Hungary was at the forefront of education among the Europian countries 40-50 years ago, but fell behind in the 1990s. (Csapó, 2015) József Zsolnai (1935-2011) recognised the problems of the pedagogical practice, that’s why(so)he recommended the renewal of it and criticised the educational system. As a result, a pedagogical paradigm shift began (a pedagogical paradigm shift was unfolded) in the socialist Hungary in the early 1980’s. József Zsolnai developed an innovative, constructive pedagogy. (Kiss, 2002) His conception[1]  accorded with the then (existing) socialist policy that urged the compensation of the cultural disadvantages. Furthermore his idea echoes with the economic policy which encouraged the development of talents. Zsolnai said, that these expectations could be met within the framework of the school. The 30 years long research and development work - which is based on action researches, social researches in disadvantaged settlements-, allowed him to establish the Value Transmitting and Ability Development Programme with his study group[2] . The aim of the programme is to contribute to the solving of social problems by educational settings. Zsolnai paid equal attention to encouraging talents and providing support for disadvantaged students. He said, each child is talented at something. Knowledge was transmitted to the children through the thirst for action, the pleasure of creating arts and writings.

The Value Transmitting and Ability Development Programme is an alternative, potentially eligible pedagogy in Hungary since 1986, and it was taken into the public education in 2004. Value transmitting and ability development pedagogy is based on the comprehensive, holistic school, which means that every applicant shall be matriculated and then the education/educational system should adapt to the individual differences enriching the contents of the education, choosing the right stategy of education in the institution. The preparedness, the professional knowledge of pedagogues has a big role to work efficiently at school. Futhermore, family has an important role too, because they are actively involved in education. In addition this type of education focuses not only on the school’s setting but also on the local natural and social conditions, on the culture of settlement, by and large educating a valuable, creative citizen.

In Zsolnai’s concept learning society is visualized in a way, in that there is a constant claim/need for reserach and creation, problem solving and abillity development. To implement this, clear oral and written communication is indispensable. József Zsolnai wrote in 2002 about the necessity of  ’de-schooling’ schools, which could be started with the pedagogisation of the society.  (Zsolnai, 2002b)

The aim of this research is to present the Value Transmitting and Ability Development Programme, and to show, how this programme could force his way through the socialist Hungarian political and social conditions. Futhermore, the research would like to present how the programme fitted to the national education and how it appears in the current education.

The following are the main questions of the research: What kind of knowledge/ability is considered as an important factor to transfer to the children in the Value Transmitting and Ability Development Programme in order to develop a proper/ personality and to stand in the gap in the society? How does this program help fight against society disadvantages/inequalities? How did the popularity, acceptance of this programme changed during the changing Hungarian policy and economic situation? How can it be an element of the Hungarian education for nearly 25 years?

This paper builds on explanatory research. The research is based on analysing and interpreting texts. First of all, I made a database from the book-material about József Zsolnai – different sources can be used in this context: pedagogical books and papers, different types of press etc. Moreover, the subject of the analysis were the books written by Zsolnai and his publicistic activity as well. I tried to avoid the evaluation, subjectivity. During collecting the facts.I felt it important to analyse the views of the authors, for example their opinion and connection with Zsolnai and with the Hungarian Partys and Society, because it could influence their attitude to József Zsolnai. The historical data and the social context of pedagogical programme are therefore analysed together. Using the methods of the critical content analysis methodology, reflecting my researcher position can help me in objective explanation.

In the light of the research it can be said, that one advantage of the Value Transmitting and Ability Development Programme is that it would like to present the whole culture at school, it enables to show more areas of literacy and to teach more activities as the traditional school during the educational process. The majority of the subjects are child-centred, moreover it is based on the interest of students and their skills. Satisfying the interests of primary school children it offers several playful, action-oriented subjects, such as playing on the flute, acting, even learning Japaniese language at the beginning. The all‐day schools education and the wide diversity of subjects would like to ensure developing the child’s skills. Because of the individual differences the programme uses the principle of differentiation during education- so providing support and developing talents appear at the same time. Developing thinking has an important role in all subjects. In the program it is an important point, that it emphasises the importance of oral and written communication, in this context, raising up respectful, tolerant behaving children. An important aim of the programme is to have a real, genuine self-image, Hungarian , Europian awareness, clear world view. Zsolnai was inspired by the psychological concern, that if a child achieve success, it influences his success in other fields too. That’s why this programme emphasizes to teach the importance of creating something. Every child can try out theirself in several activities throughout their school life, so there is a higher chance to reveal someone’s special talent. We can say, that this programme is very complex and it is necessary to teach professional and to be an active pedagogue. The conditions of education are: to get to know the students, to treat children with respect and to develop their valuable qualities.

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