Three decades of Lithuanian education: self-identity, achievements, and challenges

ENEach state needs to fathom its context in order to shape the future of its education. Education does not exist by itself and is inevitably affected by the political, cultural, and socioeconomic conditions of the country. Therefore, the patchwork of experienced cultural heritage is deeply embedded in the human subconscious and can paint some, or other, educational phenomena in entirely different colors than might be expected. The independent Republic of Lithuania began to build its education system following a sociocultural paradigm. After three decades, the Lithuanian education sociocultural model is gradually changing to the economic model. Thus, looking at the development of the education system in an independent Lithuania, we provide an overview of Lithuanian education policy, highlighting the essential manifestations that may have arisen from its specific context. Keywords: Sociocultural reform; Educational model; Democracy; Lithuania. [From the publication]