Values education for citizens in the new century: Meaning, desirability and practice

The chapter begins by exploring three questions on values education for citizens in the new century: meaning, desirability and practice. What does values education mean? Why is values education desirable? How is values education to be practiced? It is argued that the sort of education for citizenship in the new century should be values education which, on the one hand, can provide citizens rich and valuable sources for their identity formation in drawing on their embeddedness (e.g. traditions constituted by relations and belongings) while, on the other hand, can nurture values to be embodied in citizens, if necessary, helping the migration (e.g. learning, working and living cross boundaries) they are increasingly likely to make in some forms in the new century. Along such line of thinking, the chapter further draws on and introduces the following 16 chapters in the book. They are grouped into three parts, which respectively touch upon theoretical exploration, varieties and issues in values education for citizens. These contributions from different countries of the world reveal a rich diversity on the meaning, desirability and practice of values education across cultures and regions. But is there any underlying unity? How could commonality (e.g. commonly shared values) and diversity (e.g. multiculturalism) be balanced in values education? The chapter concludes by suggesting a “Cone Model” for the quest for unity in diversity. Copyright © 2006 The Chinese University Press.