Forming Values
As music educators in training, we are constantly encouraged to refine our value systems. If we are going to impart knowledge and share learning with future generations, it is imperative that we are firm in our beliefs but also open to the beliefs of others. So how do we form such things?
Values, as Lewis says, are a complicated subject area to define. They are formed from what we know, perhaps to defend what we don’t. As someone who is still working on deciphering my own values, I appreciated the logical breakdown of the different ways through which we come to know something about the world. I would have to agree that we all use a variety of these systems with each decision.
The section of this chapter that I found to be particularly compatible with my own processes is the idea of separation: “human being cannot separate the way they arrive at values from the values themselves.” (Lewis, 13) And I wonder, should we try to separate these things? Or should we not?
I am a sensitive person, and often times let my emotions direct my actions. I have come to believe that human interaction, community, love, and higher level critical thinking are important things in a classroom setting, but could I very scientifically back up my reasoning for the necessity of these values? No, probably not. I made a decision somewhere down the line (probably while singing in choir at state competition, singing a piece we collectively but silently dedicated to a young man at our school who took his life) that community and community through singing is one of the rawest ways that people can communicate with one another, and so that notion has become an important component of my value system.
I think the great thing here, though, is that formulating values this way is not necessarily a negative thing. It’s part of human nature, at least that’s what we’re speculating.
April 11th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
I agree with Katrina’s opening statements and summary on the article. There are few ways in which humans can separate the way they arrive at their values from the values themselves. Many a times because it is a process or a situation that changes us forever that helps us form our values. As seen when Katrina talks about how she thinks music is a great way for a community to communicate, due to her own personal experiences. Due to situations like this and others that help form peoples values, I do not believe that our values are created completely by our own opinion or ideals, but rather circumstance. Lewis talks a bit about the role that bias can play when people discuss values and I believe it is extremely pervasive. All a person’s own experiences, relationships, upbringing and so much more count as potential biases when developing ones own value systems.
April 11th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Katrina’s main point emphasizes the fact that although one may have a certain set of values, it’s important to keep an open mind to other people’s values. Not every person has the same values but one can learn from another, which can lead to altering or adding to their own values. It’s human nature for one to formulate their values based on their own emotions and personality. I found her statement, “they (values) are formed from what we know, perhaps to defend what we don’t,” very interesting. I’ve never looked at values as a way of defending what one may not understand, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I also agree with her statement that human beings use both logical and emotional systems when making a decision. It’s the mixture of these two diverse systems that creates and molds one’s core values to their own personal specifications.
April 15th, 2014 at 5:31 pm
I felt like my initial direction for this post was a little skewed, or at least not full of clarity, but your comment, particularly the first portion of it (“it’s important to keep an open mind to other people’s values. Not every person has the same values but can learn from one another, which can lead to altering or adding to their own values…”) confirmed my speculations. Well, they didn’t necessarily PROVE my speculations were correct, just that another person shares my thoughts. We should be sensitive and we should try to learn from each other. Vicarious learning is one of several great ways to learn, is it not? So why not apply ways in which we learn to ways in which we determine our values? This brought me to another set of questions that may be intriguing to consider; what might be the most significant differences between learning and determining values?