YOUNG PEOPLE’S NON-FORMAL ETHNOCULTURAL MUSIC EDUCATION: THE POLISH EXPERIENCE

Non-formal education is a promising form of education, which can effectively improve competencies of young people acquired during their studies in schools of higher education. Ethnic culture gains special significance in perceiving our own identity, becoming aware of the national values of other cultures in the context of the globalizing world. The context of this problem exposes questions for the research: how much ethno-cultural music education is important in young people's life? What motives determine young people's decision to participate in ethno-cultural music ensemble of non-formal education? What aspects of activities in ethno-cultural musical ensembles emphasize the non-formal education teachers? The aim of the research: to reveal the experience in non-formal ethno-cultural music education accumulated by higher education schools in the neighbouring country – Poland, connected to Lithuania by cultural and historical links. Methods of collecting the research data: The qualitative research was conducted in Wroclaw (Poland) in 2015. A survey (using open-ended type questions) was employed to gather diagnostic information, which was presented in the Polish language. Students (11 informants) who participated in this research provided their written opinions and teachers of non-formal education (2 informants) were interviewed by the researchers. The obtained data were analysed using qualitative content analysis: on the basis of the distinguished keywords, categories were determined, the content of the categories was divided into subcategories, which were further interpreted.