Editorial: Research on value development in the school context: new directions and approaches from an international perspective

This special issue advances the study of value formation in educational settings by introducing and applying the Value Transmission in the School Context model, which has been developed on the basis of a conceptual synthesis of Schwartz’s Theory of Basic Human Values, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, and Fend’s New Theory of School. While human values are central to global educational agendas, empirical research on how values develop in school contexts remains limited. The ten original studies in this issue draw on diverse methodologies and data from six countries to examine value development in children and adolescents across micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of schooling. Together, the contributions highlight the dynamic interplay between vertical value transmission (from educational systems to classroom practices and vice versa) and horizontal transmission (between teachers and students, as well as among peers). The findings emphasize that schools are not only institutional settings for value education but also social spaces where values are continuously shaped through interaction and negotiation. This editorial situates the studies within the proposed framework offering a cohesive perspective on the multilevel processes that shape value development in schools. It concludes by identifying key directions for future research that account for systemic structures, developmental dynamics, and contextual factors.