Possibilities of ethnic culture integration into Lithuanian language lessons in primary school: teachers’ attitude

ENEthnic culture education is an integral part of general education, which helps to achieve the educational goals of cultural awareness, form personal competencies that are manifested in the ability to know, respect, protect cultural diversity, and participate in socially valuable cultural expression (Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania, General Curriculum Framework for Ethnic Culture Education, 2012). The integration of ethnic culture into the Lithuanian language lessons is very important in developing harmony between man and nature, as well as in passing on customs, traditions and values from generation to generation. It is an integral link between the cultures of past and present generations. General Curriculum for Education (2008) indicates respect for one’s mother tongue, the culture and traditions of the nation. One of the main tasks of general education is to expand the understanding and education of pupils’ ethnic culture, to develop and uphold students’ moral values. The relations between ethnic culture and the Lithuanian language are inseparable. The article presents the attitude of teachers about the possibilities of integrating ethnical culture into the Lithuanian language lessons in primary classes. The semi-structured interview with pedagogues applied in the qualitative research revealed that primary school teachers very often integrate ethnic culture into the Lithuanian language lessons and use various educational methods and forms.During the interview, teachers shared not only the successes of ethnic culture integration, which in their opinion depend on the training of the teacher and one’s personal development, but also the failures. They stated that the goal of ethnic culture education is to help pupils develop national identity and ethnocultural literacy, know and appreciate the traditional culture of their nation and Lithuania, understand its vitality and constant renewal, connections and differences with other cultures, perceive themselves as cultivators of that culture, develop pride in it and respect for other cultures. Keywords: ethnic culture, integration, pedagogue, mother tongue. [From the publication]