giving a correct meaning to the content of the values to be developed.
Values are therefore not the result of an understanding, and much less of passive information, nor of attitudes conducted without their own meaning, by the subject.
It is something more complex and multilateral since it deals with the components of the personality, its contents and its forms of expression through conducts and behaviors, therefore it is only possible to educate in values through knowledge, assessment-reflection skills and practical activity.
Dr. Baxter states that “the formation of values is of great importance for the development of the personality to ensure that young people assume a correct participation within the struggles that characterize the constructive stage of the new personality… the general behavior of the youth that guide their behavior and determine their attitudes, their ways of acting "
It reinforces the importance of values, in the development of the complex tasks of socialist construction, the young person can think, work and act according to the social project that we build.
I believe that when this does not happen, these values have been weakened, lacerated and these young people deviate from the path that leads to the formation of the new man proposed by Che, hence we must develop, promote and reinforce the values in our lives. youth.
The school and especially the educator of future teachers is in their duty to meet these social demands, raise their levels of teaching, educational work, make it comprehensive, efficient, where the student is an active entity, creator and promoter of new values, able to successfully undertake the future task that they will face when training the new man, it is not an easy task, it depends on many factors, but especially the teacher: he must perfect his work, making his presence useful, human and professionalized as a guiding element This process of raising knowledge and spirituality is not a utopia, it is a real possibility, our values, our identity and the future of the nation are at stake.
• Challenges currently facing the Cuban school
The Cuban school by tradition, has always been characterized by developing a work aimed at forming citizens capable of feeling the pride of being Cuban and of defending the Homeland from any external threat, as demonstrated by the mambises in the wars against the Spanish metropolis, the centennial generation against Yankee interference, and the resistance to the blockade that the entire Cuban people currently supports.
The current era demands that the entire system of educational influences, in which the school, the family and the community occupy a fundamental place, work cohesively, so as not to mechanically transmit to children, adolescents and young people the political, cultural traditions, combative, labor.
It is not to provide forms and methods of life already prepared, but to put them in a situation that allows them to carry out an intense and creative work, only through their experience and practice in social life, it is that they will be able to develop and train as men capable of maintaining what they have achieved until the moment, be better every day and act correctly in your present and future life.
There are so-called universal values that are the object of attention and are defended by different social systems; In our country, they work and reaffirm, among others, those values such as: honesty, honesty, simplicity, collectivism, responsibility, industriousness and patriotism, since it is about the formation of a Cuban citizen in a socialist society.
In Cuba, from the years of the 90's, socioeconomic changes originated that brought about an acute transformation in the scenarios where the education of the new generations takes place.
When referring to this problem on February 24, 1998, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro pointed out: “If there is more freedom, we must educate men; women and children in the exercise of freedom and in the exercise of responsibility ”. It is our responsibility to educate, that is our responsibility, to teach.
Raise awareness of the meaning and principle of responsibility, we must tell young people from the time they are in the 1st grade, and when they are in 2nd, 3rd and 4th and when they are adolescents and when they are university or pre-university, that education is there to give it; the sense of responsibility is the one to appeal to, and no, it will be going back to the Middle Ages and reinventing the chastity belt.
In this sense, the Ministry of Education implemented by Ministerial Resolution No. 90-98, "The guidelines to strengthen the formation of values, discipline and civic responsibility from the school." It addresses the need to work from an early age, training, developing and strengthening the essential values of Socialism.
The creation of the Chair for the Formation of Values is established, in each educational center, from initial education (preschool) and even Pedagogical Universities, with the objectives of integrating the work aimed at the formation of values, giving unity as a system to the whole of educational actions and influences that are promoted in the centers and specify in each one of them, the ways and forms that ensure the preparation and methodological advice of the cadres and the teaching staff for the development of the program that was developed for each teaching.
The fact of creating the chair of values and developing a specific program to work on it does not deny or exhaust all the arsenal that each school has to face this task; On the contrary, the chair has to serve as a driving force and mobilizer for each and every one of the activities that are organized, where the leading role corresponds to both the teacher and the students; always starting from the concrete and objective situation existing in each center and in correspondence with the needs and particularities of the age of the different groups.
For the formation of values and social responsibility, all the means and resources available to the school will be used. In the same way, the development of the subjects of the Study Plan, have to favor and strengthen the educational action in the formation of the personality in general and of the values in particular.
Thus we have that to the extent that the learner is better prepared, both for the relationship system that he establishes, and in the activities that he carries out, reaching in each case a greater social significance, he will be in better conditions to face the spontaneous positive influences or negative of the environment in which he lives and develops.
