Core Values Certification 

Core Values Certification provides the tools

The Scandinavian School of Theology, an independent college, has developed a core values certification in collaboration with Southeastern University, Lakeland, Florida. It corresponds to a college course of about five weeks of full-time study and aims to provide teachers and school staff with tools to work with the values foundation in their schools.

The goal is for each school to be able to conduct values-based work and develop a pedagogy that ensures students know what ethics is and, from this, can develop their own values and patterns of action.

Teachers and school staff must be able to carry out this mission by receiving qualified education and structuring the school’s values. They also need a plan for how students can acquire knowledge about and relate to others’ values and understand the consequences of different value systems.

The Values Foundation

The Swedish school system is rooted in a foundation of distinct values. The values foundation has an ethical content and a historical background:

“Education should impart and anchor respect for human rights and the fundamental democratic values upon which Swedish society is based. Everyone working within the school should also promote respect for the inherent worth of each person and respect for our shared environment.

The inviolability of human life, individual freedom and integrity, the equal worth of all people, gender equality, and solidarity among people are the values that the school should embody and convey. In accordance with the ethics inherited from the Christian tradition and Western humanism, this is done through the individual’s upbringing in a sense of justice, generosity, tolerance, and responsibility.” Curriculum for the Primary School (Lgr 2011)

The curriculum mentions two fundamentals:

“Christian tradition” and “Western humanism”

The Christian tradition has its roots in the Old Testament Jewish tradition. The absolute value of human beings, the Decalogue, and care for the weak and vulnerable form the foundation for both Jewish and Christian traditions.

Western humanism, with its roots in Athens and Rome, is based on individual freedom, democracy, and a sense of justice.

Both a deepened understanding and concretization are needed to play a role in the school’s work and social community. With SST’s core values certification, tools are offered to teachers and other school staff to continuously keep the values foundation alive.