It aims to educate the whole person—intellectually, ethically, socially, and emotionally. In other words, its ultimate characteristic is the focus on cultivating humanity.

Values-based education grounds the learner in moral uprightness and a concern for the common good of humanity, as they acquire the academic aspects of knowledge and skills in the process of learning.

It is a holistic approach to education in which values are integrated into the core curriculum, teachers become role models, and a strong positive ethos is inculcated into the learners.

Values-based teaching emphasizes character building in conjunction with academic achievement. It integrates principles such as respect, honesty, empathy, and responsibility into classroom practices. Teachers act as role models, creating a positive and inclusive learning environment where students reflect on their actions and develop ethical decision-making skills. Unlike traditional teaching, which often focuses on content delivery, values-based teaching fosters the holistic development by combining knowledge with personal and social responsibility.

Value based teaching is teaching a person to shape his life and behaviors around a set of values. The characteristics of value based teaching are:

1. It is value oriented - based on a set of values

2. The teacher manifests through his/her behavior how the values communicated are part of his/her way of life and operating.

3. It is transformative - it helps the person to change his/her life.

Dear Colleague,

Thank you for raising such a vital and timely question. As a scholar in Mathematics Education, I find the integration of values into teaching not only essential but transformative—particularly in disciplines like mathematics, where objectivity is often mistaken for neutrality. Values-based teaching challenges that misconception by recognizing that education is inherently value-laden, whether we acknowledge it or not.

From my perspective, rooted in both pedagogical theory and classroom practice, values-based teaching is characterized by several interwoven dimensions:

In sum, values-based teaching transforms the classroom into an ethical space—a pedagogy of care and justice—where intellectual rigor and human values coexist and reinforce one another. As mathematics educators, we have a profound opportunity—and responsibility—to shape not only how students think but also how they are in the world.

With respect and solidarity,

Thank you all for sharing your valuable insights. Values-based teaching is indeed a form of transformative pedagogy, where ideas dominate over material concerns, justice triumphs over falsehood, and intellectual rigor coincides with the authority of moral principles. This type of teaching fosters critical self-awareness, delving students into the psycho-emotional depths of human consciousness, encouraging ethical reasoning, cognitive flexibility, and ideological illumination.

Interesting question and replies. Values of course are important. I assume it is important to let learners understand values of critical thinking, cooperation, respect and appreciation of knowledge. This way they can apply whatever they have learned appropriately and aim to learn more.