Brief history of Values Clarification: Origin, development, downfall, and reflections.

Abstract

Education on moral values is an area that has caused controversy in the 20th and 21st centuries, in particular due to the social rejection of the possible indoctrination of students. Louis Raths’ Values Clarification methodology was one of the most represen-tative proposals that attempted to outline a moral education free of indoctrination. Without further examining philosophical arguments that have already been dealt with in numerous publications, this article holistically studies the history of this approach in order to learn from the efforts, challenges, victories, and failures of those who have preceded us in the task of educating citizens with moral convictions. The article begins by presenting the main points of psychologist Carl Rogers’ theory that most influenced the origin of this methodology. It then introduces the social context in which the Values Clarification programme arises, a detailed description of its key points, the warm reception it received and, finally, the criticism and assessments that led to its dizzying downfall. To conclude, three brief reflections on moral education are presented, which, although not new, are reinforced by the study undertaken in this article.