In short
- Johnston (2003) argues that all language teaching involves deeply held values, so a teacher's real choice is whether to plan them.
- Narvaez (2002) concluded that children do not extract a moral story's theme as the writer intended, so pupils need to put the value into their own words.
- In Lee and colleagues (2014), a story stressing the good consequences of honesty increased truth-telling in children aged 3 to 7.
- Bring a value in through the story, a question, a shared task and the language of feelings and reasons.
Every English lesson already teaches values. The story you pick shows some way of behaving. The way you correct a mistake shows how people should be treated. Pupils notice both. So the real choice is whether the values in your lesson are planned or accidental. This article reports what one writer on values in English language teaching argues, and what researchers on moral stories have found. It then gives four ways to bring a value into an ordinary lesson, a lesson plan in a table, and advice for classes where families differ.
How do you teach values in an English class?
You teach values in an English class by making deliberate what is already there. Values sit in the texts you choose and in the way pupils are treated. Pick a story in which a character makes a choice. Ask questions that lead pupils to say what the story shows, and give them the English to say it. Do not add a speech at the end. A value that the teacher announces is a sermon. A value that the pupil puts into words is a lesson.
There are four routes into a value, and an ordinary lesson can use all of them:
- Through the story. The plot shows the value at work.
- Through a question. The pupil explains the character's choice.
- Through a task pupils do together. The class uses the value as well as discussing it.
- Through the language of feelings and reasons. Pupils learn the words that make this kind of talk possible.
Is English teaching ever value-free?
Johnston (2003) says no. His book, Values in English Language Teaching, places moral issues, by which he means questions of values, at the core of what it is to be a teacher. He sets this against the view that language teaching is merely a technical matter of managing how pupils acquire language.
His message is that all language teaching involves an interplay of deeply held values, and that these play out differently in each teaching situation. Teaching, in his account, is not a matter of clear-cut choices. It means wrestling with dilemmas and making difficult decisions.
Two cautions. This is a book of argument and classroom cases, not an experiment, and we rely here on the publisher's description of it. And Johnston does not tell readers what to think. He suggests what to think about.
What follows for a teacher is our reading, not his. Values show up in at least three places in a lesson:
- The texts. Every story shows some way of behaving and what comes of it.
- The treatment of pupils. Who gets to speak, how an error is corrected, whose answer is praised.
- The marks. What you test tells pupils what you think matters.
What research on moral stories shows
A story about honesty does not deliver honesty by being read. Narvaez (2002) reviewed the research and challenged the assumption that children build moral literacy by reading or hearing moral stories. Readers do not understand a text in the same way, because reading skill and background knowledge differ. And children do not extract a moral story's theme as the writer intended.
Narvaez, Gleason, Mitchell and Bentley (1999) tested pupils in third and fifth grade, and university students, on the themes of several moral stories. Understanding of the moral theme differed by age group, even after the researchers accounted for reading comprehension.
Two experiments point to what helps. Walker and Lombrozo (2017) prompted children aged 5 and 6 to explain parts of a story. Compared with a control group, these children were better able to abstract the story's moral and apply it to new contexts. In some cases, explaining worked better than being told the moral.
Lee, Talwar, McCarthy, Ross, Evans and Arruda (2014) compared four classic moral stories with children aged 3 to 7. 'Pinocchio' and 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' failed to reduce lying. 'George Washington and the Cherry Tree' significantly increased truth-telling. The authors traced the difference to consequences. That story stresses the good consequences of honesty, and the other two stress the bad consequences of lying. When the George Washington story was altered to stress the bad consequences of dishonesty, it too failed to promote honesty.
Read these with care. The children were young, and neither experiment was about foreign-language learners. The honesty experiment tested one value. We found no study that tested moral stories with EFL pupils. The practical lessons are still worth taking: let pupils explain, and prefer stories in which the value turns out well. The pillar guide weighs the wider evidence.
Four ways to bring a value into an ordinary lesson
Through the story
Choose a story at the class's reading level in which a character faces a choice. A pupil who cannot follow the plot cannot discuss the value. One value per story is enough. Do not name it before the reading. If you announce that today's story is about kindness, the pupils have nothing left to find. Short Moral Stories to Teach Honesty, Kindness & Courage covers the choice of story.
Through a question
Ask why the character acted, what else they could have done and what came of it. Then ask what the story shows. Could a pupil answer your question without having read the story? If so, the question has drifted into general moralising. Discussion Questions to Draw the Moral From a Story gives a full ladder of questions, with stems in simpler English.
Through a task pupils do together
Set a short task that a pair or group must finish together. They can put the events in order, write a different ending, or agree on one sentence that says what the story shows. The task gives every pupil a reason to speak. It also puts values to work in a small way, because pupils must listen, take turns and share the job fairly. This is classroom practice, not a tested finding.
Through the language of feelings and reasons
A pupil may understand the value and lack the English to say it. Teach the words as you would teach any vocabulary set. Keep the language of the discussion no harder than the language of the story.
- Feelings: 'She felt afraid.' 'He was proud.' 'She felt left out.'
- Reasons: 'He did it because ...' 'I think ... because ...'
- Choices: 'She could ... or she could ...'
- Opinions: 'I agree with ... because ...' 'I see it differently.'
- The lesson: 'This story shows that ...'
A lesson plan: stage, teacher and the English practised
The table shows one ordinary lesson built on a short story. Each stage has a job for the value and a job for the English. It is an example, not a tested plan.
| Lesson stage | What the teacher does | The English being practised |
|---|---|---|
| Before reading | Shows the picture or the title. Asks how the character might feel. Does not name the value. | Feelings vocabulary; 'I think ...' |
| Reading | Lets pupils read, with audio if it helps. Stops once, at the moment of choice, and asks what the character can do. | 'Can' and 'could' for choices |
| Plot check | Asks three or four quick questions about what happened. | Past simple; question forms; words from the story |
| Pair task | Sets one shared task: 'Why did she do it? Agree on one reason.' | 'Because'; agreeing and disagreeing; taking turns |
| Naming the value | Asks each pupil to finish 'This story shows that ...' in writing. Hears several answers without ranking them. | One accurate sentence in the present simple |
| Close | Asks where the same choice could come up at school. Notes two language errors for the next lesson. | 'When ...' and 'If ...' sentences |
Classroom example (an illustration, not a tested script)
Story outline, about A2: Mira is new at school and eats lunch alone. Jon sees her. He leaves his friends' table and asks, 'Can I sit here?' The next day, three more children join them.
Before reading: 'Look at the picture. How does the girl feel? Why?'
Plot check: 'Where did Jon sit on the first day? Who sat there on the second day?'
Question: 'Jon's friends were at another table. Why did he move?'
Pair task: 'Write two sentences that Mira says at home that evening.'
Naming the value: 'This story shows that ...' One possible answer from a pupil: 'One kind person can change a day.'
No stage contains a speech about kindness. The word may not appear until a pupil writes it.
Different backgrounds, and values families see differently
One class may hold pupils from several countries, faiths and home cultures, and from families with no religion. Honesty, kindness, courage, perseverance, fairness and responsibility are widely shared among them. What differs is how families weigh those values, and how they would act in a particular case.
Some choices divide families. Should you tell a teacher when a friend breaks a rule? Is it brave or rude to disagree with an adult? These are our examples. Johnston (2003) describes teaching as a matter of dilemmas, not clear-cut choices, and a story can raise one at any time. You do not have to settle it. Some working rules:
- Talk about the character, not the family. Ask 'What should Jon do?', never 'What do your parents say?'
- Ask, do not rule. 'What would you have done?' leaves room for each family's answer.
- Allow a pass. No pupil has to share a personal story or opinion.
- Keep to the values your school has stated. Promote no religion or political view, and speak of none with disrespect.
- Tell parents what the class read. How to Share Values Learning With Parents has templates for that message.
Keep the English aim in view
This is an English lesson. If the values talk pushes out the language work, you have changed the subject. Three habits keep the balance.
- Write a language aim for the discussion. For example: 'Pupils give a reason with because.' If you cannot name the aim, the stage is not ready.
- Set a time limit. Ten minutes of discussion is a workable plan. Then move on to vocabulary or writing.
- Judge the idea and the English separately. Respond to the idea first. Note the language errors and deal with them later.
Berkowitz and Bier (2007) reviewed character education programs that had evidence of effectiveness. Effective character education tended to include interactive teaching strategies and an explicit focus on character, among other features. Their review covers whole programs, not single English lessons. We take it as a reason to return to the same few values across a term. Building a Values-Based English Curriculum shows how to plan that.
How iRead handles this
In iRead, stories carry a moral, such as honesty, kindness, courage or perseverance. Stories in global packs are tagged with the values they teach, and a school picks a pack by level, theme and values. Dedicated quiz questions ask what the story taught. Values learned appear next to vocabulary gained in progress views, including the parent's view.
The core principle: The value is already in the lesson. Plan it, let the pupil say it, and keep an English aim for every stage.
See it in iRead: Stories in iRead's global packs are tagged with the values they teach, and dedicated quiz questions ask what the story taught. Every story and quiz is levelled to the CEFR.
See values through storiesKey takeaway
Choose a story with a choice in it, ask before you tell, and give pupils the English for feelings and reasons. The value and the language are then taught in the same lesson.
Frequently asked questions
What if pupils disagree with a story's moral?
Treat it as part of the lesson. Ask for a reason from the story, and let other pupils respond. Narvaez (2002) notes that readers do not all understand a text in the same way. A pupil who argues with a story is thinking about it.
Should the values discussion be in English only?
Aim for English, because this is an English lesson. Let pupils at A1 or A2 use a few words of their first language to find the idea. Then help them say it in one English sentence. Frames such as 'This story shows that ...' reduce the need.
What if the values discussion crowds out language practice?
Plan about ten minutes of discussion after the plot check, and stop when the time is up. Give the discussion its own language aim, such as giving a reason with 'because'. The time is a planning suggestion from practice. No study cited here sets an ideal length.
Which values can you teach in a class of mixed backgrounds?
Keep to values that schools of many kinds share: honesty, kindness, courage, perseverance, fairness and responsibility. Discuss the character's choice, not the pupils' families. Where families may weigh a value differently, ask what pupils would do, and let more than one answer stand.
Sources
- Johnston, B. (2003). Values in English Language Teaching. Routledge. doi.org/10.4324/9781410606983
- Narvaez, D. (2002). Does reading moral stories build character?. Educational Psychology Review, 14(2), 155-171. doi.org/10.1023/A:1014674621501
- Narvaez, D., Gleason, T., Mitchell, C., & Bentley, J. (1999). Moral theme comprehension in children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(3), 477-487. doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.3.477
- Walker, C. M., & Lombrozo, T. (2017). Explaining the moral of the story. Cognition, 167, 266-281. doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.11.007
- Lee, K., Talwar, V., McCarthy, A., Ross, I., Evans, A., & Arruda, C. (2014). Can classic moral stories promote honesty in children?. Psychological Science, 25(8), 1630-1636. doi.org/10.1177/0956797614536401
- Berkowitz, M. W., & Bier, M. C. (2007). What works in character education. Journal of Research in Character Education, 5(1), 29-48. doi.org/10.1108/CE-02-2007-0002