Leading academics unite to address crisis in schools worldwide
The Global Alliance for Values-based Education (GAVE), a new international coalition bringing together some of the world’s foremost experts in values-based education, is being launched with an ambitious mission to reshape how schools prepare young people for an increasingly volatile world.
GAVE unites scholars, educators and practitioners from across continents who argue that current education systems are failing to produce the curious, compassionate and emotionally balanced citizens needed to navigate unprecedented global challenges.
The Alliance, which holds its public launch on 6th November in partnership with World Values Day, represents a formidable accumulation of expertise. Its founders and leaders include Professor Terry Lovat, who led Australia’s government-funded Values Education Program from 2003 to 2010, Dr Neil Hawkes, founder of International Values-based Education Trust and its educational arm Values-based Education (VbE), Professor Nazreen Dasoo, who holds the UNESCO Chair in Values Education at the University of Johannesburg, Professor Ron Toomey, another renowned leader in the field of research on values education, Dr Craig Shealy, Executive Director of the International Beliefs and Values Institute, Dr Thomas Nielsen and an array of other heavyweight educationalists.
Between them, GAVE’s members have conducted decades of research demonstrating that values-based education can transform not only academic achievement but also students’ social and emotional capabilities. Dr Shealy recently described GAVE’s ambition to become “a leading voice and global hub for values-based education, spreading awareness and best practice, coordinating research and influencing governmental policy-making.”
The urgency of their mission will be explored at a panel event on 15th October, when distinguished educationalists will debate whether schools are producing young people capable of flourishing in a world experiencing rapid change and dislocation. The event will examine whether traditional approaches emphasising purely academic attainment are adequate for preparing citizens to address mounting global challenges, from climate crisis to social fragmentation.
GAVE argues that education must consciously cultivate values that enable young people not merely to survive but to thrive as compassionate, responsible members of society. As Mahatma Gandhi observed, our values ultimately become our destiny — making it essential, the alliance contends, to examine what beliefs, thoughts and actions we wish to embody.
The organisation seeks to address critical questions about which values are essential for individuals and societies in the 21st century, whether universal frameworks exist for values education, and where significant gaps remain in current research and practice.
With members spanning Australia, India, Asia, Africa, the United States and Europe, GAVE offers a credible, comprehensive, research-based alternative approach to education systems increasingly criticised for producing stress, disengagement and young people ill-equipped for modern challenges. The Alliance’s November public launch promises to outline how schools, policymakers and communities can collaborate to build education that genuinely prepares the next generation for the complex world they will inherit.
Those interested in shaping the future of values-based education can register here for GAVE’s free panel discussion on 15th October at 8am and 5pm BST, and register here for GAVE’s public launch on 6th November at 8am and 4pm GMT.
