Education Value System of various Countries

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Education Value System of Singapore and Japan.

Comparison of Value systems across India, Japan, China and America.
Importance of Moral Education System.
The Importance of Teaching & Learning Ethics in School
Moral Development Theory for Young Children

Singapore System of Education

A student-centric education system in the pipeline.
Focus on values of citizenship.
As a young nation with a short history of independence, we must have informed, rugged
and resilient citizens who can stay united to overcome crisis and adversities which we
must expect to happen from time to time."
They also focus on personal values
To enable each of us to have the confidence, self-awareness, grit and determination to
succeed. We need moral values, such as respect, responsibility, care and appreciation
towards others to guide each of us to be a socially responsible person.
One way is to introduce a new Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) module
which will focus on values and character development.
The new CCE curriculum will bring together Civics and Moral Education, National
Education, Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) among others.
They follow a system of LEAPS (Leadership, Enrichment, Achievement,
Participation and Service) in education, a grading scheme for CCA.
Measures taken by Singapore government:
School Excellence Model and Master plan of Awards, which were introduced in 1998.
This is to realign them to be more student-centric while reducing the amount of
administrative work needed.

Japan Value System of Education

Literacy Rate Japan:

Total
Male
Female

99.00%
99.9%
99.7%
A comparative study of Value System of Japan, China , America and India

In order to understand the members of a particular society, it is required to have some idea of
their daily lives , their tradition , their beliefs , their way of looking at the world , their value
system. Values determine what is right and what is wrong for an individual , for a group of
people ,for the people living in a particular nation. Individuals value system decide the dos and
the donts in their life. It forms the foundations of their characters. Depending on their value
system , in a given situation they behave in a particular manner.
The culture of various countries differ. There may be some similarity, but they are not the same.
The values, beliefs and notions of Japan differ that of America, china or India. An organization
is a part of the society . therefore, as far as an organization in a particular nation is concerned,
its value system also differs from another organization situated in some other country.

A comparison of the value system of Japan, china , America and India are given below:

Japan

Dedicated to service: Japanese believe in hard work being totally dedicated

and thus providing best quality products to the customers. It indicates that like
Indians they treat work as worship. They believe in kaizen i.e. continuous, small
improvements.
Macro vision: Japanese value system is such that they are more oriented to

look at things from macro perspective . Japanese are patriots by nature. They love
their country and are honest and dedicated towards it .therefore, when a Japanese
joins an organization he is totally dedicated and gives his best output because he
knows this output will help in nation building, will contribute in economic growth
and development of nation. Thus individual priority, goals and objectives become
the second criteria for the Japanese.
Emphasizes spiritualism: Another characteristic of Japanese is that they
are inclined towards spirituality. They practice meditation, attend lectures on

spiritualism, believe in intuition and six sense. Thus they lead a peaceful life which
enhances their productivity level.
Professional life kept away from personal life: Japanese also believe not

to carry office work at home and external problems at home. They follow a custom.
Before entering their home, they keep their shoes outside and enter inside bare
footed to indicate that external stress and strain should be kept outside. External
disturbances should not create disharmony in their personal life.
Business ethics: Japanese believe in business ethics. They provide products

and services to the customers and never ready to cheat them. Thus they provide
service to the community and fulfill social responsibility. They do business fairly.
They earn profit but not at the cost of quality.
Team spirit: Japanese value system emphasizes on team spirit. In an

organization or in society team spirit needs to be developed. It creates harmony and

positive synergy. Therefore, team output becomes better compared to individual
output. They believe in joint dicision making. It means employees should be
involved in the decision making process along with management. Sometimes they
might know better than management. Therefore, joint decision making will lead to
better decision.
Holistic approach: Japanese are ever ready to spend on the training of the

employees, as they believe that the employees will be with the organization for the
long time. They have holistic concern for employees.
Self management: Japanese culture also give importance on self discipline

and self control. The individuals are expected to control their ego, anger, hatred,
greediness and maintain service attitude. It emphasizes more to give then to take
from professional life.
Japanese value system: They are courteous and generous people.

Japanese value system emphasizes not to express ones opinion directly. Japanese
have 2 concepts about the opinion, One is honne (real opinion) and other is
tatemae (public opinion). It is flexible in approach and emphasizes in agreeing with
people around as much as possible.
Non interruptions: Japanese also insist to avoid interrupting when someone

is thinking or speaking. They do not believe in using mobile phones in trains unless
it is allowed to do so as it disturbs the fellow passengers.
Informal relationships: People in Japan believe in informal relationships.

For example, in an organization employees can communicate directly with higher

authorities.
Long term relationships: Japanese look at things from long term
perspective. They give the best service not only to nation but also the whole world.
They provide best quality service to the customer. They believe in continuous

improvement and ever ready to work hard with sincerity and dedication. They know
due to this attitude, customers will be loyal to them. They employees also feel that
they are not mere employees, but a part of organization and work accordingly.

America

Materialistic: As compared to Japan, American value system differs to great

extent. American are more materialistic in their approach as compared to Japanese.

Now a days many Americans are getting attracted towards spiritualism, because
they have realized the emptiness of mere materialism. Generally Americans are
focused to earn more and more money and enjoy all the luxuries in life. They are
achievement oriented, interested to attain challenging goals, ambitious and hard
working.
Relationship based in give and take: American culture believes in

developing relationship of give and take in work life. They regard that relationship
should be mutually beneficial. They believe the relationship to be formal in
professional life.
Believe in non-interference: Americans are not much inclined to the

family. After becoming adult, individuals can take the decision on their own without
bothering about their parents.
Equity and co-operation: They believe in equity and co-operation. They are

focused in building the team spirit to attain organization goals and objectives. But
while encouraging the team spirit, individuals performance is also rewarded.
Generally preferred top-down approach: As far as decision making is

concerned, generally major decisions are taken at the top and communicated at the
lower level to take action.
No job security: Americans believe that if today, an employees

performance is good, he must be rewarded, if tomorrow he is not required or his

performance is not up to the mark he need to be sacked. It indicates they do value
job security unlike Japanese
Loyal to the profession: Americans are more loyal not to the organization
but to the profession. If they get better opportunity they will leave the organization
and join somewhere else.

China

Chinese value system that emphasizes that people should be truthful, generous, sincere, kind
hearted and selfless by nature.

Thought counts: One short story will help us to understand Chinese culture.

Once upon a time a man went on a long journey to visit his friend with a swan as a
gift. On the way the swan escaped and the man tried to catch it. But in his efforts he
got hold of nothing but a feather. He reached his destination and gifted his friend
that feather and told him what happened. His friend became moved by the story
and his sincerity. For him it was a priceless gift. The saying in Chinese is The gift is
nothing much, but it is the thought that counts and spreads everywhere. In
business world Chinese people emphasizes on punctuality.
Jen and yi: Chinese are keen to use the words, Jen and yi. Jean means love

and friendship whereas yi means righteousness. These two qualities should be there
in the people. They emphasize to maintain a life full of love, harmony and peace.
Chinese culture believes in wu wei. It means doing without forcing. It emphasizes on
accepting and harmonizing with the flow.
Emphasize on gunaxi: Guanxi or relationship is an important Chinese
business element. It helps to minimize the risk, frustration and disappointments. It
will help in insuring that business will be successful. It will help in determining the
competitive standing of an organization in the long run. Unlike western culture,
Chinese prefer to deal with people they know and trust. Trustworthiness is a very
important component in Chinese tradition.
India:

Co-operation: Indian philosophy instead of killer instinct and tough

competition focuses more towards co-operation.

Family oriented, more emotional: The value system of India is oriented

towards family. Even grown ups while taking any decision consult with seniors.
Indian ethos emphasizes to respect the elders specially the parent and teachers
Humility and respect for others: Indian ethos emphasizes on humility and

respect for others. Therefore, getting passes Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar
commented Heroes are heroes forever, you cannot really get passed them. This in
Indian value system.
Respect to others: It focuses to show respect to others. Others means not

only the fellow human beings but objects as well.

Self management: Indian Ethos believe that self management is the
essence of management. Before managing others effectively, a person should know
how to manage himself. Then only he can manage others effectively.

Importance of Moral Education System

Resisting Coercion
o

People with a solid internal sense of right and wrong are less easily coerced by
others. This is particularly true in school, where peer pressure can be intense, but is also true in
later life, where adults frequently are confronted with conflicts between what they know to be
right and the demands of the outside world. The key to effective teaching of morals in schools is
not so much to teach children what is right and wrong, as to teach them to learn these things for
themselves, and just as importantly, to teach them to live by these beliefs.
Conflicts

Teaching "right and wrong" in education is a field that is ripe for conflict, because
students, parents, teachers and administrators do not have identical definitions of what right
and wrong is. The court records bear histories of legal battles between parents and schools about
what should and should not be taught. These battles usually involve some element of religion.
Religion

For many people, morals are based on religious belief. In the United States,
because of the separation of church and state, religious beliefs are not taught in public schools.
This is a point of contention for many religious people, who raise their children within their
religion and often are at odds with some of the things their children learn in school. Many of
these people believe that it is the job of the family, not the educational system, to teach morals to
children. Many parents send their children to private schools where moral structures more in
keeping with their beliefs are taught.
Definitions

What constitutes moral education is not always clear, a fact that is at the root of
some of the conflict. In fields such as mathematics or physics, there are generally no problems,
but the issue becomes murkier in literature, history and sociology. Discussing a book with a
moral lesson in it in a literature class is not the same thing as advocating that moral lesson, but
the distinction is not always clear. In science, the conflict over teaching evolution vs. creationism
has been couched in moral and ethical terms.
Cheating

One area where the teaching of morality makes the educational system itself work
better is in the area of cheating and plagiarism. An amoral or immoral student population would
use these methods to get higher grades without necessarily learning the material, thus

undermining their own education. By indoctrinating students with the idea that it is wrong to
cheat, the educational system helps itself to educate students more effectively.

The Importance of Teaching & Learning Ethics in School

Promoting an Ethical Society
o

By teaching about ethics in social studies you will be contributing to a more

ethical society. And the study of ethics need not be restricted to a social studies classroom, as
having good ethics is important an any field. For example, when scientists at Los Alamos
developed and tested the atomic bomb, some struggled with its future implications. At the same
time, they had to consider the ethical implications of doing nothing and perhaps allowing the
Axis powers to win the war.
Making Good Choices

Create a multiple choice quiz that offers a series of different scenarios requiring
an ethical choice on the part of the student. Select scenarios and questions that are appropriate
for the age group that you teach. Lead a dissuasion after the assignment has been completed.
Ask students who agreed with specific responses to the given scenarios. Use the Socrates method
to further the discussion, posing questions to students that reveal each issue in more detail and
that come at the issue from different points of view.
Impact of Ethics

A sense of ethics helps to create honesty in a individual. A non-ethical person has

little qualms about about being lying, stealing or otherwise being deceptive. There are certainly
those in our society that view honesty as an irrelevant consideration in business or personal
relationships. The result can be harmful to our general society. For example, Bernie Madoff
create a Ponzi scheme that eventually led to a great number of individuals as well as
organizations to lose their investments.
Ethics and Empathy

Ethics and empathy go hand in hand. An ethical person has the ability to feel
empathy for others, as ethics require thoughtful consideration of different subjects, including
considering life circumstances that require compassion. In addition, people with ethics are
normally more tolerant of others, and less likely to be swayed by racial or gender bias or a mob
mentality.
Moral Development Theory for Young Children: As to what they are taught at what
age?

Ages 2 to 5
o

Children begin to exhibit beliefs and behaviors influenced by a moral

understanding between 2 to 5 years of age, according to Angela Oswalt, MSW on
MentalHelp.net.
Ages 5 to 6

By ages 5 through 6, morality means balance and justice. Children need fairness
in their attention and in what they receive, and they earnestly look for this as they interact with
others.
Ages 5 to 10

Oswalt relates the finding of Jean Piaget, a psychologist from Switzerland, that
children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old begin to understand the moral obligation to
authority such as parents, teachers and elders. They tend to regard their rules as binding,
without doubting their validity.
Obeying the Rules

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, children tend to

appreciate rules as a means of avoiding punishment and as a way to receive rewards for
obedience.
Development

As children grow, their moral foundation evolves to a broader understanding of

rules, how to apply them and how they can use their intellect to problem solve.