Dialogue and Universalism

Volume 27, Issue 2, 2017

Values and Ideals. Theory and Practice: Part III

Elizabeth Chinwe Okeke
Pages 103-118

Education
A Mechanism for the Sustainable Cultural Integration of Personal and Societal Values and Ideals in the Era of Globalization

As individuals/groups strive to achieve successful integration in the globalizing world, personal/societal values and ideals seem to be seriously destabilized, resulting in different magnitudes of conflict, the lack of cooperation, insecurity, etc. Reactions and observations uphold that successful integration, particularly in a multicultural environment, includes the identification and development of personal/societal values, ideals, and interests. Consequently, relying mainly on Emile Durkheim’s perspective on education and social integration as well as Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory, the author upholds that education is capable of identifying, selecting and developing synergy between personal and societal values and ideals for successful integration.