A Cross-Cultural Evaluation of Human Values in Mainstream Education

Human values are the essence of social wellbeing of all societies. However, at present, they are considered rather as means to promote human rights, while their function in creating a sense of humanity plays a secondary role. The aim of this study is to review and evaluate the influence of human values on mainstream education in a cross-cultural context. The study is based on qualitative research that uses focus group and individual interviews on mainstream education systems and models in order to understand the differences and the similarities with respect to universal human values in cross cultural settings. Results show that human values should play a significant part in shaping mainstream education and also there are considerable cross-country differences with regard to human values in mainstream education. The study concludes that improving of human values in mainstream education would enhance opportunities for better personal development and perfection of human relations at every level of human interaction.