SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

Honesty from the perspective of sincerity

Pupils build towers with blocks in the school playground. During a lively game, Andrej accidentally knocked down his classmate Vesna's tower, which saddened her. At first, Andrej was afraid to admit it because he was ashamed and pretended that nothing was wrong. But he knew inside that he had to be honest - first with himself, because he felt guilty, and then with Vesna. He summoned his courage and said, "Vesna, I'm sorry, I knocked down your tower. I didn't mean to." Vesna forgave him, together they built a new tower and their friendship grew stronger. Andrij felt proud because he had overcome his shame and was honest. If he had lied or kept silent, guilt would have grown and Vesna would have lost confidence in the class. Honesty brought relief, joy and stronger relationships, while lying would have caused divisions and mistrust.

Value: POSTABILITY from the point of view of honesty is telling the truth and avoiding lying or deceiving, both to yourself (admitting your feelings, faults, motives) and to others (honesty in relationships).

Fairness from a justice perspective

In the school tournament, the students played a team game where the captain divided the roles. Miha, the captain, wanted the distribution to be fair, so he assigned roles according to ability, not popularity. He gave Jake, who was less popular but excellent at strategy, a key role, even though his friends expected him to have the advantage. Mih's fair decision led to the team's victory, as everyone contributed their best. The class appreciated Miha's honesty and relationships were strengthened. If Miha had favoured his friends, the unfairness would have led to fights, Jaka would have felt excluded and the team would have lost. Fairness brought respect and unity, unfairness would have led to fragmentation and mistrust.

Value: POSTABILITY from the point of view of Justice is equal treatment, seeking the truth and avoiding unfair practices such as bias or theft. 

Integrity in terms of reliability

The pupils have agreed to organise a school event for parents. Zoja promised to organise the stage and Lovro promised to take care of the posters. Despite their busy schedules, they were keen to keep their promises: Zoja organised the stage on time, Lovro printed the eye-catching posters. Their reliability inspired their classmates, who also completed their tasks. The event was a success, the students were proud and parents and teachers praised their responsibility. If Zoja or Lovro had broken their promise, the event would have failed, causing disappointment and distress in the classroom. Reliability brought reputation, trust and joy, but failure to keep agreements would have led to failure and discord.

Value: POSTABILITY from the point of view of reliability keeping agreements and promises, showing honesty and trustworthy behaviour. 

Fairness from an accountability perspective

Pupils were playing football in the school yard when Niko accidentally smashed a classroom window with a ball. At first he wanted to run away for fear of punishment, but he knew he had to take responsibility. He reported to the teacher and said: "I broke the window, I'm sorry. I'll help you fix it." He and his father paid for a new window and the class organised a collection drive for old bottles to cover part of the cost. Niko also cleaned up the glass so that no one would get hurt. His responsibility prevented harm to others and showed that honesty means righting wrongs. The teacher and classmates appreciated Niko's action and the class became more cohesive. If Niko had denied guilt or left a broken window, it would have caused mistrust and danger. Responsibility brought respect and security, irresponsibility would have led to distress and fragmentation.

Value: POSTABILITY from the point of view of responsibilities is staking responsibility for your actions, correcting mistakes and avoiding harm to others. 

Integrity in terms of courage for truth and justice

Her classmates spread rumours that Nada had stolen money for a class trip, which embarrassed and isolated her. Vid knew the rumours were not true because he saw the money fall out of the bag and was found by the teacher. He was afraid to speak out because he might be ostracised by his popular classmates, but he plucked up the courage to tell the teacher the truth: "Nada didn't steal anything, the money was lost." Nada was acquitted and the class apologised to her. Vida's courage was not for personal glory, but to help Nada and bring justice. His action strengthened class unity, and Vid felt stronger. If he had remained silent, the injustice would have caused distress and mistrust. Courage to speak the truth brought justice and inner strength; silence would have left guilt and division.

Value: POSTABILITY from the point of view of courage for truth and justice overcoming fear to reveal the truth or right a wrong, especially when it helps others.