UNESCO argues that having a holistic approach to education is essential to address global development challenges. However, what empirical evidence do we have about holistic education practices? This study aims to review empirical research on holistic education. The methodological design is a systematic review study following the PRISMA guidelines based on a search of the Scopus and Semantic Scholar databases carried out in December 2021. The selected studies were analysed through a qualitative three-stage screening process based on 218 subjects, 9 of which were included in the final sample. The following inclusion criteria were used: empirical studies or research in English; free access via the internet; and categories limited to “holistic/education/curriculum/pedagogy”. The qualitative analysis of the articles based on the interpretative paradigm and the open coding method was implemented in MAXQDA. The study shows a lack of large-scale quantitative and comparative research showing the benefits of holistic education, its impact on personal and social transformation, and the preparation of teachers to become holistic educators. There is a lack of research analysing the effect of holistic education on environmental awareness compared with traditional education.

The 2019 guidelines for the renewal of general education programs in Lithuania state that there is a lack of coherence between the goals of education, the implementation of the curriculum, and the assessment of students’ achievements. The description of Lithuanian primary, basic and secondary education (2015) states that the main result of education is the gradually acquired competencies indicating the spiritual, intellectual and physical maturity of a person, which include knowledge, understanding, abilities and attitudes. This presupposes that state maturity exams should be designed to reflect the competencies, knowledge, understanding, abilities and attitudes that indicate a person’s maturity. Based on this idea, a qualitative study was conducted in 2020. Its aim was to determine the indicators of personal maturity in Lithuanian conceptual educational documents. To achieve the research goal, we applied the data collection method (document analysis) and the data processing method (content analysis). Qualitative research has shown that a person’s maturity in Lithuania is identified based on a set of competencies. To complete their general education, students should have the following competencies: social, emotional and healthy lifestyles; cognition; creativity; civil, cultural communication. A review of the scientific literature presupposes that at the stage of late adolescent personality development, a person is yet to be in search of their identity. The documents emphasize that competencies are assessed in teacher-student interactions by accumulating qualitative evidence of competencies. Meanwhile state maturity exams measure three groups of cognitive abilities: knowledge and understanding, application of knowledge, and advanced thinking abilities. Personal values and beliefs are not reflected in state maturity exams. The conclusion of the research is that maturity exams do not reflect the maturity of a person described in the conceptual documents of Lithuanian education.

The article analyses the development of Higher Education Policy in independent Lithuania (1990-2018).  The analysis is dwelling on the results of qualitative research conducted in 2018 with a focus on local national and global neoliberal public policy factors that have impact on higher education policy development, as well as Lithuanian education policy issues and it’s funding system. The empirical evidence revealed that higher education policy in Lithuania is highly influenced by global neoliberal public policy, however, the biggest higher education development problems are related to the local political factors: financial resources, political parties, the lack of sustainable higher education strategy.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.17.3.21957