VALUE EDUCATION

STUDY MATERIALS

SUBJECT CODE: VAE5Q

APPENDIX – 32 (S)

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

CHOICE BASED CREDIT SYSTEM

PART- IV VALUE EDUCATION

Common for all U.G. & Five Year Integrated

Courses

(Effective from the Academic Year 2012-2013)

SYLLABUS

PART- IV VALUE EDUCATION - III YEAR – FIFTH

SEMESTER CREDITS : 2

Objective : Values are socially accepted norms to evaluate

objects, persons, and situations that form part and parcel of

sociality. A value system is a set of consistent values and

measures. Knowledge of the values are inculcated through

education. It contributes in forming true human being, who are

able to face life and make it meaningful. There are different

kinds of values like, ethical or moral values, doctrinal or

ideological values, social values and aesthetic values. Values

can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate

courses of action or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person’s

sense of right and wrong or what “ought” to be. There are

representative values like, “Equal rights for all”, “Excellence

deserves admiration”. “People should be treated with respect

and dignity”. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior

and help to solve common human problems. Values are related

to the norms of a culture.

Unit I: Value education-its purpose and significance in the

present world – Value system – The role of culture and

civilization- Holistic living – Balancing the outer and inner –

Body, Mind and Intellectual level- Duties and responsibilities.

Unit II : Salient values for life- Truth, commitment, honesty

and integrity, forgiveness and love, empathy and ability to

sacrifice, care, unity , and inclusiveness, Self esteem and self

confidence, punctuality – Time, task and resource management

– Problem solving and decision making skills- Interpersonal

and Intra personal relationship – Team work – Positive and

creative thinking

Unit III : Human Rights – Universal Declaration of Human

Rights – Human Rights violations – National Integration – Peace

and non-violence – Dr. A P J Kalam’s ten points for englightened

citizenship – Social Values and Welfare of the citizen – The

role of media in value building.

Unit IV: Environment and Ecological balance –

interdependence of all beings – living and non-living. The                                                                   

binding of man and nature – Environment conservation and

enrichment.

Unit V : Social Evils – Corruption, Cyber crime, Terrorism –

Alcoholism, Drug addiction – Dowry – Domestic violence –

untouchability – female infanticide – atrocities against women How to tackle them

ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT

Environmental Enrichment refers to the naturalization of animals’ exterior habitats as an effective tool to promote and ensure the conservation of species in zoos.

As part of what constitutes the conservation of wild animals ex situ in zoos, environmental enrichment has become an essential instrument for improving the quality of life of each animal in its exterior enclosure, and in many cases in interior facilities and shelters as well.

This simple formula will help the visitor quickly visualize why we need enrichment in zoos and wildlife parks:
Enrichment = quality of life = improved wellbeing = reproduction
Ex situ conservation

Environmental enrichment consists of providing each species, in its enclosure, with the natural biotic and abiotic elements which reproduce, as far as possible, its natural environment in order to avoid any aberrant or unnatural behavior.

The purpose of environmental enrichment is to induce and encourage the most natural possible behavior in the animal; in this way, it is kept busy and diverted to prevent the appearance of stereotypical behavior symptomatic of boredom, which leads to continuous stress and the potential emergence of a pathology that could damage its health. The correct environmental enrichment of a facility, apart from encouraging natural behavior in the animal, is an extremely valuable tool for achieving conservation objectives, as by providing the animal with a habitat as closely adapted as possible to its natural state we optimize the possibility of reproduction and perpetuation of the species.

There are a series of considerations that need to be taken into account when it comes to enriching the enclosure in which each species will be permanently living and, we hope, breeding. The key factors for guaranteeing the right type of enrichment, i.e. adapting naturally to the ecological profile of each species, are:

•  Drawing up an ecological profile of the species (knowledge of its history and evaluation of its primary     and secondary environmental needs) in order to enrich its enclosure: by knowing its natural history, we  know its needs in terms of habitat, terrain topography, soil type, hard or soft substrate, humidity and temperature conditions, the type of refuge for hiding or sleeping, how much water to provide, whether to install rocks and trunks, whether it needs shade or strong sun, etc.
•  Determining the useable surface area of the exterior enclosure and the nature and quantity of naturalization elements that need to be installed.
•  If the animals spend a large part of the day in the water, a facility of the right size needs to be designed so they can partially or fully submerge themselves.
•  Selecting the additional elements (by type and size) that relate to the size of the installation.
•  Naturalization of the installation:  seeking the formula or combination of elements that best or most closely represent part of their natural habitat, and getting it to resemble that habitat as closely as possible when adding and positioning the different elements (trees, trunks – whether fallen or superimposed – trunks alternating with rocks, earth mounds, ditches, areas of denser vegetation, predominance of high or low grasses, etc.) until achieving the most accurate possible reproduction of their natural environment.
•  Permanent monitoring of the animals’ behavior, noting any behavioral anomalies.
•  Analyzing and studying any anomalies.
•  Correcting the anomalies caused by external environmental factors.

Following these key points it is possible to create better, more appropriate and habitable living conditions for the animals in our installations, and also change the viewing public’s perception and appreciation of them

ROLE OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION

When the word culture is mentioned we can think of many things as “cultural” such as language, clothing’s etc because we classify cultures of different places. It has to be kept for thousands of years and passed on from one generation to another. Since culture can form individual bonds between members in the community, this can hold people with same cultural background together passing on values.

Culture of India is one of the world’s oldest, reaching back about 5000 years. India being a very diverse country and different regions has their own distinct cultures. Language, religion, food and arts are some of the various aspects of Indian culture.

Language:

        India has 28 states and 7 union territories and each has at least one official language. While the national languages are Hindi and English there are about 22 official languages and nearly 400 living languages spoken  in various parts of the country. Languages belong to the two families Aryan and Dravidian.

Religion:

       India is identified as the birth place of Hinduism and Buddhism. A huge majority: 84% of the population identifies as Hindu. There are many variations of Hinduism and four predominant sects- Shaiva, Vaisnava, Shakteya and Smarta.

About 13%  of Indians are Muslims , making it one of the largest Islamic Nation in the world. Christians and Sikhs make up a small percentage of the population and there are even fewer Buddhist and Jain.

Food:

    Liberal use of herbs and Spices

Architecture :

      Well known example is Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shajahan to honour his wife Mumtaz, it combines elements from Islamic , Persian, Ottoman , Turkish and Indian architectural styles. India has many ancient temples .

 Arts :

      India is well known for its film industry. The country began as a major producer of Movies in the 1930’s .Today the films are known for their elaborate singing and dancing , Indian dance has a tradition of more the 2000 years. The major classical dance traditions- Bharatha Natyam , Kathak, Odissi , Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam and Kathakali – drawn on themes from Mythology and literature and have rigid presentation rules .

Clothing:

   Colourful silk sarees worn by many of the country’s women. For men it is dhoti.

Customs and Celebrations:

The country celebrates Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15), and Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday (October 2) and number of festivals are celebrated which includes Diwali, Christmas, Ramzan etc.

India prides itself with several thousand years of civilization that nurtured high spirituality, deep insights about environmental issues, sensitive planning system such as Vastu Sastra, creative art forms and scientific temper. We credit ourselves with the invention of zero and numerals from one to hundred that replaced the clumsy Roman Numerals in  the West. Since ages India nurtured a self sustaining egalitarian society.

According to Indian scripture ,every village coordinated by the district should be a self sustaining tiny republic.The village parliament consisting of all adult men and women, controls all village resources and decision making such as administration of justice, police, education , healthcare , land, water system and forests.

       Women are thus franchised in India for four thousand years whereas they got enfranchised in the west only in this century. It elected a council for day to day work, usually for a year , and could remove a councilor any time for misconduct.

      If a king demanded more, it was the duty(Dharma) of every citizen to remove him, if necessary by force.  Thus the village authority from the dharmashastras , not from the ruler.

         Over India’s long civilization some aberrations crept in its social structures. Castes originally bases on profession, similar to smiths and carpenters of the west, got converted into those based on birth and one got demeaned as untouchable. Some exploitative customs also crept in. The Muslim rule brought in some social conflicts but did not dislodge India’s tiny republics, through it somewhat increased the tax on Hindus.

      British imperialism brought in all village common properly such as land, water system and forests under state control through the district collector therby depriving local communities of all them authority . On attaining independence, the Indian leadership adopted a constitution based on exploitative imperial practices which has led to all round social , environmental, economic and political degeneration .

     Today’s ours is a decaying culture. All round social and environmental degradation, pervasive corruption and self seeking politics have become the norm. Our forests are depleted, water system polluted. Asia’s largest illegal colonies have been built in India. Over half the urban population is slums. They are migrant form rural settlement that are often worse than urban slums.  The capacity of the state to deal with recurring draughts and floods in eroded starvation deaths have become frequent. Because of pressure on land for human needs, wild life habitats are deeply eroded.

      We are dependent upon foreign loans and direct investments to repay past debts and invest in so called development, Violence is on the increase.

          Unless we are prepared to accept the truth, today very few are willing to speak the truth. Even fewer are willing to listen about the it. The truth is that our society structural on an exploitation ,political system centralized , non-transparent , burecratised .On top of it we adopted the fundamentally fault Westminster system . Gandhi and his true democracy in which power flaws upward form the people were dumped.

   We have two options, we either wait for the deluge pervasive violence, anarchy ,balkanization , or replace the present exploitation system by true democracy!

HOLISTIC LIVING

Living in balance with ourselves and with environment is Holistic living.

                  Goals for the Mind .What am I aiming for?

                       In order to balance the body, mind and soul we need to focus on the mind and our                                mind should have a positive living on our state of being. Goals for the mind are

·                  To develop a level of self awareness of our own personality.

·                  To focus mind on subjects that benefit us.

·                  To learn to quiten the mind at will.

Purifying the mind-How to balance our mind?  

Messages are sent from the body and soul and received and interpreted by the mind. Therefore the mind is the filtering mechanism between the body and soul. As we progress and release the illusions we live by, our mind becomes a clearer and finely tuned refined filter which brings us closer to become who we really are. 

                   We should learn to refine our filter and make our mind work for us rather than against us in each waking moment by increasing our self awareness and learning when to listen.      

                     The quiet mind – what is a quiet mind?

         If the mind is filtering mechanism between the body and the soul, the filter will only filter properly if it is pure and free of debris.

       A proper filter will allow only what is needed to enter the space. Many thoughts we have are unproductive , based on illusion , habitual, scattered and unnecessary. When the mind is quiet , it is able to detect the subtle comunication of the body, mind and soul , this is why we aim to quicker the mind.

   Meditation is the long –established practice of calming the mind and focussing in the present moment. Its aim is to help us to find our inner silence , peace and relaxation through focusing  our thoughts with practice , meditation helps to bring the body , mind and soul into alignment and allows us to live in flow with ourselves and with the life.

     A common misconception of meditation is that it aims to clear the mind of thought altogether. This is actually impossible as the mind must focus on something. So the substance of meditation is really focussed thought.

     Journal writing is another good way to clear the mind of unwanted thoughts . When we write our thoughts down on paper , they lose some power over us because they have been expressed.

Self awareness- How often we do you catch yourself being you?. Self awarnes can be described as self –surveillance of our personality , its traits , tendencies and tactics .

How to use self- awareness to help balance our body, mind and soul.

The purpose of self-awareness is two-fold. We need to know our strength and weakness. Why? Because we cannot change what we don’t know. Once we really know what we are really like ,good and bad, we can use our strength to our advantage and use our advantage to our advantage.

       How do I become more self-aware?

·                  Learning about psychology in general and applying it to yourself.

·                  Finding out more about your personality type by doing different personality test.

·                  Asking yourself poignant questions about your past, present and future. Exposing yourself to challenging situations that are out of your comfort zone.

STEPS TO BALANCE THE BODY MIND AND SOUL

 Here is a list of 15 simple things to consider incorporating into your healthy routine to help balance your mind, body, and spirit.

1. Exercise - Find an exercise you enjoy and start doing it regularly.

2. Be grateful - Stop to think about the things you have going for you and appreciate them.

3. Get plenty of sleep - Sleep is regenerative for your body. The more sleep you get the better you will perform the next day.

4. Breathe deeply - Whenever you think about it stop and take a deep breath. Over time this will become a healthy habit.

5. Install a shower filter - Chlorine is a poison. You don't want to inhale it or absorb it through your skin while showering.

6. Ground yourself - Literally. Plant your bare feet on the earth as often as possible.

7. Eat organic - Chemicals are killing pests on the crops. They are not good for you either.

8. Do more yoga - Great for the body and mind. Mind Body Green readers know the importance of this.

9. Smile more - It feels great :)

10. Spend more time with loved ones - In our busy lives we need to make time for the people who matter to us most.

11. Live your passion - Do more of what you love.

12. Meditate - Set some time aside each day to rest your mind.

13. Drink clean water - Get a filtration system for your drinking water. Fluoride is not good for your body.

14. Get outdoors more - Go for a hike and enjoy nature.

15. Eat plenty of greens - Dark leafy greens are rich in vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll. They help alkalize the body.

CONCENTRATION OF MIND

Concentration of mind plays in mastering the various subjects. The more the power of concentration the deeper the power of observation, the greater I the knowledge gained, the quicker it is achieved. Hence concentration of mind is a great value stressed in education.

Arjuna the great archer-prince in the epic Mahabharatham, is asked to shoot the eye of a bird sitting on a far off tree. He shoots successfully only when he does not see anything else except the  bird’s eye.

Real concentration cuts off all other objects of senses except the one under observation.

Swami Vivekananda’s power of reading several volumes of books by reading only once and that too with lightning speed is the power of concentration.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1.               Developing self – identity

Every individual has to develop an identity of his/her own. We can do this by thinking about what people around us tell us about us.  More importantly, we have to understand our inner feelings,  our  innate abilities which others might not know.  For example, when we talk about appreciation, we have to appreciate our abilities if no one around us is doing that.  At the same time we have to stop expecting appreciation from others for our work. We have to constantly appreciate our work and motivate ourselves.

2.               Developing skills and abilities

Every day we have to learn from life and have to keep doing things in a better manner. For example, we can improve our ability to paint by painting every day and by watching great paintings.

3.               Doing the work at the right time

We have to work as per schedule and not postpone our work for any reason. This discipline will make any person successful in life.  For example, if we study daily it will  help the brain to store the knowledge in the brain for a longer duration.

4.               Bringing the needed hard work to finish the job

Success demands hard work at every level. We have to be ready to bring enough hard work to the work we are doing. For example, if we are getting ready for a cultural event we have to devote many days to practice.

5.               Self-care

Taking care of our mind, body and intelligence is essential. 

Prayer, meditation, and positive thoughts will keep the mind in good condition. For example, even when we have committed a mistake, instead of thinking about the mistakes, it would be better to think how we can avoid such mistakes next time; we have to replace the negative thought with a positive thought.

Regular exercises like yoga, aerobic, walking, doing household works will help us to keep the body in good condition.

Reading books that are from various subjects will keep our intelligence sharp.

6.               Family care

Taking care of the elderly people in the family will help us become responsible people. We can learn a lot from these elders.  Also parents have to be taken care of. Caring for our family will give us mental strength to tackle issues later in our lives.

7.               Social care

We have to be aware of social needs. We have to have concern for the society.

8.               Developing skills of trouble shooting

9.               Learning to work in teams

10.           Developing clarity of thought.