Values can and should be a part of small group communication instruction. Discourse is value laden and to understand the communication process, the role of values must be understood. Many students come to the classroom not understanding values, and not being aware of the role of values in decision-making. Their lack of understanding requires that teachers first teach about values, what a value is, the nature of value hierarchies, and how values operate in small group discourse. K. R. Wallace's four habits associated with the democratic ethic have been identified as important values to teach. They are: (1) the habit of search (finding information that both confirms and questions an individual's own premise); (2) the habit of justice (presenting all the information openly and fairly); (3) the habit of preferring public to private motivation; and (4) the habit of respect for dissent. The habit of dissent is particularly important for the small group participant. Walter Fisher's five questions for rhetorical communication have been identified as helpful in identifying value issues in decisions. Other approaches will be equally useful in teaching students to consider values in group communication; most important is the willingness to teach that which has been so long neglected. Without significantly altering the nature of the course, one can use a variety of strategies to enhance the understanding of values, both public and private, in small group communication. (Thirty-two endnotes are included.) (SR)