The article examines the main characteristics, analyzes the possibilities and tasks of ethnocultural education in Russia. The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the task of preserving the national identity of various peoples living in Russia. The purpose of this article is to analyze the system of ethnocultural education in Russia. The methods of historical and comparative analysis of historical and cultural processes are used in the work.
education, ethnocultural education, levels of education, ethnopedagogy, culture, ethnocultural development of the individual, ethnos, nation, ceremony, ritual
Education is the development of the scientific and cultural heritage of all mankind. It is a multifaceted phenomenon with a complex structure. In practice, this complex concept is divided into a number of specific "formations": by level - primary, secondary, higher; content - natural science, technical, humanitarian; on a territorial basis - municipal, regional, federal. In this list, ethnocultural education also takes its special place, aimed at the development and preservation of specific national (ethnic) historical knowledge and values by an individual. This type of education is of great importance in such multinational states as Russia.
The concept of ethnos has many meanings. The most popular definitions of an ethnos indicate the unique features of the language and psyche of its members, their spiritual unity, their awareness of their differences from other similar formations [1]. These signs are present in all historical forms of the existence and development of an ethnos (clan, tribe, nationality and nation).
The catalyst of nations is capitalism, which, in the pursuit of profit, organizes a common market for similar peoples. The common market leads not only to a common life and economic structure, but also erases the dialectal differences inherent in the nationality, creating a literary, common language for all, modernizes and strengthens the common mental make-up at a new level, thereby cementing the unity of the nationality with it, turning it into an absolute one ideological and political national value. At the same time, its geographic (state) boundaries are clearly defined.
Humanity today exists in the form of separate nations at different levels of political development, but having certain general ideas about the world, about the history of mankind, as well as about good and evil. However, this common understanding of some categories does not mean the unity of different nations.
Historical experience shows that the unity of a nation is best strengthened by the presence of enemies, primarily external ones. As a result, political ideology always denigrates the neighboring and other peoples, attributing to them the most negative customs and traditions, ridiculous or cruel national rituals, insidious intentions. It is clear that under such conditions, relations between nations are often tense, wary, threatening under certain conditions to turn into an armed confrontation.
Serious differences between nations are a reality faced not only by politicians, but also by educators. The underlying causes of these differences are objective and subjective.
Researchers attribute to objective reasons the territorial and landscape conditions for the existence of ethnic formations, including climate, flora and fauna, the nature of the soil, the reserves and nature of water, and more. This also includes economic conditions (division of labor and production of livelihoods).
The methods of distribution and consumption of the means of subsistence, on which the specificity of political and ideological relations within the community depends, together with the language, customs, ceremonies, rituals and results of creative activity in their totality are usually denoted by the term “culture”. Culture is the subjective aspect of the existence of ethnic education.
The concept of "culture" is a fundamental and most general concept in social science, so wide is the range of objects and phenomena included in it, as well as semantic shades. The diversity of the content of the concept of "culture" significantly complicates its scientific definition. This explains the large number of these definitions. Each definition covers only some part or feature of the culture. [2, р.13].
The variety of definitions of culture reflects the whole variety of human activity and the results of these activities. Each definition is only a fixation of one of the innumerable aspects of human activity. We are interested in the culture of an ethnic community, its features and significance.
The culture of an ethnic community is an integral set of components, the main of which are language, customs, traditions, ceremonies and rituals, behavioral norms and folklore. Flexible interconnections and interpenetration of these components provide the ethnic culture with the possibility of self-preservation. And also the possibility of self-recovery, if for some reason a part of the ethnic culture is destroyed.
Over the centuries, the ethnos has been developing its own methods and techniques for transferring elements of its culture to new generations and consolidating them in children's and adolescent consciousness. In this process, ceremonies and rituals, which have been perfected over the centuries, take an important place.
First of all, this concerns such an important attribute of communication as language. The linguistic turns of each nation have developed such nuances that they easily convey both deep respect for the interlocutor and disregard for him. The language also describes the most important etiquette forms of behavior, rituals in terms of their beauty and tolerance, making them romantic and attractive for teenagers.
For example, among the Adygs had (and are now often observed) strict rules that determine the place of everyone in a group of people who go somewhere: where the oldest should be, where the next oldest should be, and so on up to the youngest. The stories behind this phenomenon were formulated in such a way that every person in the group, wherever he was, had a reason to be proud of his place and to be satisfied with it. It turned out that everyone took such a place that without him the unity and coherence of the group would be disrupted to such an extent that it would not be able to fulfill its task: whether it was a trip to spring plowing or a combat patrol. In the same way, references to the elders, even older ones, to the eldest and, conversely, to the younger ones, were defined.
Such ceremonial and ritual behavior and appeal to older and younger people acquired, in addition to some abstract and aesthetic form, a direct practical meaning, which is of great importance for the life of the entire ethnic group. A striking example is the sociological study of the 60s of the twentieth century, which was supposed to establish the reasons for longevity in Abkhazia.
In this study, the method of participatory observation was widely used, when "... sociologists lived for a long time in Abkhaz villages, studied the language, even married Abkhaz women, in order to become their own and delve into this secret from the inside. However, the truth, obtained with such difficulty, turned out to be useless, since it turned out that one of the most important components of longevity is the traditionally deep respect of the Abkhaz for the elderly, expressed not only verbally, but also ritual-behaviorally, all their support, admiration for them, and so on. The transfer of these qualities to another national environment turned out to be as impossible as it is impossible for a person to become a representative of another ethnic group. It turned out that in order to live long, one must be an Abkhaz and live among the Abkhaz ”[3, р.9].
In addition, the landscape and climatic conditions of life are so important for the survival of the ethnos that a direct connection between them and national ceremonies and ritual actions is revealed in many details in certain events. For example, writers and military psychologists have long drawn attention to such an aspect of the human character as courage and the fact that it manifests itself differently in different nations.
So, it is considered long ago established that for the manifestation of courage of a German soldier, an exact order is required, given by a senior in rank, in compliance with all ceremonies. At the same time, too clear an order often fetters the manifestation of courage of the Italian soldier. A Frenchman is ready for heroic deeds if he is inspired by beautiful slogans: "The guard dies, but does not surrender" [7, p. 72]. The Spaniard is capable of miracles of courage in the presence of witnesses [5, р.174]. But Russian courage stands apart. L.N. Tolstoy, who described the feat of private captain Tushin in the battle of Borodino, emphasized that he, this hero, would be surprised to hear that he was performing a feat, that for him it was a simple fulfillment of his duty. The decisive role here was played by the sparsely populated wide Russian expanses, when often simple survival required a daily harsh feat in the complete absence of admiring spectators.
In this regard, we can recall another of the military rituals that were born and developed in detail in the West. Here, with the densely populated lands, the defeated had nowhere to go: they still had to stay in place and live there. Therefore, the rite of surrender of the fortress, city, lands was born: military and civil leaders solemnly appear to the winner at the time and place appointed by him, bring him their weapons as a sign of submission, hand him the "keys" from the city, fortress in recognition of his domination.
The situation was different in Russia, where wide open spaces provided room for maneuver, temporary retreat, even resettlement with the preparation of a new offensive. Napoleon, who came to Russia with Western performances, found himself in a strange situation on the Sparrow Hills near Moscow, when he was waiting for a long time for a representative Russian delegation, which would hand him the "keys" to Moscow. Napoleon Bonaparte could not imagine a people defeated in a decisive battle, surrendering the country's second most important city and, nevertheless, believing that a real war had not yet begun.
Many authors draw attention to the fact that peoples who are geographically close to each other often have similar ceremonies and rituals, as well as characters. This fact has been emphasized more than once in the literature. For example, one of the heroes - the Cossacks of the Kuban writer A. Perventsev, speaking at the gathering, says: “… For decades next to the Circassians. Does it mean anything? One wise guy assured me: the uniform was just adopted, for the convenience of riding. No, the form is the form, and most importantly, the custom was picked up by the Circassians, this very free spirit, the pride of the mountain ”[4, р.102]. Another author, supporting this point of view, says that the Cossacks are closer to the highlanders than to the Russian Pomors, who, in turn, are closer according to the indicated characteristics to the neighboring non-Russian peoples, in particular, the Finns.
There are many facts when children of one ethnic group, for one reason or another, found themselves among another and brought up there, acquired ethnic characteristics of this second ethnic group. But as a second name, they retained the name of their native ethnic group. Hence, there are so many among the Adygs Kalmykovs, Kumykovs, Chechenovs, Urusovs, Nagoevs.
Thus, we can confidently assert that the ritual differences developed over the centuries, associated with moral, ethical and aesthetic primordial values, constitute the backbone of the existence of an ethnos. They are the most important, after language, a condition for self-awareness, self-identification of an ethnic group.
At the same time, the development of ethnic groups, their cooperation in different fields of activity, have a leveling or even overwhelming effect on their specific differences, ceremonies, traditions and rituals. The point of view that, as a result of such interaction, the differences between nations will be erased and humanity will become one, today does not cause serious objections to anyone. However, this event is sinking in such a distant prospect that it is recognized as expedient to respect the ritual and ritual traditions of the peoples. History has repeatedly taught the lessons that an attempt to forcibly transfer a people to foreign conditions of life, leads to its degradation and death, or generates a terrifying wave of violence. This is because the people are resisting such an impact with a rage bordering on self-destruction.
A careful attitude to this side of national specifics, its study, preservation and ensuring its transmission to new generations is a task worthy of a developed humanistic society.
A lot of serious work is being done in multinational Russia in this direction. A whole direction has been formed, which is called ethnic education and practical ethnopedagogy. Its synonyms are the terms “folk traditions of upbringing”, “folk upbringing”, “folk pedagogy”.
It seems that the efforts of scientists in this area should be focused on the systematization of the relationship "education - national culture" and "education-nature-man-ethnos" [6, р.129].
Education should be international, focused on the common values of economic, cultural and educational cooperation and the integration of the efforts of the regions in solving global and priority tasks of mankind as a whole. Education should develop the responsibility of the younger generation for the events taking place not only in the country, but throughout the world. At the same time, a respectful attitude towards another culture, history, an understanding of the high responsibility for it should become integral parts of the modern consciousness of an educated person. Ethnic education is mainly the task of the school, but higher education institutions also fulfill this task.
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3. Kazanov Kh.M. Nation and national character. Maikop, 2000. - 148 р.
4. Perventsev A. Over the Kuban. Krasnodar book publishing house, 1972. - 736 р.
5. Starinov I. G. Saboteur's notes. M., 1997.
6. Tril Yu.N. National rituals and ethnocultural education // Bulletin of the Maikop State Technological University. - 2016. №. 1. р. 126-131.
7. Winged words. Compiled by N. S. Ashukin. 4th ed. M., 1988.- 528 р.
