Similar Rhetoric, Different Goals: Contemporary Tendencies in Patriotic Education in Russia and Ukraine

Patriotic education has recently become one of the most important components in the paradigm of citizenship education in many countries of Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union. This article compares rationales and recent tendencies in patriotic education in Russia and Ukraine. Based on historical perspectives and analysis of programmatic texts this study demonstrates that the political, ideological, and educational discourses that contribute to patriotic education in both countries have a lot in common. However, despite those commonalities, the motivation and general long-term goals as well as the rationalization for patriotic education differ, particularly in regard to official educational policies.