Mother Tongue Learning in the Estonian New High School Curriculum

Abstract

This article considers the content and structure of the new State Curriculum for high schools in Estonia, in which drafting the authors participated. The curriculum was applied in 2011/2012 academic year, and has being put into action gradually, starting from the 10th form. It is totally separated from the curriculum for middle schools. The main objective of teaching and education in high schools is that students are to find a field of activity of their interest and ability, which will be included in their further training. They are formative assessment and feedback that are of great attention in the new curriculum, as well as the need for conducting researches is emphasized, including mother tongue. Under the requirements of the new curriculum, studies in every subject are student-centred, i.e. they are brought in accord with students’ interests and everyday needs, e.g. in mother tongue courses the need of text-centred approach is highlighted. The number of required courses is reduced; there are more opportunities for options. In comparison with the previous curriculum, the courses on mother tongues (Estonian and Russian) are unified. Before, only 3 courses on Russian as a mother tongue were set-out, now 6 compulsory courses and 1 elective course are scheduled (like Estonian). While developing curriculum for the Russian (native) language, cross-cutting topics were taken into account. The article thoroughly describes the structure and content of the subject; it is shown how the new curriculum is being implemented in teaching practice; the realization of new text-centered courses “The Perception and Creation of an Oral Text” and “The Perception and Creation of a Written Text” as an implementation for the basic concept is instantiated. Key words: curriculum, teaching at high school level, mother tongue, text-centered approach, students’ needs.