On March 1st, students from grades 5-10 of Erudito Licėjus presented their III Source Analysis project. The students showcased individuals who have made significant contributions to Lithuania – for six weeks, they researched their biographies, achievements, works, ideas, and learned to work with various sources.

Fostering general competencies and teaching responsibility

“Our students presented many beautiful, meaningful, and well-prepared projects on the theme of the III project, ‘Discovering people who put Lithuania on the map’,” says the head of primary education, Kristina Celiešiūtė, adding, “Projects are an integral part of the philosophy of Erudito Licėjus Teamwork, task distribution within the team, personal responsibility, time management, self-discipline, and discipline towards team members cultivate the young personality and the general competencies necessary for a modern young person.” According to K. Celiešiūtė, project presentations teach respect for the speaker, cultural (language and speaking) appreciation, engagement, and active participation. All of these are part of common culture and etiquette, which it is advisable for modern young people to master – the importance of these skills is increasingly discussed in various educational events, conferences, and the impact of these competencies and skills is being studied.

The goal of the Source Analysis project is to learn to selectively choose information according to the given theme, develop research skills by analyzing sources. The aim is for students to become acquainted with individuals who have brought fame to or through Lithuania. In this project, it is important for students to develop the ability to collect and evaluate, systematize information, correctly cite sources, form their own opinions, and express their insights.

The students themselves, reflecting on the presented reports, identified various benefits – from strengthening teamwork and communication skills and understanding how important they are, to fostering responsibility, the ability to distinguish reliable and accurate sources from inappropriate ones, to acquiring new knowledge and understanding that “everything is always possible.”

Role of Mentors: Encouraging and inspiring action

According to the head of primary education, K. Celiešiūtė, an integral part of project activities is the involvement and influence of mentors. Their role is to encourage, inquire, monitor the progress of the project, advise the team, and if necessary, guide them in the right direction. The role of mentors and their importance is well illustrated by one example. One group of sixth-graders chose President Dalia Grybauskaitė as the subject of their research, and with the help of their mentor Marius Zakarevičius, they sought ways to contact her to ask several questions that interested them (such as her favorite color, what she thought about when she was in sixth grade, etc.). One day, the administration received a call from Dalia Grybauskaitė’s office: “Hello, my name is Valentina, I’m calling from Dalia Grybauskaitė’s office. We received your sixth-graders’ letter inviting Dalia Grybauskaitė to answer a few questions and talk. We regret to inform you that the President is very busy and hardly ever in Lithuania, but we received your request, and we are very interested in why you chose her for your project.” And although they couldn’t speak directly with D. Grybauskaitė herself, her assistant promised to convey the greetings from the sixth-graders of Erudito Licėjus. This once again demonstrates how persistent, curious, and creative the students of Erudito Licėjus are and how dedicated the educators who accompany them on this journey as project mentors are.

From Pliaterytė to Sabonis

Proposed themes include public and cultural figures from art, music, cinema, theater, dance, literature, language, journalism, and other fields, individuals who have made contributions in the field of science, people who have made contributions in politics and business. Possible choices include individuals chosen randomly: Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Jonas Mekas, Unė Babickaitė, Vitas Luckus, Samuel Bak, Antanas Sutkus, Antanas Poška, Matas Šalčius, Vytautas Kernagis, Antanas Škėma, Radvila Našlaitėlis, Jurgis Bielinis, Bona Sforza, Emilija Pliaterytė, Ričardas Gavelis, Jonas Jablonskis, Laurynas Stuoka Gucevičius, Šatrijos Ragana, Lazdynų pelėda, Algimantas Čekuolis, Birutė Galdikas, Žemaitė, Vytautas Andrius Graičiūnas, Martynas Yčas, Marija Teresė Tiškevičienė, Vladas Jurgutis, Volfas Suliman, Chiune Sugihara, Antanas Jurgelionis.

Students chose research subjects not only important to Lithuania or relevant today, but also those that inspire and fascinate them personally (it was agreed that the chosen person cannot be a public opinion former or a representative of social media elite). Therefore, project presentations included various names – from Grand Dukes Gediminas and Vytautas (one group sought to prove that Sofija Vytautaitė could indeed become a queen), Emilija Pliaterytė, known as the Lithuanian Jeanne d’Arc of the insurgent military forces in the 1831 uprising (by the way, it is interesting that several student groups chose this personality to demonstrate that heroism can be embodied not only by men but also by women), book smuggler Jurgis Bielinis, Jonas Basanavičius, composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, partisan leader Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas, aviator Jurgis Kairys, filmmaker Jonas Mekas, to contemporary representatives of pop culture (for example, Pink), sports heroes Aurimas Valujavičius, who crossed the Atlantic in a rowing boat, long-distance runner and record holder Aleksandras Sorokinas, basketball legends Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, Jonas Valančiūnas, costume designer Juozas Statkevičius, or former President of the country Dalia Grybauskaitė.