PROVERBS AND SAYINGS AS AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF FOLK WISDOM IN PRIMARY LEVEL LITERATURE EDUCATION

Abstract: The present study examines proverbs and sayings as culturally and pedagogically significant elements within primary level literature education, focusing on their capacity to transmit folk wisdom and moral orientations in literary form. Rather thanapproaching these short folkloric genres solely through their historical origin or formal characteristics, the article emphasises their role as carriers of value-laden meanings that remain relevant in contemporary educational contexts. Proverbs and sayings are viewed as expressive linguistic structures through which collective experience, ethical norms, and social attitudes are preserved and communicated across generations. The analysis highlights the distinctive features that differentiate proverbs and sayings while also revealing their shared educational function as instruments for moral reflection and value formation. Attention is given to their thematic diversity, figurative language, and syntactic construction, which contribute to their effectiveness in literary instruction at primary school level. Within this framework, proverbs and sayings are interpreted not only as elements of folklore heritage but as pedagogical resources capable of stimulating interpretation, dialogue, and personal evaluation. From a modern pedagogical perspective, their educational potential is realised when pupils are encouraged to engage actively with the moral situations implied in these texts. As contemporary research suggests, moral meanings embedded in short folkloric forms are most effectively internalised through guided interpretation and reflective discussion rather than through direct moral instruction. In this sense, proverbs and sayings function as situational moral models that support the gradual construction of ethical judgments based on experience, comparison, and contextual understanding