In many societies violence, crime and intolerance have become an everyday reality. In this
context teachers are responsible for facilitating values in education. The study aimed to
investigate teachers’ experiences of the implementation of values in education in classroom
praxis. Constructivism was used as conceptual framework. Data were collected by means of
interviews with 14 participants. The findings revealed that there was a gap between policy
makers’ intentions and teachers’ perspectives. This gap related to the teachers’ poor under-
standing of the concept ‘values in education’, exacerbated by a lack of reflexivity about the
issue; a failure to address the influence of teacher identity on values in education; a need for
suitable training; a lack of knowledge on how to address practical challenges with values in
education or how to consider the hidden curriculum, and how to use different strategies
effectively to facilitate values in education. Our main conclusion is that education initiatives
so far have had little impact on the implementation of values in education in selected schools.
Recommendations for improvement are made.

doi: 10.15700/201412120939