Transforming Values into Behaviors: A Study on the Application of Values Education to Families in Turkey

Abstract

No matter what century we live in, even though the tools we use change from age to age, man is not a creature who can be considered or understood without the concept of values. Although we have different religions, languages, races and cultures, the personality of man is always constructed through values. Values are factors that directly influences human life and society in a positive or negative way. This study suggests that values education aimed at teaching individuals certain values is not sufficiently practiced by families in Turkey. In order to address the problem, this study aimed to increase the awareness of family members regarding values and help them turn values into behavior in everyday life. To this end, a 24-month "values education program" involving a set of activities was carried out. Every month, a specific value was chosen taking into account the needs of family members and "value booklets" were prepared using four sub-dimensions of the chosen value. 10 families participated in the program and the data was collected from 25 individuals. The resulting data was subjected to content analysis. 3 main themes were found to be important in the light of the data: moral development, development of communication skills, and religiousness. These themes were thought to be beneficial in terms of understanding the effectiveness and importance of family members' internalizing values and turning them into behavior in everyday life.

3rd Grade Students’ Status of Spending Time with Their Families and Implementation of Values Education in Family in the Turkish Context

“…Through the family fun, the family members showed their love to each other, and it can be given as an example of the adoption of the value of love, which is one of the objectives to be acquired by the students and their parents. Tonga (2016) in his study that took two years and in which weekly family meetings about values were held, the participants stated that family meetings positively affected communication in the family and family members had the opportunity to get to know each other better. In the current study there were five students who reported that the activity they planned did not have any contribution to the unity of family.…”