r~ c& * f .....

_~~
oN e
trN.- Y 'a lw /
rbtU 1D
C H A P re

~ ~ ~ ~~.J
\ o)}\'t,
.

rr(1 ol:. -0:~} 1,

~ ~ ,, ~ rr>{
••
rr ma y see m a vag u ma ny of th h be hea rin g
u~ed1. ,1awo e term to . us even oug we may
quent ,.lv Wh il b . . •
out It fre_
· _ _at ;e are e [Link] this £0 ~ datio n course in value education, let
us
understand·wh t ki b • u1 1~ th
ng a out and what its need 1•~' partic ar Y In e context of
I~t h-. d • iss es
professional educatio-n~ . n _1s cou rse , we are oin to clari certain fun
.. which . • es which • directly relate to o·ur hap_oin~s,
are rm portant to .,, o us ..,. 1•n our rte I e - issu 1
education deals with
_..
. -~'". x .fto ns goa ts d s •
tn 1·Ire.
C.
n•
a sense, -
val ue
.E, bur ask lfa' an succes
=-_._- . ifil' .- .7T .t'
Ow Wa ,
our Ind• ivid
• ual and collecti~
O us, w at ts con ucive to
•
[Link] .ts uru versau y val uab. le . to .
harmony within
pro sp en ty in a sus tai nab le w It enables us to be in·
happiness ~n understanding
er hu ma n e1n gs an wi rest of nature at large. Such an
o~ lv es : wtth oth iate the need
suc ces sfu l con du ct of ou r profession as well. Let us apprec
will be Vital ~or the
rately in the following section.
for such an inp ut more elabo

Qlf,(ed for [Link] Education

V
ls, our aims on this
sider som eth ing or the other to be valuable. We set our goa
All of us con ing them. While the need for
determining
ou t to wo rk tow ards achiev
basis, and then set le more to understand'.
is valuab le to us ma y see m evi dent, let us investigate into this a litt
wh at
at the follow ing aspects to. ap pJ ~t e the need for ,
L ~ ~!
. Le t us loo k
the need for value education
value education. . • ~tt) {\aro D(Jhl ,d1t->~J) µo
(f f ~ 1')i'tw
-l -
y
.
on of ouT • • . . ?tu ma n b~ gs have aspi r ·ons. Yo ma u
V, Co ,re t:t identificati
~pire to bec om e a doc to! _ or eng ine er or ~ lawyer, or a film s~ or so me ~g
else,:.~ou
~0 he
de Va rio us [Link] for y~ r futur!) be it immediate or long te~
must have mi
planning ma y iii du d;° ,r> ur per son al E£ e, ~~ [Link]!,yo~ profess,!!>n, y o ~
rgies t
~=
_
soc ietv: an d oth er suc h do ma ins. But befott you mvest your ene
in the r. 1fi_ps Y?Y
s, ;is im go ~t tha t yo~ fin d out ~hat you basically ,,~ fu
tour el an

~~ ·~9 £[[" I il J l :.JJ'1

 . Human Values and Professional Ethics
A Foundation Course in

. . . B d on the correct identification of this basic

"d .fy r basic as__Etranon. ase
need co I eno ~ou ;ur oals and sub-goals approp~_ce)y__~nd _.vorking for
as iration, you can frame y
P h
these, you may r ope
g . • ~-
co fulfi O r basic as 1rat1on,- , ----~- p ,
.1 • c.,t:,A.1./.,-l
•
~-J ;., j ·1 1
l
',1?0/ £:,, ri.e
~ an v ues 'to l our aspirations in continuity: Just
• Understantltng unl'versa _ .... .-- ...,,,
.d ....fy g~ne's aspiration is not en~ugh. e nee to now - fj.l our
1 entl
. . 1n Ah ---
bo t actualizing our goals G ener y, we tei:id to pursue our
aspirations ow to go a
., . 1 . ys as er our appra1sa. •
and beliefs. ~ •
We keep on making
goals 1n vanety
I · wa -
O . . • •
. g rom these and accordingly 1mprovmg c;>Ur understanding
experiments, earn1u . • •• , •
Th~huma n beings have been moving 2n, nghJ/r<>.m, the pr.1mmve Stone
-, the present day world of moJ;M}[Link] and t~c,haology. Complete
age co -- . fi
understaiicfiiig of human values gives us a defimte way to u lfil • •
1 our asp1rat1ons.

Basically all of us are aspiring to be happy and whatever appears conducive· to our
happiness becomes valuable to us. Values form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviour I
I

and actions. Once we have known what is valuable to us, these values become the
basis the anchor for our actions. We know what we are doing is right and will lead to
' •
the fulfilment of our basic aspirations. Values thus become the source for our happiness,
our success, our fulfilment. Without an appropriate value framework, we will not be
able co decide whether a chosen action is desirable or undesirable, right or wrong.
Hence there is a prime need for correct understanding of the value domain.- Value
Education is the input necessary to fulfil this need. When we live with the correct
understanding of values, we are happy in continuity, otherwise we feel deprived,
frustrated and unhappy. What are the values that you hold worthy in your life? Have
you verifie~ t~em to ~e coild~cive to your happiness? It is important to explore the
value domain in sufficient detail through value education. We also need to understand
the universality of various human values, because only then we can have a definite ·and
commo~ program for value education. Then only we can be assured of a happy and
harmonious human society.

Comp~entarity of values and skill.s· In th d

things are essential: • e en eavour to fulfil our aspirations, two
'
(a) First and foremost, one has to kn h . •
- i.e. happiness for one d £ owallw at really is conducive to human happiness
an ror , and ha • . . .
becomes universally v bl h . ppiness at all times. This is what
. ~~ e to uman bein Th· • h
d omain of wisdom h · h gs. is is t e 'value' domain the
. • is e1ps us to identify d . ,
proceed 1n t e ng t dire • ~n set the right oals and to
.
(b) Secondly, it becomes e ·a1
-• ssenu to learn m h d
go~, t~ develop the techniques to '":nakP:f'_shand practices to actualize this
a1mens1ons of h. uman endeavour Th· • h Is appe n r--_....ll
• 1 e 1n various
- ;re,CWJod
5 s:7"""
ii
,. • IS is t d •
e Omain ' • s. ' u,

I
 Understanding Value Education

in h . . -
Thus values and skills have to go hand and. There ts an essential comp!ementarity
between values and skills rror th e success of any h · d ' ut. For example, I· want
r uman en eavo .
to lead a healthy 1•he. I understand that he~th • th b • a human
, . d ts e asic requuement for
being. I then lear kill to JU m b d h al h h
ge what food will keep Y O Y e t y, w at p ys1cal
h .
ns s
practices will keep th b d fii .on1. ng properly, what would be the possible ways to
do C ft . ki els f e ko r
nct1
these fall under the domain of ;kills• Th ~ '
e( ataln n ° ~or ~•~ t4e body. All
b0 th v ues and skills) are important and these are complementary. Only wishing for
. dh
b d fi ing
goodd h ealdth hw111 not help me keep my O Y It an ealthy and without hav to
thin gs correctly
st will not be able to choose
un er oo t e meaning of health, I
keep my body fit and he al~ _
if ~e
bheliPh• I b'°' fu '1 of universal human
a,t,,•on o o:ru ~ n a ~ence of a correct understanding
I
va,u
s,
es and beliefs. If we look deep into ourselve
values, we are driven by our 'ad-hoc' valu these
certain things and we base our 'values' on
we find that e~h one of us believes in · a1·
beli efs be they fals
, e or t•r~~ [Link] may or may not b~ true 1n re 1ty;1For example,
.._ ' best
e job is the best kind of job", f,IIT is the
someone may beheve that ~ corporat also
best places to live in" and...so on. We can
co~ege to go tc!'', "Metro cities are the eerson
afa m~ f>e rs9 n. Bei~g a wotJQ-famous
~v e bdiefs ~uch as "I want to be~om~ g,
e me !Ja pp~ "Success is the ultimate thin
w~ lma ke me hapeyj, "Mon~_!Y1J!-.!11* us live
er I will have better grades" etc All of
by hook or~by cr~~k", "If ~ sgidy long
fr~ -';'fiatwe rea , see, hear, what our
Wltli s"uch beliefs. These beliefs come to us on the
what the magazines talk of, what we see
parents tell us, our friends talk abo~t, time
ef-system that we live with at any given
1V etc. i.e. there is a whole body of beli wide
ldview. These beliefs spread out far·and
and these together constitute our wor usually
all our real ms of livi ng. The interesting thing about beliefs is that they
into .
wit h tim e and we· can trace exa mpl es of these by looking at our life in the past
change is the
of time that getting into a good college
We might have thought at one point d
have changed to being able to get a goo
most important thing and now that may money
g well in that job and earning a lot of
job. Once we get into a good job, doin ome
ey, getting into a good position may bec
may be important. Once we have the mon time.
orta nt - i.e. wh at we beli eve is to be important, may keep changing with
imp
s trapped in conflicting beliefs.
Many times, we may even find ourselve
Beliefs
ther thin g abo ut beli efs is tha t t~ey are usually not the same for everybody.
Ano l.
be held by a sma ll gro up or a larg e group of people but they are. not universa
could earn
be important to you, but being able to
For example: getting good grades may tally -
nds. You niay think being environmen
money may be important .for your frie t.
k _that it is okay to pollute the environmen
friendly is important, your friend may thin the
s is not onl y true for our selves, but largely-true for most people around us:
Thi
keep cha ngi ng from per son to pers on. What I may believe to be of 'value' to _me
beliefs flicts
m so when we interact, it may lead to ~on
may not be of 'value' to your belief-syste and
m today ~ecause the conditioned beliefs
and unhappiness. We face .this proble
 J
' an Values and Profession
al Ethics
A Foundation Course in Hum

d no t based
ay are usu ally con tra dic tor y, conflicting an d unsta~le an
values we Hbid tod their correctness.
rig ht un der sta nd ing of val ues we are no t very sure of
upon the
for u~. ~h is is very
r live s bas ed on ly on bel ief s can no t ensure happiness do _we
Living ou to live wit~ such ~haky beliefs. Or
sta nd . Do we wa nt
important for us to under ? We can either blindly follow
ou r beliefs w tha
ng s for sur e, for our sel ves ffective
t to know thi r choices upon
, tow ard s ma kin g ou r choices or we can base ou edu cat io
val ues rn '
: : ; IISSUmed
nd ing of rea lity an d we can ourselves validate the
values which are based on un der sta _would q
?
as well. What would you prefer
gy is only a means to achieve
wh at is considered Univers,
,_,Technology
'valuable' for
mu
a
/ Hu
hu
ml
ma n
ln Val
bei
ues
ngs
:
in
Te
an
chn olo
eff ective an d efficient ma nn e .
It is no t wi thi n the ... <
Whatev
ts ~~ scz ,e. It
to dec ide wh at is val uable T is egs1~n 1es_..ou and be
- scope of techno log y ble'. -W ith ou t this
pri ma rily im po rta nt to ow . orrectly wh at is 'valua creed, l
thus becom es be pu t to an y use,
hno log y can be aim les s, dir ectionless an d can therefore
decision, tec ,... -··-
either constr uct ive or des tru cti ve. Ration
riateness
der sta nd ing of val ues tha t we can decide on the approp It has
It is thus with the un uc tur e an d use of tec hn olo
gy is are
ap pli cat ion . Bo th the str a set ,
of technology an d its ati onship wi th the en vir on me
nt, we
mp le: if we val ue the rel
decided by values. For exa gie s (the str uc tur e of technolo
gy)
will work to create environ me nt- fri en dly tec hn olo
nt Natu,
e of tec hn olo gy ), say , for the en ric hm en t of en vir on me , -- d

and also pu t·it to right use (us. ati on sh ip wi th the

ou rce s etc . Co nv ers ely , if the rel

---
rep len ish me nt of na tur al res
wa y rou nd .
eth ing we do no t val ue, things co uld be the oth er a na·
en vir o~ en t is !om natu
, •
d 1!? a;a gs, mi ::,p t, we wi ll be ~u dy in g, cre ati ng peo1
y an
. €s3u dC J\t s of tec hn _og the l,ive~ 9f . a !a,rg~ "nymber
'4?1 !1Q log ies wh ich wi ll a£ §:~ [Link]
nnplemen ~d m~ag_!!1:gJ5 could .
-! Sh P. ol og y wi tho ut de da in g wh at is va lu~ ble ' Wrt1
of eo e. ett m$ .t~ -~ • l ski- lls are ' likely• to [, •• jWI e••d .►i4fuereror c
e,
n
eve prove counter -pr o d ucn ve as ou r tec hn ica e mi sus are
·a1 s to · di "d al d
• • an d ho w tec hn olo gy relate us as 1n v1 u s an to na t
1t JS essent1• tha t we un de rst . t . .Its
h
an d na tur e at lar ge bef ore we att em pt to pu. t •·t 1n o pra cti ce.
uman societ y
h • I d . This
pp l on wi th va lue ed uc ati on .
Thus, there is a ne ed tot su "de me ndt tee n1c a e uc att . Alf
will enable a hu ma n bein g o d ec1 e an pu rsu e wh at is r allY 'val uable, 1.e .
. co nd uc ive to
h . f , al e
human happiness' hu ma n we1£are, w at ts o v ue ' to him . v.
d •
s us t
To conclude, Value Education enable ualize ou r goals
the dir ect ion fc th . o ~r st an d ou r ne ed s an d vis
correctly, an d also indica te
·1· en t. It also he lps rem ov e ou r
confusions •
1
s us to righ or cl e1r
and contradictions an d enable .
y ut1 tze the tec hn olo gic al 1·nnov an on s.
ng k . th r
Value Ed uc ati on is a crucial missi m b in e pre sen t ed uc ati on sy ste m which must
be adequately replenished. It mu st b e rem em ere d tha t to bec om e an ex ce lle nt professional,
the excellence of values along wi th the excellen ce of r • .
ws1te pro fes sio na l skills is
• required.
. thi s di . eq
The present course is an eff on in rec tto n.
 Understanding Value Education

fsic Guidelines for Value Education

N?w that we have identified the need for .
effective and widely ac bl .d . value education, let us also visualize certain
' • " . h cepta • e gu1 e1ines [Link] Wt·11 enable the introduction
educat ton tn t e present system G. of value
b1
uld [Link] . .' tven e ow are broad guidelines to decide on what

Whatever we study as value ed • h

. ucat1on as ,to ·be universally
. .
applttable to all human beings
and be true
_ at all
. times and ... all places. In adeli•tton; tt
. need not-- . .
restrict itself to a~~-----~
certain sect
creed, gender or . . nationality
., etc
____ ., • So ·it has to deal :"Y • al h
w1tn un1vers uman v ues.
1
al '

Rational
t
- --~

It has to be amenable to reasoning and not based on do~ or blind beliefs. It 11·0.t be
a set of sermons or Do's and Don'ts. '-d~ i ~ ~ ~ . t\- e~ I

o.)jJJJ 'JC,1 1i)'J 'fl>Y)I JI '

Noturgl and Verifiable_ ⇒ ~i 1'\ •
We want to study something that is natural to us. Being naturiJ! mean~, it is acceptable in
a ._..natural ..,..,,,,.
manner me to all human bein~When we live on the
~
• basis of such
- values_____
that__..
;ue
natural to us, it leads to §lfiJm,ent, leads to our happiness and also is co_nducive to other
p~le we i~teract wiili, as ~ell as with n a ~ s o would like to verify these values
ourselves,- i.e. we don't want to assume something just because it is being stated here or
written in a book, rather, each one of us will want to verify these to find out whether they
are true for us. This has to be done by both checking for validity
,
within ourselves, as being
.
naturally acceptable as well as something which we can implement in our living and observe
its outcome to be fulfilling. •

All Encompassing
Value education is not merely an academic exercise. It i~aimed at transforming our
consciousness and l~ing. Hence, it has to permeate into all dimensions of ou'r Uvtng, ftantei't,
thought~ beh;viour~ work and underst'aiicfingirealization; as well as ~I, leyuel~ namely,
i1;dividuaj, family, s~ieD7____an~~~e.

--
Leading to Harmo,ny
Finally, value education has to enable us to be in harmony within and in ~armon~ wi~
others. Hence when we live op the basis of these values, we start understanding that It will
, ' au Q'.$0 44 a Utii-:-
' ., - ------.
---
 • d harmony in our interactions with 0ther hl!mans and _!he rest of
lead to harmo,,QY in us, an - - -- ; \~ "'

.:~ ' as l
ligl
G21he Content of Value Education •
fan~ unit . in
. th' • e •is its participation in the larger order of which it is a
ts e-1stenc . . ...__..__ . . --~- ----...
h al
~
T e v ue.. .t1":,•eZa2 _.
_12efiJis
that 1•t can write • [Link]. writ1ng 1s the part1c1pat1on• [Link]
the• pen in
5
,,,_.
•
order in w ic pen, paper,
e. g. UbM • . ·-h:-h human being, all are present. ,,.Value of an eye 1s that
L __... - .. ~ .- . .. ....,_ ' ,,.
JJ gger . yJ f egetable plant is that it g1~es nutrttion to animals and
it can be used for see1n • ue o., a v . . ' ,a7- ~
hu
.
at is the value of a liuman being. J •
'--- This quesnon
. imp
• 1tes• -• wh at ts • the participation of a human being in the bigger order?
. . . . ds«::~r11t :r
• • I d h
That bigger order me u es uman beino:s- olants
_._, L..• •·' ay, ,water,
. soil, animals,
. "om""' bir s etc. Tlle
- .....
• is
value of a human be1ng • the parttctp
•• •• • ation of human
.,, beinvg.;1n thiscjrer.
. Hence,. to understand.
.., 1 the human reaH(Lalong with all .thaL1s _there tn.J_he
human values, we need to stuay • . _;,~ . . .
existence constituting the lar;r or<§r, and the role_of hlJPlan bemg m the .:;.eiano'.!!,,~-
~aeK~i 2anite\rety unit iri'flie e:xiste.µce. •
~:b!i91 °

Seo e of Study
As mentioned above, any course on value education must include

• All dimensions- (iiought, behaviour, work & realiza,tion, ani)

ct • -

pf bJJ,lllan
•
---
All levels of human living - individual, familx:;1 so,ciety, nature/ existence
\ liv~. --
Accordingly, the content of alue Education will be to understand myself, my aspirations,
my happiness; understand the go o uman life compre ens1ve y; u · erstan e__other
;;;titiesjg ~[Link], t~ iiinate int~-connectedness,l:he co-existence in thenllllfe/ffistence
and finally the role of human being in this nature/ existence entirety. Hence, it has to
encompass understanding of harmony at various levels, namely, individual, family, society,
nature and existence, and finally, learning to live in accordance with this understanding by
being vigilant to one's thought, behaviour and work.

~G£
l:Yhe Process of Value Education
The process of value education has to be ascertained before we proceed. Let us now acquaint
ourselves with the process of value education which we are going to adopt. In this course,
various aspects of reality facilitating the understanding of human values will be presented
 Understanding Value Education 9 .:rt
-~
as proposals. You need to verify h .
Let us see ho,w we can ver~fyes~proposals for yourself and examine your living in this
ligh~t.
ese proposals.
• We will verify th - .
ese ·eroposals throu h If I
proposals and try to verify withi . se -ex orat~on. We shall investigate into these
n us in our own ng t.
• This self-exploration will b d
. e one on the basis of h th h
to us tn a natural manner - . th w e er t e proposals are acceptable
. I.e. ey need to be nat all bl •
imposed externally. We shall ex 1 . ur y accepta e to us and not just
p ore this concept further in the next chapter.
• Self-exploration will also include
i.e. by living accord·
.fy.
h ven tng the proposals through experiential validation
ing to t em Expe • ·al val.d • . '
live o rfc th b . . • nent1 i anon will ascertain that when we
ur i e do~ e asis_ of this ed~~ation, our living will be fulfilling to us as well as
our surroun 1ngs. , ',

• 1 • and not of g1v1ng

Since the, process is of self-exp_orat1on, .. sermons or prescribing do's
and d on • .d, but only be ready to investigate into •
. ts, you need not agree t o all that ts• sat
them smcerely. We don't want to Just • theonze •
• and impose stated truths.

• This process of self-exploration has to be in the form of a dialogue, a dialogue between

the prese~ter [teachers] and the receivers [students] to begin with; and slowly to
translate i~to a dialogue within the receiver [students/the reader] himself/herself.
Each one ot us can conduct this verification within ourselves.
" ': f I

• This process is expected to initiate a transformation in our understanding in our

consciousness and our living.

This process of self-verification needs to be applied to all the proposals. In this way, we
will proceed forward, one proposal at a time. Life is a laboratory and we will work on the
proposals and verify their truthfulness in ourselves and in our li~ing.

Thus to conclude, whatever is being said in this book is to be taken as a proposal to be

investigated and verified. This book is not about giving sermons or prescribing do's and
. don'ts, but input is aimed at facilitating the student to be able to become authentic about
himself/herself through self-exploration.

G?9u7mmary.
' Value education is required to correctly identify our basic aspirations, understand the
• values that enable us to fulfil our basic aspiration, ensure the complementarity of
values and skills, and to properly evaluate our beliefs. It also facilitates the development
of appropriate technology and its right utilization for human welfare.