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During the period of state independence, there was a clear trend for Lithuanian historians to be poorly involved into the field of history didactics. We presume that such a situation is predetermined, among other factors, by certain approaches, experiences, and working habits of academic historians. The article, by building on subject literature analysis and qualitative study of twelve Lithuanian academic historians, has the purpose to determine the connection of academic historians with school history and teachers of history as well as the focus (or its absence) of their historical research on school history. It is evident from the study that Lithuanian academic historians undertake some effort to share the knowledge of their discipline and related skills with teachers of history as regards the improvement of the content of the history education, but they face certain barriers. These barriers are the lack of interest by teachers of history in aspects of the past that are beyond the scope of curriculum and exams as well as the deficit of competences, personal qualities, and free time needed for the dissemination of academic historians’ research. Furthermore, the partnership suffers from unfavourable procedures of the evaluation of researchers and their studies: research dissemination work is not part of the evaluation scoring system and the fact that researchers are required to publish in English in prestigious foreign venues makes the research not entirely appropriate for schools. The article presents recommendation guidelines for sustaining mutual cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the evolution of the concept of historical literacy, based on the philosophical considerations of J. Rüsen, S. Wineburg, P. Lee, A. Chapman, P. Seix, D. Shemilt, T. Taylor, H. Scheiber, M. Stobart, and others, revealing how history education relates to the development of students’ historical literacy. The article presents two studies and their results. During one of them, it was established that so far there are discrepancies between the objectives of the curriculum and the possibilities of its realisation in the lesson. Students prefer an elementary narrative of the past in order to focus on facts rather than interpretations, so they lack the knowledge and ability to create a historical context. The second study found that insufficient time was devoted to student ability to independently and critically analyse sources with historical sources of a different genre, and to understand the process of storytelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the didactic issue of applying history maps to history teaching in comprehensive schools. On the basis of the works by the authors of different periods as well as teachers' experience, the author presents his own conception about a possibility to use history maps at different levels of history teaching. These levels are distinguished with regard to different goals, set by teachers, and pupils' level of abilities which are mainly determined by their age peculiarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses how imperial memory is presented in textbooks addressed to the secondary schools of the Russian Federation. During the last decade our Eastern neighbour tends to actualize the issues dealing with the heritage of the Tsarist and Soviet empire as well as pro-imperial discourse. The textbook "History of Western Russia" was chosen for the reason that it reflects history teaching tendencies in general and contemporary history teaching in particular in Russia. The article reviews the usage and explanation of the concept "Western Russia" in the context of the theory of "western borderlands of the empire". Basically, Russia's imperial experience is estimated positively; moreover, the issue of the empire's past remains a politically sensitive question today. Therefore, this textbook, in fact, is a collection of methodological, or even ideological, patterns which is adapted to the above mentioned issues and which is extensively applied to the process of history teaching; it could be even stated that it is supplemented by the postulates of the tsarist historiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History teaching suffered mostly in 1940-1941 when national schools and their teaching content underwent the process of sovietization with the aim to justify the Soviet ideology and policy. During the teachers' convention in August, 1940 in Kaunas, the leaders of the new government severely criticized the policy and educational system of the independent Lithuania and insisted on a new bolshevic evaluation of the country's past and present. J. Geniušas, Director of the department of the public educational commissariat, in his report History Teaching in a Socialist School criticized history teaching in the independent Lithuania and required to revise its content on the basis of the Soviet school's aims and content. Though these aims and content were carefully delineated in the instructions and newly designed programmes by the public educational commissariat, history teaching programme as such for secondary schools was not designed. New courses were introduced such as the history and constitution of the USSR; the course on contemporary Lithuanian history was requested to meet the requirements of the Communist party and its government's policy. Educators J. Geniušas and V. Čižiūnas in the summer of 1940 rewrote the last chapters of their history textbooks to meet the requirements of the bolshevic ideology; they also newly presented Lithuania's history in the 20th, century. The course on the USSR history was taught on the basis of prof. A. Šestakov's textbook A Short Course of the USSR History which was translated into the Lithuanian language and which conformed to the requirements of the Soviet ideology. To teach other subjects, the existing textbooks were revised; articles, poems or illustrations which contradicted communist ideology were deleted. The bolshevic attitude towards history teaching was disseminated by such authors as J. Geniušas, V. Trumpa, J. Drazninas, and others. In their articles they criticized the teaching of history in independent Lithuania and claimed that in a socialist school history should be taught on the basis of dialectic and historical materialism as well as the ideas of K. Marx, F. Engels, V. Lenin, and J. Stalin. To the majority of teachers this ideology was unacceptable; they taught from textbooks published in the period of independence, avoided participation in political actions, etc. Pupils also manifested their disapproval of this process by refusing, for example, to become members of the pioneer organization or young communist league. Such was the response to the sovietization of Lithuania's schools in general and history teaching in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers presented at a conference held by the Council of Europe that examined new directions for history education in Europe is presented. Topic discussed at the conference included the importance of providing students with access to primary resources in history education, teaching students the difference between reliable historical information and propaganda and the importance of museums in history education.