8.3 Alignment of Values between the School, the Curriculum, and the
Society
The moral values discussion should also consider a back-to-the-basics approach. The reality
of schooling means that children and young people spend 35-40 hours per week participating
in formal education, not to mention the additional hours devoted to homework and extracurricular
activities, and a large portion of the national expenditure is devoted to this cause.38
Schooling contributes to development of student’s moral, spiritual, social, and cultural
growth, yet according to the rhetoric in both curricula, cooperation between the home, the
school, and society must be fostered in order to provide a solid foundation for the
development of children. In the face of a more pluralistic society, the challenges of today
arise when there are conflicting aims of education, or other issues such as socio-economic
background, contributing to the values conflict. An alignment of values between the school,
the curriculum and the society can only occur when there is a commitment to realizing a
common aim of education. The role of each of these actors must also be clear in order to
achieve this. I suggest the following recommendations: