Module 12: Human values and humanism: dilemmas and directions
  Lecture 38: Value Education-III (Professional Ethics)

Introduction

For students of this course I was particularly interested in exploring the question how useful the ideas of Jeevan Vidya (JV), often interpreted as value education, are for technical and other professionals. Some academic institutions and universities of repute have already introduced a course on value education and professional ethics in professional curricula, based on JV. Time has come to take up evaluation of these efforts and to check to what extent they could lead to holistic and appropriate technological alternatives. In address to the nation on the eve of the 60th inddendence day, 14 August 2006, Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam (Kalam, 2006), the then President of India said:

Jeevan Vidya is a 'teachable human value based skill' that can address inherent conflicts within the mind of the individual, within families, in organizations and in public life. Inner conflict is the very essence of violence. For example, with the skills imparted, it would be possible to reduce the overall period of secondary education from 25,000 hours of teaching to 20,000 hours, since the children become more responsible and productivity conscious. These experiments can be outreached to influence many people by developing networks using ICT through our educational system, that needs to pay increasing attention to this aspect of human development. This process of imparting self-knowledge would promote a learning atmosphere, where this whole movement of inquiry into knowledge, into oneself, into the possibility of something beyond knowledge would bring about naturally a psychological revolution. From this comes inevitably a totally different order in human relationship and therefore society as a whole. The intelligent understanding of this process itself can bring about a profound change in the consciousness of mankind.

This lecture is specifically devoted to value education and professional ethics.