Ethnic culture at school: tradition and modernity

Sociological teacher-expert research in ethnic culture identified some trends to be followed by ethnic culture teachers at secondary schools. The research suggests that students are mostly drawn by practical tasks providing them with skills they can use later. The experts advise against strictly theoretical classes which fail to bring theory and practice together. Students' attitudes to ethnic culture and the efficiency of ethnic culture teaching depend on the motivation system provided by the school. Continuous ethno-cultural development provided at every stage of secondary education which is said to create positive attitudes among students towards ethnic culture. Ethno-cultural movement is intertwined with dominant attitudes towards ethnic culture in the society, which are often counter productive because they foster a negative image of the ethnic culture and rather see it as out of date and second rate. The research also suggests that an important role is played by the subjective factor, namely the personality of the teacher. Teaching ethnic culture the subject that embraces the entirety of cultural values and helps sustain the national identity as well as national self-awareness naturally requires not only professional sophistication, but personal engagement and dedication, too. The research revealed two effective ways of teaching ethnic culture: authentification and modernisation.Authentification is associated with passing on the authentic tradition and bringing it closer to its natural conditions, that is, using traditional forms of expression, creating folklore communities, celebrating traditional festivals in natural environments, etc. Modernisation is associated with bringing ethnic culture closer to contemporary culture by innovations, adapting it to contemporary needs and using contemporary form of expression as well as contemporary stylistic

Sacrality in ethno-cultural tradition

This paper deals with the expression of ethno-cultural traditions in archaic and modern/post-modern times. Based on the work of sociologists, ethnologists, and religious historians, attempts are made to determine the internal functioning patterns of ethnic culture. At the same time, we can find facts and arguments in favour of ethnic cultural vitality based on a support mechanism. One of the most important, essential traditional ethnic culture-defining features is integrity, manifesting itself as sacredness/sacrality, which in various forms can be found in traditional rural lifestyles, customs, as well as in material and spiritual realms. The processes of civilization and the expansion of the great religions, modernization and globalization, along with destroying traditional culture, destroyed also its most important connecting integrative link-sacredness. The decline of ethnic culture is associated with the loss of sacredness as its main component. Supporting the vitality and capability of ethnic culture in many cases is associated with the search for and reconstruction of sacredness. In Lithuania, in the 1960s, the ethno-cultural movement began; it was associated with various old forms of sacredness – symbols, the revival of calendar and family holidays, as well as the revival of the old religion. In contemporary Lithuania, traditional sacredness is manifested in secular, religious, and modern forms; it is determined by the continuously growing religious pluralism and the old faith acceptance by Lithuania’s populatio

Etninės kultūros išlikimo strategija šiuolaikinėse bendruomenėse: nuo tradicijos link interpretacijos

The article is devoted to theanalysis of the strategy of the survival of ethnicculturein the contemporary communities and is based both on theoretical disquisition and particular sociological research conducted in Lithuania in 2002–2004. The article asserts the existence of communities that enable transition, reception and expression of ethnic culture in the ancient, modern and post modern society as the main paradigm. The author emphasises thei mportance of interpretation in the process of perceiving ethno–cultural tradition and reveals the role of interpretative communities

Ethnic culture at school : study in ethnic culture teaching

Darbe pristatomas dalis autorės atlikto etninės kultūros padėties Lietuvos mokyklose tyrimo. Tyrimu buvo siekiama ištirti etninės kultūros mokytojų patirtį etninės kultūros mokymo ir praktinės veiklos sąryšio aspektu, nustatyti veiksnius, turinčius įtakos moksleivių nuostatų etninės kultūros atžvilgiu formavimui, atskleisti etninės kultūros sklaidos mokyklose pobūdį. Daugiausia dėmesio šiame straipsnyje skiriama mokytojų ekspertų požiūriui į neformalų etnokultūrinį ugdymą ir jo formas mokyklose pristatyti. Atliktos apklausos duomenys rodo, kad svarbiausia neformalaus etnokultūrinio ugdymo forma mokytojai ekspertai laiko kalendorinių švenčių šventimą mokyklose. Matyti, kad daugiausia švenčiamos tos šventės, kurios vyksta mokslo metais ne moksleivių atostogų metu. Populiariausia, dažniausiai minima, kaip mokyklose švenčiama šventė buvo Užgavėnės. Taip pat gana populiarios mokyklose yra advento vakaronės, Kalėdų paminėjimai. Pusė respondentų minėjo, kad mokyklose organizuoja ir Vėlinių šventimą. Antra pagal paveikumą neformalaus etnokultūrinio ugdymo forma apklausti mokytojai ekspertai laikė mokyklų folklorinių ansamblių veiklą. Beje, šie folkloro ansambliai būna ir aktyviausi kalendorinių švenčių šventimo organizavimo pagalbininkai ir dalyviai. Pristatomo tyrimo duomenys taip pat rodo, kad mokytojai žiūri į etninę kultūrą ne tik kaip į muziejinį eksponatą, bet ir kaip į dalyką, pajėgų formuoti teigiamas nuostatas tautinės kultūros atžvilgiu.The work presents a part of the research made by the author about the position of ethnic culture in Lithuanian schools. The research was aimed to make an analysis of the experience of ethnic culture teachers in the aspect of the relation between the ethnic culture teaching and practical activities. Also, to determine factors which have influence to the formation of students' attitudes towards ethnic culture and to reveal the nature of ethnic culture spread in schools. In this article, the main focus is on the attitude of teachers–experts to the non-formal education and its forms in schools A survey revealed that, according to teachers–experts, the most important form of non-formal education of ethnic culture is the celebration of calendar events in schools. It is noticed that usually events which take place during a school year but not during holiday are celebrated. The most popular and celebrated event in schools is Shrove Tuesday. Another quite popular event in schools is an Advent dinner which marks Christmas. Half of respondents mentioned that All Soul’s Day is also organised in schools. On the opinion of teachers–experts, the second form of non-formal ethnocultural education according to its influence is the activity of schools' folk ensembles. Moreover, usually folk ensembles are the most active helpers and participators of organised celebrations of calendar events. Research results also reveal that teachers do not treat ethnic culture as a museum-piece, they treat it as an object that is able to form positive attitudes towards national culture