·        Active involvement of students

·        Relation to the curriculum

·        Flexibility          

·        Visitor friendly

Educational programmes for the lower secondary school classes
   

1.      Social Studies, III level of the lower secondary school

Duration: 40 min

During the programme, the student acquires a general understanding of the functioning of society and the basic concepts of Social Studies. Examples of the concept: democracy, dictatorship, human rights and freedoms, civil society, etc. Examples illustrating the concepts from the recent history of Estonia. The programme involves the continuous participation of students to acquire important concepts in Social Studies and to learn how to connect them. The programme is a good preparation for both the Social Studies exam and the preparation for the level assessment.

As a result of the educational programme, the student will receive discussion sheets to consolidate what they have learned and to continue to focus on topics.

 

Duration: 40 min

Designation: Singing - our power.

During the programme, the student acquires a general understanding of the roots of our singing tradition and the history of song festivals. In the course of the programme, we go back to 1869 - the first song festival in Tartu, and we reach the year 2019, when the general song festival celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first festival. In the lessons of the visitor centre, we will deal with the culture of song festivals as well as the history of the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. 
 If possible, we will end the programme by standing and singing side by side under the Song Arch.
  

·          Singing tradition in Estonia

·           Singing festivals and song festivals in Europe

·          Song festivals in Tallinn and the singing stage in Kadriorg (1923)

·          The Story of Tallinn Song Festival Grounds (1928)

·          Modern Song Festival Grounds (1960)

·          Gustav Ernesaks and Alar Kotli

Duration: 40 min

Designation: State, citizens, democracy.

During the programme, the student acquires important basic concepts of social studies: democracy, totalitarianism, authoritarianism, the rule of law, civil society, freedom of expression, pluralism, etc. And all this in parallel by getting acquainted with the events of Estonia's recent history. The programme involves the continuous participation of students to acquire important concepts in Social Studies and to learn how to connect them. 

The issues raised during the programme are: what is a citizen / civil society?, what does democracy mean - people's power?, what is the rule of law?, what are the foundations of democracy? etc.

The programme is a good preparation for both the Social Studies exam and the preparation for the level assessment. 

As a result of the educational programme, the student will receive discussion sheets to consolidate what they have learned in the lessons and to continue to focus on topics, if interested.

 

Duration: 40 min

Designation: The Singing Revolution

In the course of the programme, the story of Estonia's re-independence will be opened to the student, looking at the wider history of the restoration of countries in the world. The restoration of Estonian statehood is closely connected with the non-violent resistance that was carried out in Estonia based on our long-standing tradition of Song Festivals. As an example of the history of the Song Festival Grounds, it is good to explain this to the students, because many significant events in our recent history took place on the Song Festival Grounds (night song festivals, etc.). The student is also introduced to the concept of the Baltic States - the singing revolution, which is also used in the English-speaking world. Students can read the Singing Revolution article by Heinz Valk, an artist and founder of the Popular Front of Estonia, published in the newspaper "Sirp ja Vasar" (Sickle and Hammer) on June 17, 1988, which gave the movement its name. The history of the Song Festival Grounds is also connected with the tradition of patriotic speeches of the new era (students will be able to listen to the best-known patriotic speeches of the public gatherings held on the Song Festival Grounds (H.Valk, S.Kallas, R.Veidemann). Students will, by comparison, receive the texts of C.R. Jakobson's patriotic speech(-es) and the homework to write their own patriotic speech in the form of an essay, which would sound topical to the 21st generation of the century.

·         The Singing Revolution (H.Valk, 1988)

·         The Song Festival Grounds and Night Song Festivals

·         The tradition of patriotic speeches and the patriotic speeches of the Time of the Singing Revolution

 

3.      History II, Upper Secondary School, classes 10 to 12

Duration: 40 min

Name: Song tradition and song festivals in Estonia

During the course of the programme, students acquire a general understanding of the roots of our singing tradition and the history of song festivals. At first, different stages of the song tradition are viewed: folk song, ecclesiastical polyphonic music and choral song, and the history of secular choirs. The song festival tradition arrived in Estonia from Central Europe, through Germany and based on the tradition of Baltic German song festivals. The tradition of song festivals, which originated from Livonia, was carried by the organisation of Estonian governorates and song festivals, which over time also began to require a separate place for organising the Song Festival. All the more so because not only the Singing Festival (Sängerfest) but also the Song Festival, which covers an ever-widening audience (including women and children), took root in our culture, with a much larger audience than traditional Western European singers. The story of the song festival grounds clearly shows us how the architects worked closely with the musicians (conductors, a good example is Alar Kotli and Gustav Ernesaks). In 2023 we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first singing stage built in Estonia and in 2028, the 100th anniversary of the first Song Festival Grounds on the site of the modern Song Festival Grounds.
 
 
 TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Participation in the educational programme is for students with an entrance ticket - EUR 4 per student. Teacher / group attendant free of charge.

Please book the programmes in advance at info@lauluvaljak.ee

Upon booking, we recommend shedding light on the teacher's expectations of the programme (e.g. focusing more on a particular topic). In other words, for us, the implementation of each educational programme is unique and we follow the expectations / needs of the teacher and the class.