INTEGRATING NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE INTO PRIMARY EDUCATION: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO VALUES-BASED LEARNING

This article investigates the methodological dimensions of integrating national cultural heritage into primary education as a vehicle for values-based learning. Recognizing that national values are not abstract propositions but living traditions embedded in language, art, literature, history, and communal practice, the study argues that the most effective methodological approaches to values education are those that make this heritage concrete, emotionally engaging, and personally meaningful for young learners. The article draws on constructivist learning theory, cultural historical psychology, and the research literature on arts-integrated and heritage-based education to analyze a range of methodological strategies, including storytelling, folk arts integration, community-based learning, and cross-curricular thematic units. It examines evidence from educational systems that have successfully integrated cultural heritage into primary curricula and derives practical implications for teachers and curriculum designers. The article concludes that heritage-based values education, when implemented with pedagogical intentionality and cultural sensitivity, represents one of the most powerful and authentic approaches to primary moral and civic education available.