Catholic religious education in early youth through the musical expression of popular piety

Tyrimu siekiama atskleisti, jog katalikiškojo religingumo ugdymas(is) ankstyvojoje jaunystėje aktualizuojamas gimnazijos III klasėje į tikybos ir muzikos dalykų pamokas integravus modulį „Katalikų liaudiškasis pamaldumas“ ir sustiprinus mokinių muzikinę raišką. Straipsnyje pateikiamos problemos tyrimo teorinės-metodologinės prielaidos, aptariami 2010-2011 m. m. Klaipėdos „Žemynos“ gimnazijoje vykdyto pedagoginio eksperimento duomenys, atskleidžiantys tiriamųjų katalikiškojo religingumo ugdymo(si) liaudiškojo pamaldumo muzikine raiška (giesme, giedojimu) pokyčių tendencijas. Tyrime dalyvavo 25 šios gimnazijos III klasės mokiniai (12 merginų ir 13 vaikinų). Tyrimo metodai: anketavimas, rašinys, statistinė bei fenomenologinė duomenų analizė, sisteminimas, apibendrinimas.Research aims to demonstrate that Catholic popular piety and its musical expression (song, singing) is a real factor in education of catholic religiosity (further CR) in early adolescence that is actualized in gymnasium III grade in religion and music lessons through the integration of the module “Catholic popular piety” and by strengthening students’ musical expression. This article presents some major problems of this research and theoretical-methodological assumptions and presents Žemynos gymnasium teaching experiment that was conducted in 2010-2011 and its data revealing tested CR and changes in trends of education through popular piety musical expression (song, singing). The study involved 25 students of III grade of gymnasium (12 girls and 13 boys). Research methods: questionnaires, essays, statistical and phenomenological data analysis, systematization, generalization. The following theoretical-methodological issues and constructs are based on the scientific literature analysis such as: religiosity is understood as an influence of religion on human consciousness, human behaviour and its expression of religious life. CR is a sum of personal social-psychological qualities that reveals through cognitive, emotional, identificational, conative and normative-evaluative levels. Faith in God is a foundation of Christian religiosity. The influence of religious music on CR is identified through these functions: cognitive-perceptual, theological expression, emotional, aesthetic, communicative, ethical-moral. The statistical analysis of quantitative research at the beginning and the end of the experiment (questionnaire method) reveals positive changes in expression of CR according to these features. The position of the researched on the influence of religious music to CR (cognitive, normative-evaluative of CR levels); the influence of religious music to personal development of CR (cognitive, identificational, normative-evaluative, emotional, conative CR levels). Comparing the beginning and the end of the experiment positive changes are noticed in all evaluations of religious music functions (cognitive, theological expression, emotional, aesthetic, communicative, moral). Personal experience of the researched of Catholic popular piety expressed by hearing others sing and personal singing, emotional and value relationship with singing and their position towards the importance of Catholic popular piety to young people (cognitive, conative, identificational, emotional, normative-evaluative CR levels). Position on the values that are important to the researched personally and common to all human beings promoted by Catholic popular piety (cognitive, normative-evaluative, identificational levels of CR). The most important to the participants of experiment are personal religious-moral values, followed by values that are common to all human beings, Christological values and religious-moral values. Religious beliefs (identificational, normative-evaluative and cognitive levels of religiosity). The data of the end of the experiment reveals that number of the believers in God slightly increases – from 48.8 % at the beginning of the experiment up to 54.2 % at the end; there is a decrease of non-believers and those who have doubts. The phenomenological analysis (essay method) of qualitative analysis of the data collected at the end of the experiment presents the changes and tendencies of CR according to time and age. [...