About the Values Poster Programme

The Learning for Life Values Poster Programme is designed to help young people identify and examine the core values and qualities needed for a successful life, whilst completing their own poster. The website provides ample resources for inspiration along the way, making it a rewarding personal project for each student. The programme was piloted in Scotland, with over 12,000 students from 80 Scottish schools participating during 2007-2008, and is in the process of extending to schools throughout the UK during 2008 and 2009.

Vision

The vision of Learning for Life is to build and strengthen character in the contexts of the family, education and the community through national evidence-based research, development work, and delivery of character education. more>>

Aim

The aim of the Learning for Life Values Poster Programme is character development in young people. This Learning for Life programme is designed to help them identify and examine their core values and qualities building a foundation for lifelong practical wisdom.

Background

The Values Poster Programme started in 2005. The programme enables students to reflect on human qualities such as enthusiasm, courage, honesty, generosity, trust, and perseverance. Students complete a specially designed poster template with a personal reflection section that helps them pull their themes together. Quotations and figures are selected so that no one viewpoint is privileged and the website is structured around four main themes:-

01 Personal Development ­ making the most of yourself
02 Principles for Successful Living ­ making the most of your life
03 Developing Resilience ­ making the most of adversity
04 Relationships with Others ­ making the most of your friendships

The poster provides a reflective tool that can be used in the context of citizenship education, PSHE or Religious and Moral Education (RME). It is designed to help fulfil the SMSC requirement and is a contribution to the emerging 'education with character' and the citizenship agenda.

Learning for Life is informed by the 1999 Government Statement on Values, Aims and Purposes of the National Curriculum for England, namely the development of childrens social responsibility, community involvement, effective relationships, respect for others and building up the common good.

Learning for Life supports the development of knowledge, understanding and skills related to the key values underpinning the National Curriculum: truth, justice, honesty, trust and a sense of duty.

It also reflects the words inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament: wisdom, justice, compassion, integrity, as well as the aspirations of the Scottish Executives Curriculum for Excellence which seeks to enable all children to develop their capacities as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society.

The Learning for Life Values Poster Programme is an extension of Sir John Templeton's project Laws of Life which has inspired students from around the world to write about the qualities they most value and formulate their own laws of life based on their own experiences and insights. The text on this website is mainly selected from Sir John Templeton's Laws of Life book. The Learning for Life project is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation .