The lack of professional knowledge in values education

The aim of this study is to investigate teachers' perceptions of their practice of values education, and to explore their degree of professionalism in this matter. Qualitative interviews with 13 teachers have been conducted and analysed by a comparative analysis. According to their view, values education is (a) most often reactive and unplanned, (b) embedded in everyday school life with a focus on students' everyday behaviour in school, and (c) partly or mostly unconsciously performed. Furthermore, professional knowledge appears to be missing in the domain of values education among these teachers. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Original Publication: Robert Thornberg, The lack of professional knowledge in values education, Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 2008, (24), 7, 1791-1798. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.04.004 Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. http://www.elsevier.com/