EXPRESSION OF THE „CHILD’S VOICE“ IN THE LITHUANIAN KINDERGARTEN IN THE LATE SOVIET ERA

Abstract

The article analyses aspects of the expression of the concept of the child in the late Soviet era (1964–1988) Lithuanian kindergarten.
The research is conducted by use of a narrative qualitative methodology. Thematic analysis of the data revealed the pedagogical attitudes prevalent among kindergarten practitioners during this period and, by comparing these with contemporary quality criteria in early childhood education, identified distinctive features of their pedagogical practice. The research revealed that late Soviet era preschool pedagogy in Lithuania was characterized by: a standardized educational program content; focus on knowledge domain; superficial comprehensive education aspect; normative methodology for assessing children’s achievements; subject-based
academic instruction; inflexible organization and strict rules of group life, one-way impact pedagogy, often accompanied by psychological and physical punishments; collective education; a narrow conception of didactic tools; unificating internal and external environment without creating conditions for children’s activity, creativity, experimentation, and accumulation of experiences; limited parental involvement; strict state and institutional control; a social and ideological context directly influencing pedagogical decisions. The findings indicate that across all the main examined parameters (content and assessment, methods, environment,
interactions) there was no visible signs of the concept of the proactive child, an active player in his/her childhood, involved in decisions that were important to him/her; children’s wishes and opinions were not taken into account; the child’s powers were seen not as special, but as weak, not equal to those of an adult; in the educational process, the child was treated solely as an object of education. Thus, the opportunities for the expression of the “voice of a child” were extremely limited and that is why the empirical data of the research encourages a more critical, rather than moderate, approach to preschool pedagogy of the analyzed period. The results of the study are relevant because even today there are still common and viable attitudes and solutions that sometimes replicate and multiply
outdated practices that are very far from child-oriented pedagogy.