Developing values through the imagination

From 2004 to 2010 I served as a researcher and advisor in the Australian Government’s values education projects. During the task of helping schools implementing and conducting research on values education, I took the opportunity to observe the importance explorative and imaginative modes of teaching and learning might have in the formation of values. In this essay, I argue that imaginative teaching and learning is essential in any type of values education, particularly if a constructivist view of values clarification (as opposed to values imposition) is favoured. As such, a warning is offered about the potentially counterproductive push for ‘character’ education, as seen in some parts of America, as well as the nationalistic approach to values education sometimes emphasised in Australia.