Philosophical Foundations and the Critique of Values Clarification Approach

The subject of "value(s)" was and will be an important subject in the Philosophical Investigations. There are various aspects related to the topic of "Value(s)", which can be considered as a subject of philosophical inquiry. The present article focuses on how individuals achieve those moral values. Typically, institutions such as the family, religion and education play an important role in acceptance of values by individuals. The subject will be investigated here, is the major role of educational institution in the moral development. This paper will review values clarification approach that is widely used in many countries for students’ moral education, and then will examine its philosophical roots, and at the end critiques this approach. Studies show values clarification approach tries to help people to get rid Confusion in choosing values and achieving skills necessary to make decisions in life. This approach is influenced by the views of Dewey's Pragmatism, Piaget’s Developmental Psychology, Rogers’ client centered approach and Existentialism. This approach will be criticized because of discussing superficial matters in many cases, not providing an adequate definition of value, and having relativistic view about values.