A Good General Education School for the New Generation: Illusion or Reality

Abstract

The 21st century poses challenges to the general education school, which not only has to respond to the needs of education, culture, national and global context and others but also to focus on the new generation possessing specific features. The question arises: Can the new general education school be created for the new generation? If yes, what aspects of its development should be evaluated? The aim of the article is to highlight the aspects in the design of the good general education school creation. It studies the new generation in terms of their characteristics and the Conception of Good School (2015), which can become a map designing the school for the new generation. Highlighting the essence of this conception, it is emphasised that “The Good School is the one that is built on underlying humanistic values, strives for the success of discovery and personal development, and follows the school community's agreements and learning in its activities“(Geros mokyklos koncepcija, 2015: p.1). The possible school models can also be analysed. Undoubtedly, the school model can be different, linking formal and non-formal education, the real and virtual environments. Moreover, it is possible to construct various activities on the basis of community agreements, to employ various forms, methods and ways of education, even to modify the curriculum but it is even more important to ensure the child-centred education, which allows responding to children's needs and interests and observing their compatibility with those of society. The gap between the real and the virtual spaces should be avoided and their possibilities and potential for improvement of children's education should be fully used