Virtue Education Programme e-TAP: Innovativeness and Thematic Fit in the Context of Preschool and Primary Education in Latvia

Abstract

This study addresses the appropriateness (‘fit’) of the moral education programme e-TAP to the Latvian educational context from preschool till grade 3. Document analysis and a questionnaire were used for exploring two research questions: How do the topics of e-TAP fit the topics of the new competence-based curriculum Skola 2030? and what was the e-TAP fit the needs, expectations, and values of the educational context? The document base contained 20 Skola 2030 “Subject matter model programmes” (63 content-units in preschool and 174 topics in grades 1–3) and 64 e-TAP lesson plans (24 in preschool and 40 in grades 1–3). 138 teachers (78 form preschool and 60 from grades 1–3) piloted the e-TAP programme between February and April 2021 and filled 169 feedback questionnaires containing information about their interest in the programme, their motivations and satisfaction with the programme, and their suggestions for improving it. NVivo and MS Excel software were used for qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The results show the high thematic fit of e-TAP with Skola 2030: nearly half of the Skola 2030 topics had at least a thematic match with the e-TAP lesson plans, and 83% of e-TAP lesson plans match with at least one of the Skola 2030 topics. Almost all teachers agreed or rather agreed that the e-TAP programme fits to their needs, expectations, and values. The programme innovativeness, fit to teachers’ needs and relation to Latvian traditions are discussed, and directions for programme development and future research are suggested.

Conceptualizing the Effectiveness Research of an Online Curriculum for Virtue Education in Latvia

“…As it became apparent in the mentioned focus-group discussions (e-TAP project, June 2021), this context originated high expectations in the educational sector regarding this curriculum. It is therefore necessary to establish solidly the scientific foundations of this new curriculum: in 2021, after studying its fit and feasibility to the Latvian context (Fernández González et al, 2021a and making the necessary adaptations, it is time to investigate scientifically its effectiveness, which can only be properly addressed by the longitudinal study for 2022-2024 whose conceptualization is presented in this paper. In addition, the empirical research about the effectiveness of the e-TAP curriculum would be useful for improving it in further implementations.…”