Philippine E-Journals

The Personal Values of Student Assistants of St. Paul University Dumaguete

Roel O. Jumawan

Discipline: Values

 

Abstract:

This paper seeks to determine the personal values of Students Assistance Program scholars and their importance to their lives as college students who are working and studying at the same time. These students aging 16 to 20 are recipients of Mere Marie Micheau Scholarship program of St Paul University Dumaguete who are enjoying 21-unit tuition fee discount, and in return they need to render 24-hour work per week in the university. Utilizing an adopted instrument from Brilliance Within, data gathered are treated by simple frequency count in determining the participants’ three most important values and by content analysis to ferret out the significant themes of their answers of the open-ended questions in the questionnaire. This paper argues that personal values impact the participants’ attitudes on their studies and work, and their determination to pursue their chosen courses. It further argues that personal values of the respondents relate Filipino sense of personhood. This study reveals that family, respect and honesty are the most important personal values among participants, which positively relate to the core values of Filipino personhood such as kapwa, Zakiramdam and kagandahang loob. As mirrored in the personal values of the participants, Filipino sense of personhood should be crystallized in Values Education as a “social capital” for socio economic and political development in the Philippines.