Challenges and Wayouts of Integrating Values in Education in Nepalese Schools: Insights from the Educators

Abstract

Shaping young lives with great minds and good hearts is the primary goal of education. For this, every nation needs to initiate the integration of values in education through their national policies and strategies. In Nepal, the national curriculum framework for school education, 2019 has emphasized the integration of behavioral skills/soft skills with sociocultural values and practices. Under the spirit of this framework, schools have initiated the integration of values in their curricular and pedagogical activities. However, these initiatives bear a wide spectrum of challenges. This paper aimed to uncover those challenges and outline possible way-outs through a qualitative-phenomenological approach. Information was collected through interviews and observations. All the interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, coded, categorized, and developed into themes for further analysis. The findings revealed that challenges of integrating values range from macro to micro levels including contradictory policies, inadequate and rigid curriculum, the commercial motif of academia, indifferent parents/community, traditional pedagogical approaches, and lack of proficient and motivated educators were the notable challenges. These challenges, the study unfolded, could be mitigated by creating a conducive institutional culture, preparing the stakeholders, revitalizing/contextualizing the curriculum, reforming the pedagogical approaches, and blending the Eastern tradition and Western science to name a few.