THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CULTURE OF CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR IN PRESCHOOL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: ANALYSIS OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCE

The Lithuanian society lives in the period of changes in which personal values are influenced by our surroundings. The decline of a culture of behaviour is observed in society and it is increasingly evident in children’s and youth’s behaviour. Children lose their autonomy, respect for the individual and nation. There is increasingly visible rude communication, social environmental intolerance and this just proves that our younger generation has little culture of behaviour. The earlier you introduce children to the basic conduct of cultural values and their aspirations to develop, the better results will be achieved in the correct behaviour modelling for life in society. For this reason, not only the family, but also preschool, i.e., educators, are responsible for the cultured behaviour of children, education and promotion to be polite, respectful, honest, friendly, etc. The object of the research – the development of a culture of behaviour of preschool age children. The aim – to reveal how a culture of children’s behaviour is developed in preschool. A study was conducted in preschool institutions of Northern Lithuania. In this case a qualitative research strategy was chosen. The methods of the research: analysis and synthesis of the sources of scientific literature and open-ended written survey of preschool educators. Teachers from 23 preschool institutions participated in the research. Qualitative research data were processed using the method of content analysis. The research revealed what concept the respondents give to the definition of a culture of children’s behaviour and what methods they apply in their daily work. The concept of a culture of behaviour from the point of view of teachers is: culture of activity, of communication, of hygiene and nurturing nature. Preschool educators develop a culture of behaviour using traditional methods such as games, conversations, reading, literary and cartoon analysis in their professional activities.