In short
- Plan one or two values per term, each carried by several stories at the class's level, with the language aims set alongside.
- Berkowitz and Bier (2007) found that effective character education tends to include an explicit focus on character, interactive teaching and staff development.
- In Narvaez and colleagues (1999), understanding of a story's moral differed by age even after accounting for reading comprehension, so build in a check.
- The planning steps and the sample year plan are practice, not tested findings. Set the English aims first so that values do not crowd them out.
A values-based curriculum does not happen by accident. If stories are picked only by level, the values in them arrive in no order, and some never arrive. If stories are picked only for their message, the English suffers. This article sets out how to plan both together: the planning steps, a sample year plan, and the checks that make the plan real. It reports the research where research exists, on character education and on how pupils understand a story's moral. The planning advice is labelled as practice.
How do you build a values-based English curriculum?
Build the year around a short sequence of values, one or two per term. Carry each value with several stories at the class's level. Plan the language aims and the values aims together, so that every unit has both. Then check that the values were taught: pupils name the lesson in their own words, and parents hear about it.
The values meant here are ones that schools of many kinds share: honesty, kindness, courage, perseverance, fairness and responsibility.
What does research support, and what is practice?
Research supports parts of this plan. It does not test the plan itself.
On programs, Berkowitz and Bier (2007) identified 33 effective character education programs and examined the studies behind them. They conclude that character education can work when it is implemented broadly and with fidelity. Effective character education tended to include professional development, interactive teaching strategies and an explicit focus on character or ethics, among other features.
Jeynes (2019) combined 52 studies in a meta-analysis. Character education was associated with higher educational outcomes.
On stories, Narvaez, Gleason, Mitchell and Bentley (1999) tested how well readers understood the themes of moral stories. The readers were pupils in third and fifth grade, and university students. Understanding differed between the age groups, even after the researchers accounted for reading comprehension. Narvaez (2002) concluded in a review that children do not extract moral story themes as the writer intended.
On language teaching, Johnston (2003) argues that all language teaching involves an interplay of deeply held values. Those values are played out differently in each teaching situation. On that view, an English course is never free of values. The choice is whether to plan them.
| Part of the plan | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|
| An explicit, planned focus on values | Berkowitz and Bier (2007); Jeynes (2019) | Reviews of character education programs, not of English curricula |
| Pupils name the lesson themselves | Narvaez and colleagues (1999); Narvaez (2002) | An experiment with third graders, fifth graders and university students, and a review |
| A stepwise design process | Macalister and Nation (2020) | An academic book on language curriculum design in general |
| One or two values per term, several stories each | None | Practice. No study cited here tested it |
One gap should be stated. The summaries we read report no results for pupils reading in a foreign language.
The planning steps
Macalister and Nation (2020) describe language curriculum design as a set of steps. Their chapters cover environment analysis, needs analysis, principles, goals, content and sequencing, format and presentation, monitoring and assessment, and evaluation. The steps below follow that order loosely. Adding values to it is our adaptation, not their proposal.
- Look at your situation. Count the weeks, lessons and teachers you have.
- Fix the language aims. For each class, write the level, grammar and vocabulary the year must cover.
- Choose the values. Agree three to six for the year with staff, and tell parents.
- Sequence them. Give each term one or two values. Bring one value back later in the year with harder stories.
- Match the stories. For each value, find several stories at the class's level in which the plot acts the value out.
- Plan the talk and the check. Write the discussion questions, and decide how pupils will name the lesson.
- Review. At mid-year, compare what was taught with what was planned, and adjust.
For the calendar itself, see how to plan a reading program across a school year. For a single term in more detail, see character education through reading.
Choosing the values with staff and parents
This section is practice advice. None of the studies cited here tested how a school should choose its values.
Start from what the school has already said. A mission statement or an accreditation standard often names qualities such as integrity, respect or perseverance. Use those words where you can.
Keep to values that families of different backgrounds and beliefs can recognise as their own. Honesty, kindness, courage, perseverance, fairness and responsibility are a safe core. Johnston (2003) describes teaching as a matter of wrestling with dilemmas, not of clear-cut choices. Expect some of that when staff define a word such as 'respect'.
- Staff. If leadership sets the list of values, let teachers choose the stories. A teacher who has read and chosen a story knows where its hard choice lies.
- Parents. Share the year's values and the story list before the year starts, and invite questions. Nothing should come as a surprise.
- Wording. Write one plain sentence for each value that a pupil at the class's level could understand.
- Grades. Keep the same core values across the school. Vary the stories and the depth of discussion by age.
Present each value as something to think about, not a conclusion to accept. Pupils and families can weigh a story in their own way.
A sample year plan
The plan below is an illustration for one class that starts the year reading at A2. It is not a tested program. The language column shows examples only. Replace it with what your own syllabus sets for each term.
| Term | Value | Stories at level | Language focus | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1, first half | Honesty | Three short stories in which telling the truth turns out well | Telling what happened in the past; giving a reason with 'because' | Pupils choose the moral from three options, then say why |
| Term 1, second half | Kindness | Three short stories | Feelings vocabulary; advice with 'should' | Pupils finish the sentence 'This story shows that ...' |
| Term 2, first half | Perseverance | Three stories in which a character fails before succeeding | Ordering events: first, then, in the end | Pupils write the moral in one sentence of their own |
| Term 2, second half | Fairness | Three stories, one with a choice that is hard to call | Giving an opinion: 'I think ... because ...' | Pupils write the moral and one reason from the story |
| Term 3, first half | Responsibility | Two or three longer stories, as the class's level rises | Retelling a longer story in order | Pupils write the moral and compare two characters |
| Term 3, second half | Honesty again | Two longer stories with a harder choice | Asking about a different ending: 'What if ...?' | Pupils compare with Term 1: which character found honesty harder? |
Three features of the plan matter more than its details. Each value gets several stories, so pupils meet it more than once. One value returns at the end of the year with harder stories. And every row has a language focus, so no unit is a values unit only.
The first row follows Lee, Talwar, McCarthy, Ross, Evans and Arruda (2014). In their experiment with children aged 3 to 7, a story that emphasised the good consequences of honesty increased truth-telling. It is one experiment with young children, so treat it as a hint.
How to keep the English aims from being crowded out
A values theme can take over. The discussion runs long, or a story is chosen for its message when it is too hard for the class. Three rules keep the balance. They are practice, not research findings.
Level decides the story
Pick the level first, then look for the value among stories at that level. Never raise the level to get a better moral. A pupil who cannot follow the plot cannot discuss it. See how to match students to the right graded readers.
Language and values on two tracks
The language level moves up through the year. The values come round again. Plan them as two tracks side by side, each with its own column in the plan. If no suitable story exists at the class's level for a value, move the value to another term. Do not move the class to a harder book.
Make the discussion do language work
A discussion of a character's choice is speaking practice. Give it a language aim of its own, such as giving a reason with 'because'. Supply sentence frames so that limited English does not block the idea. Judge the idea and the English separately. Set a time limit too, so that reading and language work keep the rest of the lesson. Teaching values in the EFL classroom covers this in more detail.
The checks that make it real
A plan on paper proves little. Three checks show whether the values part of the curriculum is happening.
- Pupils name the lesson in their own words. After each story, every pupil writes one sentence beginning 'This story shows that ...'. Keep the sentences. Given what Narvaez (2002) concluded, this is the check that matters most.
- Parents hear about it. Send a short message that names the story, the value and one question to ask at home. See how to share values learning with parents.
- The plan is reviewed at mid-year. List the values planned and the stories read so far. A value that has slipped can be given time in the second half of the year.
Classroom example (an illustration)
Story: a girl finds a wallet on the bus and takes it to the driver. The owner comes back for it and thanks her.
Planned value: honesty.
Pupil 1: 'This story shows that you must give things back.'
Pupil 2: 'This story shows that people are happy when you are honest.'
Pupil 3: 'This story shows that you must be careful with your wallet on the bus.'
What the teacher learns: two pupils found the value, in different forms. The third followed the plot and took a different lesson. That pupil needs the discussion again, not a lower mark.
Do not turn the check into a grade for character. The sentence shows what a pupil understood from one story. It says nothing certain about how the pupil behaves. Discussion questions to draw the moral from a story shows how to lead pupils to that sentence.
The same records serve when parents, visitors or the board ask what the school does about character. You can show the values named, the stories matched to them and what pupils wrote.
How iRead handles this
In iRead, stories in global packs are tagged with the values they teach, and a school picks a pack by level, theme and values. School packs are written by the school's own teachers in the story editor, around the school's annual or termly curriculum. Dedicated quiz questions ask what the story taught. School leaders see levels reached, words retained and stories completed, by class, grade and term.
The core principle: Set the language aims and the values side by side before you choose a story. Then check the values in the one honest way: ask pupils what the story taught.
See it in iRead: 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.
See values through storiesKey takeaway
One or two values a term, several stories each, a language aim in every unit, and a sentence from every pupil. That is a values-based curriculum you can show.
Frequently asked questions
What is a values-based curriculum?
It is a curriculum in which a short list of values is planned across the year, alongside the subject's own aims. In English, each value is carried by several stories at the class's level. Every unit keeps a language focus, and pupils are asked to name what each story taught.
How many values should a school year cover?
Three to six is a workable range: one or two per term, each met in several stories. This is practice advice, not a research finding. A short list lets a value return later in the year with harder stories. A long list leaves no room for that.
How do you integrate values into English lessons without preaching?
Let the plot carry the value, and ask questions before you give answers. Narvaez (2002) concluded that children do not extract moral story themes as the writer intended. Announcing the moral does not solve that. Ask each pupil to state the lesson in their own words, and accept honest differences.
Will a values focus slow pupils' progress in English?
No study cited here measured that. The risk is real if stories are chosen for their message above the class's level, or if discussion replaces language work. Set the language aims first, choose stories at level, and give each discussion a language aim and a time limit.
Sources
- 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
- Jeynes, W. H. (2019). A meta-analysis on the relationship between character education and student achievement and behavioral outcomes. Education and Urban Society, 51(1), 33-71. doi.org/10.1177/0013124517747681
- 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
- Narvaez, D. (2002). Does reading moral stories build character?. Educational Psychology Review, 14(2), 155-171. doi.org/10.1023/A:1014674621501
- 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
- Macalister, J., & Nation, I. S. P. (2020). Language curriculum design (2nd ed.). Routledge. doi.org/10.4324/9780429203763
- Johnston, B. (2003). Values in English language teaching. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (now Routledge). doi.org/10.4324/9781410606983