This book combines perspectives from psychology, spiritual education and digital teaching pedagogies in a transnational framework to discuss the Education in Human Values Program (EHV) for child development, with a focus on silent sitting, mindfulness, meditation and story-telling as tools in the classroom. Through positive guidance in the early stages of child development using EHV tools, teachers will be better equipped to handle disciplinary issues in primary and secondary schools. These practices are also useful for the higher education community, as teachers and educators from tertiary institutions may adopt these practices in their teaching and become reflective practitioners. Topics such as teacher morale and school climate and its impact on children are discussed in relation to building resilience, reflective capacities, and inner strength (shared values) using an intrinsic and transformational approach. The discussions also include perspectives from the neurosciences. With contributions from teachers and educators from the US, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong and Mauritius, this edited volume addresses the challenges, strengths and weaknesses associated with daily teaching practices in primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions. The content is relevant to policymakers and researchers in child development studies, with a particular focus on the impact of silent sitting, mindful practices, and meditation on children’s self-regulation and resilience. The authors collectively espouse that silent sitting techniques can help a child to grow and discover their hidden potential, thus enhancing their social, emotional, spiritual and physical capacities.

'. . . a refreshing attempt has been made by David Clark to provide a conceptual discussion on development along with empirical testing and it highlights the fact that much more needs to be done in this direction.' - Jandhyala B.G. Tilak, Journal of Educational Planning and Administration '. . . this book is a valuable contribution to the development field.' - Haider A. Kahn, Journal of Economic Issues Visions of Development is a path-breaking and original volume, examining concepts and perceptions of human development through a unique synthesis of empirical and philosophical work. The author builds on the foundations of Sen and Nussbaum's capability approach, now at the forefront of development studies.

In Education and Human Values: Reconciling Talent with an Ethics of Care, Michael Slote looks to care ethics to provide an answer to previously neglected questions, arguing that if we can teach people to be more caring and open-minded, we can take some of the edge off of the disappointment and resentment that occur when people are led to believe they are less talented or less intelligent than others. Through his demonstration of the inadequacies of an educational system devoted to maintaining a classroom atmosphere of blind democracy and absolute equality, Slote's work constitutes an answer to important questions his predecessors were unable to recognize or simply failed to address.

Why children should be taught coding not as a technical skill but as a new literacy—a way to express themselves and engage with the world. Today, schools are introducing STEM education and robotics to children in ever-lower grades. In Beyond Coding, Marina Umaschi Bers lays out a pedagogical roadmap for teaching code that encompasses the cultivation of character along with technical knowledge and skills. Presenting code as a universal language, she shows how children discover new ways of thinking, relating, and behaving through creative coding activities. Today’s children will undoubtedly have the technical knowledge to change the world. But cultivating strength of character, socioeconomic maturity, and a moral compass alongside that knowledge, says Bers, is crucial. Bers, a leading proponent of teaching computational thinking and coding as early as preschool and kindergarten, presents examples of children and teachers using the Scratch Jr. and Kibo robotics platforms to make explicit some of the positive values implicit in the process of learning computer science. If we are to do right by our children, our approach to coding must incorporate the elements of a moral education: the use of narrative to explore identity and values, the development of logical thinking to think critically and solve technical and ethical problems, and experiences in the community to enable personal relationships. Through learning the language of programming, says Bers, it is possible for diverse cultural and religious groups to find points of connection, put assumptions and stereotypes behind them, and work together toward a common goal.

This original and engaging book advocates an unabashedly empirical approach to understanding human values: abstract ideals that we consider important, such as freedom, equality, achievement, helpfulness, security, tradition, and peace. Our values are relevant to everything we do, helping us choose between careers, schools, romantic partners, places to live, things to buy, who to vote for, and much more. There is enormous public interest in the psychology of values and a growing recognition of the need for a deeper understanding of the ways in which values are embedded in our attitudes and behavior. How do they affect our well-being, our relationships with other people, our prosperity, and our environment? In his examination of these questions, Maio focuses on tests of theories about values, through observations of what people actually think and do. In the past five decades, psychological research has learned a lot about values, and this book describes what we have learned and why it is important. It provides the first overview of psychological research looking at how we mentally represent and use our values, and constitutes important reading for psychology students at all levels, as well as academics in psychology and related social and health sciences.

The book provides conceptual and theoretical elaborations on human values from a cultural psychological approach. The authors illustrate their original contributions with empirical data, allowing for productive discussion on the topic of ontogenesis of values from a historical-cultural perspective.