This article reviews the evolution of the concept of historical literacy, based on the philosophical considerations of J. Rüsen, S. Wineburg, P. Lee, A. Chapman, P. Seix, D. Shemilt, T. Taylor, H. Scheiber, M. Stobart, and others, revealing how history education relates to the development of students’ historical literacy. The article presents two studies and their results. During one of them, it was established that so far there are discrepancies between the objectives of the curriculum and the possibilities of its realisation in the lesson. Students prefer an elementary narrative of the past in order to focus on facts rather than interpretations, so they lack the knowledge and ability to create a historical context. The second study found that insufficient time was devoted to student ability to independently and critically analyse sources with historical sources of a different genre, and to understand the process of storytelling.

The article analyses the general education programmes regulating the curriculum (in Lithuania and abroad) as well as the research on the development of critical thinking skills in the work with historical sources recording the requirements for the development of the understanding of the source. It presents the results of the empirical study identifying the problems faced by history teachers during history classes while developing pupils’ critical thinking in the course of their independent work with historical sources.

Straipsnyje analizuojamas istorinio raštingumo turinys ir jo atitiktis šiandieninėse Pagrindinio ugdymo bendrosiose programose istorijos ugdymui keliamiems reikalavimams. Siūloma nauja paradigma, atitinkanti mokyklinio Bendrųjų ugdymo programų turinį, padės siekti istorinio raštingumo kaip ugdymo(si) rezultato. Remiantis šiuolaikinių užsienio ir Lietuvos istorijos didaktikos tyrėjų darbais, Lietuvos bei užsienio šalių (Australijos ir Kanados) istorijos ugdymo programomis, nagrinėjamas istorinio raštingumo turinys ir pateikiama istorinio raštingumo ugdymo programų reikalavimų lyginamoji analizė.