THE ROLE OF MUSIC EDUCATION IN THE SOCIALISATION OF PUPILS OF GENERAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS OF ESTONIA

Schools of the two communities in Estonia, both Estonian speaking and Russian speaking, are social institutions, the objective of which is to maintain and reproduce the nation, language, culture as well as intellectual and ethical values. Involving pupils in ethnic culture promotes their acquisition of historic and cultural experience of their nation and develops their socio-cultural personality. In the process of the development of a society, in the spiritual life of an individual as well as in the culture as a whole an important place is occupied by music, which appears a characteristic feature of the given culture. In order to find out about the possibilities of applying music as a means of socialisation of pupils of different cultural backgrounds, an anonymous questionnaire was carried out among teachers of music of schools with different languages of tuition. The method of factor analysis was used to process the data of the study. The results of the study revealed that, according to the respondents' opinion, music education acquires national importance as a means of developing social activeness of pupils and their formation as citizens. Music helps to develop social skills of pupils, helps pupils of Estonian- and Russian-medium schools to understand each other better and develop closer contacts. Both sides have to have a strong national identity, common values and high level of tolerance. The musical heritage of different nations is valuable for pupils of different cultural backgrounds. According to the results of the factor analysis of the study, convergence between the pupils of the Estonian- and Russian-medium schools is a complex process, in the course of which various factors are equally important, such as priorities of education, formation of national and ethnic identity, and also the process of socialisation.