The changes in the content and opportunities of literary education in primary school after the reestablishment of Lithuanian independence

Abstract

The education reform carried out after Lithuania regained independence in 1990 has been extensively reported on and evaluated in a number of publications. This type of research is important not only in order to understand the history of Lithuanian education, but also to be able to formulate a perspective of education for future generations. Furthermore, having a thorough understanding of the education reform is also crucial for specialists in charge of the change of today‘s education, authors of alternative textbooks and teachers. The present article deals with a narrow yet fundamental field, i.e. literary education and its change in primary education after the education reform. The theoretical works and documents on aspects of cultural and educational policy written by Dr. M. Lukšienė and other authors of the education reform have influenced the new type of literary education in primary education. The results of a comparative analysis of former and integrated curricula and the contents of the fist integrated textbooks as well as aspects such as the depolitisation of education, integration of literary and language education, new criteria for choosing literary works and their analysis have been integrated into the scope of the article.
 The changes in the school of independent Lithuania started with primary education. This may be the reason why Dr. Meilė Lukšienė, one of the authors of the education reform, focused on the implementation of the curriculum of primary education. She guided the authors of the integrated programme of the Lithuanian language (1992) and reviewed and evaluated the textbooks of the Lithuanian language written in the framework of this programme (1992–1996).
 Throughout the Soviet occupation, the teaching of Lithuanian in primary education was subdivided into segments such as coherent speech, reading, writing, grammar etc. The teaching of Lithuanian was also imbued with Soviet ideology, clearly delineated and academic. The introduction of a new segment into the curriculum of Lithuanian as the first language, i.e. ‘Coherent speech’ was supposed to act as a link between the different parts of the curriculum. It is hard to say whether the aims stipulated in the curriculum were actually achieved in the educational process; however, they were clearly not present in the teaching materials used back then: different textbooks of the different parts of the curriculum were written by different authors who were only interested in serving the purposes of their segments of the curriculum. ‘Coherent speech’ was ultimately to take form of an exercise book.
 This type of teaching and learning was criticised by some Lithuanian linguists, writers and pedagogues. Dr. Meilė Lukšienė underscored the importance of the national culture in educating the young generation in the Soviet period. After regaining independence it was crucial to change and depoliticize language education. A new concept of education was introduced by Dr. Meilė Lukšienė and her colleagues. The concept focuses on the child and not on the subject matter. Their input and insights have helped to create new tendencies of language education. The article focuses on the results of a comparative analysis of integrated and former curricula of the Lithuanian language. Furthermore, the fundamental differences between the goals stipulated in the former and integrated curricula are highlighted. The new curriculum consists of the following central points: 1. integration of literary and language education, 2. prioritizing folklore, ethnography, national literature as part of the national culture, 3. the artistic quality of literary works, 4. differentiated education of the learner’s feelings, creativity and thinking capacity.
 The new tendencies were implemented in the integrated textbooks Šaltinėlis and Šaltinis (written by Elena Marcelionienė and Vida Plentaitė). Th textbooks have a clear system consisting of two planes: fist, a framework encompassing introduction to reading, literary and basic cultural skills was set up. Secondly, guidelines for language education based on the different stages of the child‘s development were introduced. The integration of the two planes has made the teaching of Lithuanian more practical: in this way, the child’s speech and language are developed through experience and the comprehension of texts becomes more complete and emotional, which is very important in the child’s education.
 The ongoing education reform focuses on the differentiation and individualization of education. These two features of education, extensively described by Dr. Lukšienė in her concept of national education, are essential in improving the curriculum of Lithuanian in primary education.