Unit I: Values and Self Development
In this unit the following concepts which are necessary for understanding the subject value education and ethics have been discussed. These meanings cannot be said exhaustive but are introductory in nature.
• Importance of Cultivation of Values
• Sense of Duty
• Devotion
• Self-Reliance
• Confidence
• Concentration
• Truthfulness
• Cleanliness
• Power of Faith
• National Unity
• Patriotism
• Love of Nature
• Discipline
Social Values and Individual Attitudes :
Meaning of Values:
In sociology, the meaning of value is different from meaning of value in economics or philosophy. For example, in economics values means price. Social values form an important part of the culture of the society. Values account for the stability of social order. They provide the general guidelines for social conduct.
Types of values
Types of values include ethical/moral values, doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, social values, and aesthetic values.
SENSE OF DUTY
Sense of duty - a motivating awareness of ethical responsibility
Similar Terms: conscience, moral sense, sense of right and wrong
A sense of civic duty refers to “a belief that an individual has an obligation to undertake actions that benefit others even when the actions are costly to themselves.”
From the standpoint of democratic theory, the idea that people should have a strong sense of civic duty is one that has received a great deal of attention. we know where the sense of duty comes from, we will be better equipped to figure out whether and how it can be cultivated.
DEVOTION
◼ Devotion can be defined as love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for certain people or certain activities. They may be prayers or religious observances. the quality of being loyal.
◼ A strong feeling of support .you should have devotion towards your work, and people who do any activity with atmost devotion towards it, will certainly succeed in whatever activities they do in life.
SELF-RELIANCE
◼ Self-Reliance means reliance on one's own powers and resources rather than those of others.
◼ Synonyms of self-reliance are self-sufficiency, self-support, self-sustenance, self-standing, independence.
◼ When we are self-reliant, we use the blessings and abilities which God has given us to care for ourselves and our families and find solutions to our own problems.
◼ As we become self-reliant, we are also better able to serve and care for others.
CONFIDENCE
◼ Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself.
◼ Arrogance in this comparison is having unmerited confidence—believing something or someone is capable or correct when they are not.
◼ Overconfidence is excessive belief in someone (or something) succeeding, without any regard for failure.
◼ Confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, without it they may fail or not try because they lack it and those with it may succeed because they have it rather than because of an innate ability.
BUILDING SELF-CONFIDENCE
◼ The good news is that becoming more confident is readily achievable, just as long as you have the focus and determination to carry things through.
◼ And what’s even better is that the things you’ll do to build your self-confidence will also build success – after all, your confidence will come from real, solid achievement. No one can take this away from you!
◼ So here are our three steps to self-confidence, for which we’ll use the metaphor of a journey:
◼ preparing for your journey; setting out; and accelerating towards success.
Two main things contribute to self-confidence: self-efficacy and self-esteem.
◼ We gain a sense of self-efficacy when we see ourselves (and others similar to ourselves) mastering skills and achieving goals that matter in those skill areas.
◼ This is the confidence that, if we learn and work hard in a particular area, we'll succeed; and it's this type of confidence that leads people to accept difficult challenges, and persist in the face of setbacks.
CONCENTRATION
Meaning:
◼ the act of concentrating; the state of being concentrated.
◼ exclusive attention to one object.
◼ intense mental application; complete attention.
◼ the act or process of concentrating.
Our ability to concentrate depends on
◼ commitment
◼ enthusiasm for the task
◼ skill at doing the task
◼ our emotional and physical state
◼ our psychological state
◼ our environment
◼ Commitment: We need to make a personal commitment to put in the effort needed to do the task in the way which we realistically plan to do it. If we just play at it in a half-hearted manner then it is much more difficult to take the task and ourselves seriously.
◼ Enthusiasm: If we are interested in the task and enjoy doing it, then we find it easy to motivate ourselves to start. Once started, our feelings of involvement in the activity keep us going - we want to do it.
◼ Skill: Knowing how to do something gives confidence that our efforts will be successful, so we don't have to deal with anxiety about will this work or not. Anxiety tends to impair concentration.
Our emotional & physical state: When we are in good physical condition - i.e. feeling rested, relaxed and comfortable - and our emotions are calm and benevolent, then we tend to be positive about things. This in turn raises self-esteem, which makes us more able to concentrate, if only because we don't have to worry about how awful we are or life is.
◼ Our psychological state: For example, if we are in an obsessional or distracted state our thoughts are pre-occupied, leaving little mental space to think about anything else.
◼ Environment: It is much more difficult to concentrate if our surroundings keep intruding on our awareness, perhaps because it is noisy, too hot or too cold, the furniture is uncomfortable or the people around us are stressing out.
TRUTHFULNESS
Truthfulness means speaking of what a person knows without hiding any information. Honest covers a great arena.
They are closely related. However, honesty is a broader concept. Truthfulness means that you tell the truth when asked. Honesty means that you act fairly as well such as not stealing or cheating in an exam. If you cheated in an exam and told people, you would be truthful but not honest. Generally, people who do not act fairly lie in order to cover it up so a distinction is not necessary
CLEANLINESS
•Cleanliness is one of the good qualities.
•It is a part of our civilization.
•A man of dirty habits is far from civilization. So, with the progress of civilization man cleans himself more and more.
•He cleans his body. He cleans his mind and heart. This will lead him to the highest form of civilization.
•A clean and well-dressed person indicates good personality and good character with impressive habits. Good character of a person is assessed by the clean dress and good manners.
HONESTY
•Meaning: The quality of being honest.
• Synonyms: moral correctness, , integrity, morals, morality, ethics, goodness, truthfulness, truth, loyalty, faithfulness.
•Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc.
• Furthermore, honesty means being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere.
Honesty is valued in many ethnic and religious cultures. "Honesty is the best policy" is a proverb of Benjamin Franklin;
however, the quote "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom" is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, as used in a letter to Nathaniel Macon.
Others have noted, however, that "[t]oo much honesty might be seen as undisciplined openness".
For example, individuals may be perceived as being "too honest" if they honestly express negative opinions of others, either without having been asked their opinion, or having been asked in a circumstance where the response would be trivial
HUMANITY
• Humanity can be defined as quality of being human; the peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other beings.
• Being human does not mean that an individual possesses humanity.
• If you want to understand the quality of humanity in an individual take note of what he does for people who give noting back in return to the favor he have offered.
•One of the most outstanding examples of extra- ordinary humanity in a human being has been portrayed beautifully by Mother Teresa.
•Humanity means caring for and helping others whenever and wherever possible.
• Humanity means helping others at times when they need that help the most, humanity means forgetting your selfish interests at times when others need your help.
•Humanity means extending unconditional love to each and every living being on Earth.
• Serving the poor and the disabled is one of the greatest humanitarian help an individual can provide in his or her lifetime.
POWER OF FAITH
• Faith is the tool that must be utilized if you want to manifest your desires! Without faith, you will not experience success in any area of your life!
• Faith means full-reliance or full-assurance in something.
•To “have faith” means to be fully-confident, fully-persuaded, or fully-convinced that something is going to occur.
• Faith is a belief in the unseen.
•When you “have faith,” you’re not wondering; faith is not hoping or wishing for the best, faith is a knowing!
Seven Lessons on the Power of Faith
• Faith Requires Action
• Faith Makes the Impossible Possible
• You Can Grow Your Faith
• Have Faith in Faith
• Fear is Faith
• Faith Feels
• Achievement Requires Faith
• You Can Grow Your Faith
“You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.”
• Have Faith in Faith
When you believe something is going to happen, you get prepared, you start making changes, you get ready for the pending modification that you’re about to experience, you’re certain it’s about to come. You’re telling people about it and you’re getting excited it, not because you’re “faking,” but it’s a natural reaction from your belief system.
• Fear is Faith
If you’re using your faith, use it for your benefit. Since you’re going to believe something, you might as well believe something positive. Use your faith to do the impossible, dare to do what’s never been done before.
• Faith Feels
Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.
– Rabindranath Tagore
Faith does not “hope” that you succeed; neither does it wish that one day you succeed. When you have faith, you know that success is yours, and you act like it. You act differently when you “have faith!” You may not be able to see anything in the physical world, but you know what’s about to happen, you can see it in your mind; you can sense it in the atmosphere.
• Achievement Requires Faith
“Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” – Gail Devers Faith is a power that can shape your destiny and that will alter your life! Without faith that your dreams will come true, without knowing that they will come true, they won’t come true. All achievement requires faith.
NATIONAL UNITY
Importance of National Unity
• National unity is important because it arises when a country is in crisis, and government parties who are normally in opposition to each other decide to work together to solve pressing issues.
• The parties decide to put aside their differences and work together because they are all bonded by a love for their country.
Meaning of National Integration
• National integration describes the togetherness or oneness felt by citizens of a country with regard to citizenship.
• When individuals are nationally integrated, they may feel a sense of pride or patriotism.
PATRIOTISM
The Meaning of Patriotism
Love for one's ancestry, culture or homeland is the root meaning of patriotism. Derived from the Greek.
•While we tend to think of a patriot as a person who puts his country first in opposition to another country.
•The true patriotism is the impulse to defend one's land, country or way of life against unjust governmental oppression.
Love for Nature
• If we protect Nature , then Nature will protect us. Everyone should realize that the Earth and Nature is not only for Human beings but also for all the creatures in this universe.
• we should have atmost love , responsibility towards nature and environment.
• Love for Nature saves the Nature and Environment which helps all the creatures in this Universe to live peaceful and happy life.
• Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger,fear,and stress and increases pleasant feeling.
• Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical well being, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones.
• therefore love for nature and protection of nature including wild life should be the primary responsibility of all human beings.
DISCIPLINE
• The practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.
• Synonyms: control, regulation, direction, order, authority, rule, strictness.
• Activity that provides mental or physical training.
• A system of rules of conduct.
• Train (someone) to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. • Punish or rebuke formally for an offence. • Train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.
Discipline is a good thing and there is no evil in it. It builds character, develops strength and unity and fosters co-operation.
It is, therefore, necessary, that everyone should be taught discipline from their very childhood.
It should never be overlooked, as it is the secret of success in life.