The Living Values Education team has been hosting a number of educators interested in developing Living Values Education in state and private schools. 70+ educators and administrators from the Ahmadi District and 25+ Early Years Educationalists and Principals from the Salwa District attended Early Years and Primary Education Living Values workshops at the Kuwait American School and attended assemblies and classes to see Living Values Education in practice. Further to their visit, and a visit by the Head of Private Education, enthusiasm has resulted in the implementation of Living Values Education practices within their own schools.

The Center for Child Evaluation and Teaching in Kuwait is a facility that addresses the needs of students on the Special Needs spectrum. As a result of attending a Living Values Education awareness program, all of their educators and assessors have been trained into Living Values Education and implement the program to all fellow educators, visitors to the centre, and parents and children.

Principals, administrators and leading educators from the Institute of Private Education, representing Arabic, Bi-lingual and English schools attended a one day conference on 'Leadership and Living Values'. The keynote speaker for the day was Helen Sayers from LVE Oman supported by the six strong LVE team. As a result, the schools in the consortium have adopted the practice with two schools fully implementing Living Values Education particularly in the Primary and Middle Years and, one teacher who was present, has introduced the Living Values Education program to Sudanese mothers at the Sudanese Embassy in Kuwait.

The Sudanese link is particularly significant as the students at the Kuwait American School wrote cards of hope to the children of Darfur wishing them joy and happiness in their lives, and especially to let them know that they had not been forgotten. Some children also included their pocket money and small toys. Parents sent money and a parent card to mothers. Two months later, the cards arrived safely in Darfur and were very well received. When positive newspaper articles from Sudan reporting on the delivery of the letters of hope arrived in Kuwait, the children said that the articles were good and hoped that the readers felt that we give from our heart. Reading more deeply into the newspaper articles, it transpired that the President of Sudan's wife arranged for photocopies of the letters to be exhibited in Khartoum to which she invited all the ambassadors to show how simple ideas work. Local Sudanese children also joined in the letters of hope and giving. Asking the students, once again, what this meant to them, one child said; 'It's easy to give and it's good that others can too'. We all learnt that it is the small everyday things we do that help to make a difference.

One of the greatest benefits of introducing Living Values Education in Kuwait is the developing use of 'quiet time' and 'visualisation'. Schools are becoming calmer and children more relaxed and successful in their learning. The warm and welcoming atmosphere of assemblies is adding to the richness of children's learning. International schools use these techniques to help students concentrate especially in language development and music. Yoga, well being and relaxation classes are becoming regular features in local and international schools both in class time and for extra curricular activities. 10 years ago, it would have been unusual to see children using 'relaxation techniques' in school. Now, it is being used more widely.

The Kuwait American School continues to be one of the leaders in this field willing to share good practice and to learn with others. In August 2009, Helen Sayers lead the 30+ staff of the school into Living Values Education practices using a wide range of innovatory techniques especially using Ubuntu principles. As a result, the implementation of Living Values Education has been further strengthened across the school. One child, who is 7 years old, had been reflecting on the meaning of love. His poem at the end of this news touched many hearts.

Within the wider community, one very successful example of positive values in action was the production of an adaptation of Jonathan Living Seagull. Performed to an august Kuwait audience at one of the top theatres was a highlight for the students who came to form the cast from several schools across Kuwait. The event, sponsored by a local telecommunications company, with music composed by Living Values Education teacher Velina Andreeva and the performance directed by Living Values Education teacher Joanna Vasilaeidou, left a deep felt message and positive lasting impact. During the event, the children learnt about co-operation, freedom, respect and the enduring value of being valued for who you are. Many parents were deeply touched by the performance, a first for Kuwait, and after the event, two local companies adopted values statements.

Living Values Education has also been facilitating Parenting programs for a number of years with a widening audience of interest. What matters to parents is a dialogue that welcomes the practical application of what to do within the context of these fascinating lands. Living Values Education programs led in both English and Arabic have been popular with an increasing emphasis on the use of Arabic. Dr Hassan Eidi, a resident Psychiatrist, has been facilitating the Arabic Parenting program. His guided commentary to help relax parents was a particular feature.

Living Values Education in Kuwait has the advantage of having all the Living Values Education texts published in Arabic. These are available in local bookshops and sell out on a regular basis. Living and working within the Arabic context has added enormous value to Living Values Education and to the lives of all those who add value to their own lives and the lives of others.

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Schools and Educational establishments using Living Values Education: 14

Kuwait American School
Values-Based Education

Written by Mr Peter Williams and Ms Aruna Ladva

The Kuwait American School (KAS) is the only one of its kind in the Middle East offering a special values-based education program that is now operational in over 7000 sites in 74 different countries.

At KAS children love coming to school, they are eager to learn and are reluctant to leave at the end of the day. Teachers and students together in a co-creative way generate a very positive and healthy atmosphere which is conducive to learning and growing.

No words can express the feeling, atmosphere and clear success of this school, said an international visitor sent by the Kuwait Education Authority. Wherever I go, I see happy, smiling faces and children learning and helping one another.

Many parents, education officials and visitors have witnessed the growth of this school and ask, What is the secret of your success? The secret is simple. Value yourself and value others.

In the beginning, the dream of Mrs. Wajeeha Al-Habib, the Director, and Peter Williams, the Founding Principal, was to establish the Kuwait American School as a child-friendly primary school based on values. That dream has now turned into reality.

Their vision was further enhanced by all the staff and the local community, who also believed in the product of a values-based education. The program takes everyone towards the highest dimension of human potential, reaching beyond the conventional and enabling children, staff and the community to live their values together.

The program being implemented at the Kuwait American School is officially known as Living Values Education Program (LVEP) and it has been produced in response to the call for values in education.

LVEP offers a variety of experiential values activities and practical methodologies to teachers and facilitators to enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 key universal values: Cooperation, Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Humility, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance, and Unity. LVEP also contains special units for use with parents and caregivers, refugees and children-affected-by-war. LVEP is already in use at over 7000 sites in 74 countries.

Teachers implementing LVEP have only positive and heart-warming stories to relate. The most frequent themes noted in educator evaluations are positive changes in teacher-student relationships and in student-student relationships both inside and outside the classroom. Educators note an increase in respect, caring, cooperation, motivation, and the ability to solve peer conflicts on the part of the students. Aggressive behaviors decline as positive social skills and respect increase.

How do we empower individuals to choose their own set of values? What kind of specialized training is necessary for educators to integrate values into existing programs? How can values-based education prepare students for lifelong learning in their communities?

The purpose of LVEP is to provide answers to these questions and offer guiding principles and tools for the development of the whole person, recognizing that the individual comprises physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions.

The aim of LVEP is to firstly help individuals think about and reflect on different values and the practical implications of expressing them in relation to themselves, others, the community, and the world at large. And secondly to encourage educators and caregivers to look at education as providing students with a philosophy of living, thereby facilitating their overall growth, development, and choices so that they may integrate themselves into the community with respect, confidence, and purpose.

As UNICEF's Commission, headed by Jacques Delors, reports in Learning: The Treasure Within, "In confronting the many challenges that the future holds in store, humankind sees in education an indispensable asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice. The Commission does not see education as a miracle cure or a magic formula opening the door to a world in which all ideals will be attained, but as one of the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war."

The first step, at the start of each academic year, is to invite everyone to share which values are important to them. Each year, we discover that everyone shares the same universal values including respect, self-respect, love, honesty, peace, courage, responsibility, cooperation and compassion.

One value is adopted every two months, nurtured through role-playing, stories, dramas, games, paintings and anything else that works! Each value begins with a special assembly that demonstrates what the value means in practice and how we can all contribute to living that value in class and around school.

This month everyone's focus is on the value of responsibility and it is Mrs. Pat's KG2 Flowers class that is in front conducting assembly. They sweetly and eloquently describe their definition of responsibility! One pupil says: "Responsibility gets the job done!" Another says: "Police take bad guys to jail!" And a third says: "We can do lots of things we want, if we try, try and try!" The school Principal, Peter Williams, narrated a story about a princess who because she was irresponsible with her words would lose love and friendship. His message was simple and powerful: Think responsibly and act responsibly!

When asked what the school is all about one pupil, Yasmeen, said, "It's not about the outside, it's about the inside." What wise words from a young adult who is completely enthused about her school environment. Values allow the individual to operate from their inner beauty and so confidence, self-respect and respect for others become natural. Everyone is valued and appreciated for what they share from the inside not what they look like on the outside.

Sharing our academic success and the results of living our values within school and the wider community is celebrated at special occasions.

Thinking out of the box? is encouraged within a framework that highlights social awareness, social cooperation, mutual respect and our own spiritual integrity. Every subject and learning style is recognized and valued for its own distinctive contribution. Practical programs for parents and caregivers are offered so that the child's first and foremost teachers their parents are invited to be actively involved from the onset. "I came in just to soak up the atmosphere, said one enthusiastic parent. Can I volunteer my time?"

These special seminars are held to support the parent to continue the values-based education from home. Within an informal setting the parents and educators sit to discuss some of the common issues affecting the children in school and at home and how best they can implement the Living Values Program.

The early programs focus on the unique learning styles of each child - visual, kinaesthetic, auditory and tactile - and invite parents to work with their children to help achieve mini academic learning objectives and practical programs. The results build strong home/school links, especially with the kindergarten children, and set the foundations to help develop the noblest of personality traits in the children.

KAS also prides itself on a unique Etiquette Program. Emphasis is paid not only to nurturing the inner child, but the outer one with the initiation of manners and appropriate protocol when meeting new people, answering telephones and eating at mealtimes.

Healthy eating programs put the stress on a healthy diet and the propriety involved in preparing and eating wholesome and freshly-cooked food. The drinking of water and eating of fruit in class keeps young minds fresh, alert and healthy.

Speaking in public from the age of four builds confidence and helps children to articulate their thoughts and feelings. As a consequence the children's diction, presence and posture have improved. Their conflict-resolution skills have been greatly enhanced and they have also learnt how to accept differences in opinions whilst being sensitive and understanding towards the beliefs and ideas of other individuals.

We at KAS soon learned that nothing is perfect and that we, as individuals, are the constant as the world changes around us. We learned that how we react to change around us comes from within. As a school, we learned that it is all right to do well and all right to learn from mistakes. On one occasion a teacher was almost at their wit's end with a child who just could not understand. Another child, spotting some anger brewing up, pulled the teacher's finger and said: "Remember to live your values!"

When the school first opened, many of the children arrived with tendencies of belligerence, aggressive tone of voice, competitiveness, yet within six months, these tendencies significantly lessened. Children became happier, cooperative, emotionally content and able to articulate their feelings in a values-based atmosphere. Parents noted that their children were transferring what they had learned at school to home in, for example, eating habits and the positive use of common courtesies. "No words can express what you are doing for my child," commented one parent. "He is so happy and learning so well."

The students are keen to share the way they learn with other students who are waiting to come to the Kuwait American School. Grades 2 and 3 students were asked to give a statement about what the school was all about. Some of their comments are as follows:

KAS is respectful because it taught me peace, respect and harmony - Ghadeer, Grade 3

KAS is smart and full of happiness because they respect everybody - Anwar, Grade 2

KAS is respectful because they don't use bad words - Farah, Grade 3

KAS is love and is peaceful because she is caring for us with lovely and beautiful things - Arayana, Grade 2

KAS is lovely because we learn more, have more and it is peaceful - Kawther, Grade 2

KAS is my red heart, a good place, beautiful, the best - Hussain, Grade 2

The school was invited to the Education for All conference in Cairo to share its methodologies for nurturing children with high behavioural and academic standards. The values-based approach for learning was much appreciated and struck a chord with the participants from across the Arab world. One of the aims of Education for All for the years 2000-2015 is to re-affirm our commitment to a values-based model, and practicalities were shared and developed with Arab ministers and their representatives at UNESCO in Beirut as part of a two-day seminar presented by Living Values educators from around the world.

UNESCO invited the school to offer its 33 Quality Based Values Learning Indictors as a blueprint for Early Childhood Education. Indicators of good practice include education of the whole child, promotion of the well-being of the child, recognizing the unique contribution of each and every child, and each and every adult, and love, peace and happiness in the classroom.

Dr Rashid Al-Hammad, Minister of Education said in reference to attending a very successful concert, "I have enjoyed attending your successful concert. I am pleased with the concert organisation and directorship with all its variety of scenes and messages. The reality, truly and genuinely, expresses the outstanding sustenance and vision of KAS. I also appreciate all the great care that you have put into building the characters of the students, especially in developing their thinking powers, preparing them to cope with new trends whilst, at the same time, maintaining the highest and greatest of moral values. In that regard it is my pleasure to thank you and the school family for this honest work and to express my deep gratitude. The schools message of love, as expressed by this distinguished production contains very subtle touchings with great meaning and eternal quotations. For that I will pray to God to bring more success and blessings for you all."

Mr Salman Shatti, the Senior Adviser from the National Committee for the Support of Education, said, in relation to the school concert, "I enjoyed every single minute of it. You and your staff worked as a successful and wonderful team. Your message to spread love among all human beings reached us all in a sweet and simple way. Go ahead with this noble goal. Let me borrow Anthony Robert's words and add, Only those who have learnt the power of sincere and true love experience life's deepest joy: true fulfillment.

Peter Williams, the Principal, said, "The school offers a unique and very attractive place where children can grow, not just academically to the highest of standards, but inwardly to learn how to belong to society, how to apply what they learn to the highest of ethical and moral standards, and how to be a human being with the highest of personality characteristics. It is a great place to be a child and to learn and grow."

He continued, "The UNICEF Delors report highlighted that as people we readily learn to know and learn to do, but need to remember how to learn to belong, contribute to our world and remember how to simply be a 'human being' and not just a 'human doing'. At KAS, we seek to bring a positive difference to everyone who works at and is associated with the school by, through our example, educating how to know, to do, to belong and to be the best that we can be."

Mrs Wajeeha Al-Habib, Director of the school said, "The call of time in Kuwait is to revisit the values that are important to us. Recent events suggest that we need to re-set our moral compass and add all the inner as well as outer attractiveness to schools. The call of time is to value the treasure within us all and listen to our inner voice. It is a time when the Kuwait people and educators of the world can come together with self-determination to create a vision for Kuwait that will be a model for other members of our wider community. It is my sincere wish to invite everyone who shares this vision to co-create this reality and share in its growth."

Education at KAS provides a hard-working, values-based environment where love and peace work together to make a positive difference beginning with ourselves. Experience has shown that all our futures are determined by our thoughts therefore as we think and act, so we become.

The secret of the school 's growing success is a belief, vision and collective consciousness to want to make a positive difference to our own and all children 's lives by teaching and living from the heart and discovering our common humanity.

We invite you to visit the school to experience its unique atmosphere and to see how values education really works!

In the summer of 1999, Wajeeha Al-Habib, the Director of the American International Montessori in Kuwait, attended the Living Values Education Coordinators' Meeting and Educator Training in England. One of her fellow-participants was Peter Williams, a Deputy Headteacher from the north of England who has been at the forefront of LV activities since its inception and is a LVE trainer. Wajeeha was so deeply impressed by LVE that she invited Peter to move to Kuwait in September to be the Principal of Wajeeha's new Kuwait American School! Inspired by the potential of helping establish a new school with a commitment to values firmly at the heart of the learning community. The Kuwait American School continues to implement LVEP with wonderful results.

Peter Williams comments: "The values of honesty, trust, equal worth, co-operation, mutual respect and self esteem lie at the very heart of the Kuwait American School for three to nine year old pupils. It is a school that is interested in developing the child's intellectual and emotional achievement and especially emphasises the social awareness and spiritual integrity that will prepare children to contribute to the world community. 

At the school 's very first Professional Development day, a very practically-orientated Living Values session brought all of the multinational staff together in an atmosphere of equal worth and equal value to visualise their ideal school and together set realistic but challenging goals. These goals were translated into five guiding principles as follows: 

Through Living Values, we all learnt and shared the importance of recognising and living our values, and that we show how we live our values by our attitude and behaviour towards ourselves and each other in all situations. Inviting the children to explore their own values helped to frame the character and atmosphere of the school. The children discovered what is meant to be peaceful stars and how to use their helping hands and helping voices in practical ways. When asked: 'Is there an important person who we should invite to open our new school '' the children replied with delight: 'We will open it. It's our school.' 

Developing the noblest of qualities at KAS generated many conversations and meetings with parents and officials with responsibility for monitoring standards and ensuring that regulations were met. The opportunity to listen to and work together with all schools of thought helped to generate a shared vision of mutual understanding, mutual respect, openness and co-operation.  After three months, the living-values-based atmosphere has created a living and learning environment where the children have come to know the difference between right and wrong, exhibit much improved work habits, show higher than expected academic attainment and especially radiate a warmth of spirit and joy of learning from their faces. 

We are delighted that Living Values Education is helping to develop a holistic curriculum that captivates and celebrates the special qualities and talents within us all. 

We began our year with the motto "We are all wonderfully made". Three months on, "we are all wonderfully made and together we are better"." 

A Special Values Project - December 1999 Children from the Kuwait American School created "love in a shoebox". The shoebox appeal was for children who suffered in the earthquake in Turkey. Called "Operation Peace Child" children carefully chose items to send to boys and girls in the orphanages or tent cities.