Abstract:

In the policy documents of Latvia, culture is considered an area comprising features that create the national originality and foster development of the nation. Cultural literacy has been declared an important component of Latvia’s long-term development strategy, this has yet to be reflected in policy planning documents that provide guidance on how cultural literacy education should be developed and governed, especially for young people. The aim of the study is to analyse how the generally accepted principles of cultural education are implemented in educational practice at the national level. The analysis presented in this paper is part of a broader H2020 collaborative research project called “Cultural Heritage and Identities of Europe’s Future” (CHIEF, Agreement No. 770464) about how young people engage with the meanings and forms of European cultural heritage in various educational contexts, e.g. school, civil society, family, peer groups, and heritage sites, and whether this engagement leads to an increase in their cultural literacy.

In order to analyse the general principles of cultural education, a systematic search for eligible sources examining cultural literacy education, defined as formal education activities related to cultural identity, cultural practices and cultural heritage, was carried out using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework (Moher, 2015). Policy documents and curricula were analysed. In order to understand the peculiarities of cultural education practice, 60 students and 9 teachers from three Latvian schools were interviewed. The interviews were coded by employing NVivo 12 software. A thematic analysis of the interviews was undertaken using an iterative, inductive approach to the generation of codes and themes guided by the aims and objectives of the study.

Young people and teachers demonstrated a relatively common understanding of the concepts “culture”, “European/national/regional cultural heritage” and “cultural diversity.” This complies with an understanding of the above-mentioned concepts in Latvian policy documents and curricula. In accordance with policy document aims, the informants also acknowledged the important role that culture plays in the development of the State of Latvia as a whole and in personal growth of each individual. However, young people and teachers have different views of the education reform, which is being introduced today and causes a lot of controversy: young people recognize the need for reform, but teachers analyse its drawbacks and point out that schools are not ready to implement new curricula.

Keywords:

Cultural literacy, formal education, young people, educational policy, curricula.