La educación escolar en el norte de Yakutia (Rusia) en el contexto de un
enfoque indígena
School education in the north of Yakutia (Russia) in the contexto of an indigeno
Nikolai Dmitrievich Neustroev,
1
Anna Nikolaevna Neustroeva,
2
Tuyaara Alekseevna Shergina,
3a
Alina Alekseevna Kozhurova
4
, y Sardaana Ignatievna Osipova
5
M.K.
Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia
12345
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7646-2362
1
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3824-6578
2
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5414-5617
3
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7036-3462
4
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2433-6436
5
Recibido: 15 de julio de 2020 Aceptado: 15 de octubre de 2020
Abstract
The relevance of this research is determined by the modernization and regionalization of the
education system in the context of the requirements of new Federal State Educational
Standards (FSES), and taking into account the specifics of school education in the North of
the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) based on an indigenous approach. The purpose of the study
is the variable organization of school education in the North, taking into account the specific
traditional way of living and activity of the indigenous peoples of the North. Guiding research
approaches are sociocultural, ethnopedagogical, and active in in terms of the local applied
character of the study. The authors of present study reveal the features and problems of school
education organization, and the ways of its variable implementation according to the
requirements of FSES in the specific conditions of the North.Research methods. The guiding
method of the study is a pedagogical experiment, an analysis of school education in the North
in the context of an indigenous approach, and the implementation of the program “We Are
Children of the Land of Olonkho”. The authors prove the necessity to expand social functions
of rural schools in the North in terms of socio-pedagogical centers development in the places
of compact residence of indigenous peoples.
Keywords: Yakutia; Republic of Sahka; School education; Regionalization; Ethnocultural;
Ethnopedagogization; Indigenous peoples of Russia.
a
Correspondencia al autor:
E-mail: tuyaara.shergina@yandex.ru
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Apuntes Universitarios, 2021: 11(1), enero-marzo
ISSN: 2304-0335 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17162/au.v11i1.566
apuntesuniversitarios.upeu.edu.pe
Resumen
La relevancia de esta investigación está determinada por la modernización y regionalización
del sistema educativo en el contexto de los requisitos de los nuevos Estándares Educativos del
Estado Federal (FSES), y teniendo en cuenta las particularidades de la educación escolar en el
norte de la República de Sakha (Yakutia) basado en un enfoque indígena. El propósito del
estudio es la organización variable de la educación escolar en el Norte, teniendo en cuenta la
forma de vida y actividad tradicional específica de los pueblos indígenas del Norte. Los
enfoques rectores de la investigación son socioculturales, etnopedagógicos y activos en
términos del carácter local aplicado del estudio. Los autores del presente estudio revelan las
características y problemas de la organización de la educación escolar, y las formas de su
implementación variable de acuerdo a los requerimientos del FSES en las condiciones
específicas del Norte. Métodos de búsqueda. El método rector del estudio es un experimento
pedagógico, un análisis de la educación escolar en el norte en el contexto de un enfoque
indígena y la implementación del programa “Somos niños de la tierra de Olonkho”. Los
autores evidencian la necesidad de ampliar las funciones sociales de las escuelas rurales del
Norte en términos de desarrollo de centros sociopedagógicos en los lugares de residencia
compacta de los pueblos indígenas.
Palabras clave: Yakutia; República de Sakha; Educación escolar; Regionalización;
Etnocultural; Etnopedagogización; Pueblos indígenas de Rusia.
Introduction
Modernization of education in the North of Yakutia, as a process of refocusing of its
development in accordance with modern societal, involves the solution of schools’ high-
priority socio-economic and ethnocultural problems in compact settlements of indigenous
peoples of the North, i.e., preparing future employees and social adaptation of children to real
life. In this context, the national and regional aspects of education are considered as an
integral part of the Arctic circumpolar civilization (Nikolaeva, Marfusalova, Bugaeva, &
Shadrina, 2020). A school-teacher or educator is not only a carrier of national culture, but also
a mediator of different cultures (Baisheva et al., 2017).
Therefore, the purpose of the study is to justify the variable organization of school
education in the North, taking into account the specific traditional living of indigenous
peoples and active industrial development of the Arctic territories, as a factor of their socio-
economic and ethnocultural development according to current requirements (taking into
consideration the previous studies – Neustroev et al., 2017, 2018a, 2018b, 2019). The authors
of the research introduce the hypothesis that the implementation of the variable organization
of school education in the North provides high-quality education and personality formation
for indigenous children, as native culture and language bearers, patriots, housekeepers and
workers, and Russian citizens in the framework of FSES ideas implementation. It is meant to
solve the following tasks:
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- To reveal the features and problems of the organization of school education in the
North;
- To show the variety of forms and methods of teaching, taking into account ethnic and
psychophysiological characteristics of children’s development, as well as the specific
conditions of the Northern schools;
- To prove the necessity of socio-pedagogical centers in the arears of compact
residence of indigenous peoples in order to solve socio-economic and ethnocultural
problems of the local ethnic community.
Literature review
The scientific foundations for ethnopedagogical aspects of educational systems were
formed in the late 1960s. It was based on national liberation movements of colonial countries
and the processes of the formation of the American nation and the Soviet people in terms of
the ethnocultural diversity of the population of these countries (Pankin, 2009; Baklanova,
2015). In the United States, indigenous peoples had the possibility for self-determination in
accordance with the Indian Education Act (1972), which established a comprehensive
approach to meet the unique needs of the American Indians and Alaska Natives (Vinokurova,
2017). A review and evaluation of culturally-oriented educational programs for American
Indians in the USA, conducted by David Beaulieu, revealed a socially meaningful character
of learning, regarded as a sociolinguistic and semiotic network of stories and relationships
(Beaulieu, 2006). Soenke Biermann from Australia notes that many students, especially
vulnerable groups, have a growing rejection of, apathy toward, and exclusion from the
education system. Indigenous children are not the only ones struggling with the monoculture
education system. Therefore, the researcher suggests revising the existing models of teaching
and learning, as well as rethinking of the alternative pedagogy and the underlying
epistemology (Biermann, 2008).
Margaret Kovach, a Canadian scientist and representative of the First Nations of
Canada, developed a transgressive pedagogy, believing that education should serve as a way
to create mutually beneficial relations, with all respect and understanding of the peoples’
coexistence (Kovach, 2010). Smith points out that these approaches will allow determination
of specifics, needs, relevance and significant issues for the indigenous population to assist
with self-determination and fostering an understanding of their place in the world. In addition,
it will also help to overcome the restrictions of Western generally-accepted epistemology,
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which serves the interests of European scientific thinking and differs from the traditional
indigenous worldview and life attitude (Smith, 2005).
More generally, indigenousness implies recognition of the special significance of the
relationship between a small group and locality (Merlan, 2009). The number criterion
(“small”, “indigenous”) is a tool for quantitative measurement of peoples or communities,
although it can be associated with their spatial and cultural remoteness, as well as with social
marginality (Strathern, 2004). Moreover, each indication of the number of indigenous peoples
in particular places, which are recognized in the social discourse as the territories of their
traditional habitat, contributes to “strengthening the symbolic power of the borders that these
minorities create and reproduce” (Trouillot, 2003). In recent years, indigenous peoples have
become a powerful political force, and the category of “indigenous peoples” has become one
of the most popular in the social sciences (Chilisa, 2012; Harvey, 2002; Moreton-Robinson,
2009; Ismail, Gopalasamy, Saputra, & Puteh, 2019). The authors of the present research find
out how the concept of indigenousness is considered in the works of Russian authors and in
terms of what sciences it is studied.
It is worth highlighting the exportation of the issue under study. Early researchers such
as Abakumov, Bazanov, Kazan, Krongauz, Tan-Bogoraz et al. revealed the peculiarities of the
formation and development of schools in the Far North. The studies of Arsenov, Verin,
Sevilgaev, Sturov et al. are devoted to the organization of schools in the national regions of
the Russian North-East during the Soviet period. The research works of Afanasyev, Danilov,
Neustroev, Portnyagin, Grigoriev, Semenova, Vinokurova, Zhirkova, Popova, Robbek, and
Nikitina are popular in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). These authors focused on the
ethnopedagogy of the peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East; the rationalization and
ethnopedagogization of the educational process in the national schools of Siberia and the
North; the specifics of rural ungraded and nomadic schools in the North and the Arctic; and
the peculiarities of the education and upbringing of indigenous children of the North
according to the specific traditional way of living.
Theoretical background
Currently, a conceptual position is being developed that in school education in the
North, national and regional features of indigenous children’s teaching and education are
considered as an integral part of the Arctic circumpolar civilization (Vinokurova, Yakovets,
2016). From this perspective, the authors of the present study regard an indigenous approach
as the methodological basis for studying the problems of school education in the North
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(Marfusalova, 2020). The inside of the indigenous approach is based on the original
knowledge of indigenous researchers and on the mentality and ethnocultural identity of the
peoples.
It is declared that the indigenous approach to research is characterized by the analysis
of cultural bearers of the stories, tales, and narrations, which form the basis for the search for
truth (Nikolaeva, 2013). In this regard, the studies of the Sakha people, as unique examples of
indigenous cultures, are characterized by the mentality inherited by generations, way of
living, thinking, philosophical worldview, worship to the Nature forces, the originality of the
language and culture, and the place of original residence of the ancestors. Thus, despite
ethnonational differences, the peoples living in the northern circumpolar territories have
similar philosophical worldview, mentality of a northern ethnos, beliefs, and traditions. In
particular, the indigenous people of Alaska, Canada, American Indians and others have
common pagan beliefs and worship to the forces of Nature and Heaven (Vinokurova, 2016,
2017).
Methods and Materials
Learning the ethnocultural personality should be based on the material of how people
preserve their ethnic cultures in the modern world (Pankin, 2006). This study uses the
information about small and nomadic schools of the North of the Republic of Sakha
(Yakutia). The authors applied the following methods: the analysis of the Northern schools
from contemporary theoretical and pedagogical positions and generalization of practical
experience basing on innovative educational ideas; the development of the variable means of
educational organizations formation in the north of the Arctic. The comparative historical
method made it possible to identify the specific features of small and nomadic schools in the
North, namely, their remoteness from the centers, independence, low class filling, and small
number of students, different age groups, severe frosts, and lack of teachers of some subjects.
According to the conducted experimental work, the authors introduced the program “We Are
Children of the Land of Olonkho.”
In addition, effective ways and pedagogical support for the formation of value attitude
of younger students to ethnic traditions in a multicultural environment were developed. The
research materials are analyzed by means of joint experimental work with the teaching staff of
12 typical rural Northern schools on a contractual basis for the laboratory of the problems of
rural ungraded schools of the Department of Primary Education of the Pedagogical Institute
of NEFU.
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The indigenous approach is essentially an ecological culture-creative pedagogy. It
forms a model of a four-dimensional person, in contrast to a three-dimensional technogenic,
in contrast to the “personality-family-society” system, in indigenous pedagogy there is one
more link “personality-family-nature-society”. The intrinsic value of nature is recognized as a
pedagogical factor that organizes the necessary interdependence and coexistence on the
planet. The greening of education is becoming a demanded factor in the new conditions,
named as the coming era of a pandemic. The turn to the strengthening of natural factors
implies an appeal to the ecological component of indigenous pedagogy. Indigeneity contains
an ethnic cultural-creative factor that ensures the continuity of the spiritual values of the
ethnos, in the ethno-ecological environment of which the younger generation is born and
brought up (Sergeeva, Shevchenko, Klimenko, Shcherbakova, & Tikhonovskova, 2018). In
modern indigenous pedagogy, introduced into educational organizations of different levels,
the graduate model is a personality rooted in native cultures, ready to serve the native people
and open to the world community.
Results
According to the observation and analysis of small and nomadic schools, it was
suggested that the proper solution for the problem of the value attitude to ethnic traditions in a
multicultural environment would be ensured through the additional experimental program
“We Are Children of the Land of Olonkho” (Program), which is based on an indigenous
approach. The program is based on the following pedagogical approaches:
- Cultural and indigenous approach, as an objective connection between human and
culture, transmission of traditional national culture and the development of
universal cultural values;
- Implementation of a multicultural approach in the formation of a value attitude to
ethnic traditions in a multinational environment;
- Integrative approach, the use of integration technologies, first of all, the value
attitude to ethnic traditions through the educational process;
- The development of the integrity, consistency and depth of the educational
process, as the implementation of the program in the learning process involves a
multi-level research and analytical approach.
For the other hand, the implementation of the Program has the following purposes:
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Pedagogical. This means to provide methodological support and develop conditions for the
formation of the value attitude of younger students to ethnic traditions;
Educational. This means to develop the norms of value attitude as the basis of multicultural
communication;
Psychological. This means to develop an emotional culture of interpersonal communication in
a multicultural environment, i.e., respect, solidarity, and tolerance towards other people. Since
we had to solve this problem through pedagogical means, the leading methodological and
didactic principle in elementary school was the ethnoculturality of the educational process.
This principle was the basis for the selection of the learning content.
The Program is a system of complementary values, which shows that through the
mother language, the individual is aware of and reflects his or her sociocultural origin in the
mind in the form of value orientations. They serve for regulation of the perception and
attitude to the surrounding reality, starting with the “small motherland”, i.e., paternal and
grandfather’s home area (the place of birth and residence of close relatives), and ending with
the global problem of the ethnic group survival and the generic communal environment of its
habitat, as well as the concept of ethnic community and self-concept. The authors of the
research identify the following direction of value orientations:
- Personal level (“I am a human”, “I am a person”, “I am a child of nature”, “I am a
son of my people”, i.e., a representative of a particular nationality, family and
community);
- Socio-ethnic level (“We are the Yakuts”, “We are Northerners”);
- Institutional level (“We are the family”, “We are the hunters”, “We are the
teachers”), etc.;
- Cultural level (national culture, traditions and customs, as well as other national
cultures with a long history). Family and life culture has the strongest impact on
the consciousness of young generation. National everyday traditions and customs
ensure the continuation of spiritual life of the people, help to overcome
difficulties, give additional strength for survival, preserving oneself as a
representative of one or another ethnic group.
It is worth highlighting that the orientation to the values of the small motherland (with
the transition to the values of Motherland), ethnos, and national culture open up a wide
opportunity for teachers to develop a model of the educational system in school. The ultimate
goal of education is a self-developing personality as a value with its own social self. The main
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indicators of success of educational work is the child’s personal creative development (the
dynamics of educability, proficiency, and creativity), the emotional sphere (low level of
anxiety and aggressiveness, optimism, and comfort), active involvement in various types of
socially significant activities, positive value orientations and humanistic interpersonal
relationships in a multicultural environment. Thus, such personality traits as patriotism, civic
consciousness, responsibility, humanism, compassion, the search for new things, uniqueness
and universality, as well as their formation and upbringing are determined by ethnic and
sociocultural values.
The combination of features and problems of the region determine the national
regional component as a set of norms and requirements for the structure and the graduates’
mandatory minimum content and level of training, having nationally significant traditions of
the people living in the region. According to the scientific research on an integrative approach
to multicultural educational patterns, the authors introduce the program “We Are Children of
the Land of Olonkho”, which is Based on an indigenous approach (Table 1; Kozhurova,
2015).
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Table 1
Experimental program “We are the Children of the Land of Olonkho” for the pupils in grades
1 through 4
No.
Sections
Modules
Type of Work
I
“Motherland”
involves the
education of
patriotism, civic
position, tolerance
in behavior and
communication
Module 1. Introduction. My Motherland is
Yakutia. My city, my village.
Module 2.
The Great Sons’ tale about
Motherland. My Yakutia is the world of
Olonkho.
Module 3
. Russia. My Yakutia is part of
Russia. Symbols of my country.
Module 4. Yakutia is th
e arena of peoples’
friendship.
Lesson,
homework,
conversations,
meetings,
excursions.
II
“Family” as the
basis of the entire
parental home.
Module 5. My family. Family tradition and
culture.
Lesson,
homework,
conversation,
training.
III
“Language”.
Module 6. Native language.
Homework, quiz,
game.
IV
“Culture”.
Module 7. Culture of the Yakut people.
Module 8. Culture of indigenous peoples of
Yakutia.
Module 9. Culture of the Russian people.
Module 10. Culture of the peoples inhabiting
the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
Integrated
lessons,
extracurricular
activity, public
holidays, and
excursions.
As presented in the program, classes with the inclusion of ethnic traditions can be
varied. It is advisable to use General pedagogical methods, techniques, and tools. In relation
to solving the problems of multicultural education, the most relevant ones are: persuasion, and
in particular explanation; positive example and demonstration of a positive behavior model;
creation of problem situations, success situations, analysis of conflicts, models of behavior
styles, decision-making, democratic dialogue; competition.
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Various forms of educational interaction were also tested: press club, youth tolerance
club, labor and recreation camps, competitions, local history work, search activities,
environmental campaigns, charity movement, Patriotic clubs, museums in the place of
residence, etc. The practical orientation of these activities is intended to provide training as a
non-traditional form of cultural identification. For example, how an individual can establish
interpersonal contacts in a new environment, how he can master the values, norms, and role
structures of another culture in relations with a culturally diverse contingent of students.
Education in the context of the indigenous approach depends on how it is selected and
the training material is presented and how it affects the student's activity. The main role in this
direction is played by the teacher. At the same time, the teacher must comprehend the content
of cross-cultural and multicultural education, understand that a variety of behavioral and
thinking styles is a universal wealth, and in each social structure, culture, there are certain
life-supporting elements that, if they are valued and comprehended by a person, give him a
richer and more complete understanding of social relations and virtue. The training material
should cover cultural differences in the context of the indigenous approach. Therefore, the
teacher must always be ready for a dialogue in a strictly systematized and friendly form.
The program reveals the effectiveness of multicultural education, initial stage of which
involves into the element of native culture and language. The middle and high levels bring to
the all-Russian and world cultural space basing on the indigenous approach. Thus,
multicultural education is the result of the interaction of the ethnos culture, Russian culture
and multinational culture of Russia. According to the conceptual provision on the traditional
ethnocultural upbringing and education of the children of indigenous peoples of the North, the
education of the Russian citizen is conducted basing on the principle of the transition from
native sources to the all-Russian civic identity. The traditional pedagogical thought of the
indigenous peoples of the North, which is formed through nature-friendly and culture-like
upbringing, life and labor, and ethnic upbringing of the bearers of native culture, way of
living and language enrich the ethnopedagogical theory and practice, which is based on an
indigenous approach.
Discussion
Volkov, the founder of the Russian ethnopedagogical science and an academician of
the Russian Academy of Education (RAE), emphasized special effectiveness of public
education: “...in people’s traditions, despite the primitive straightforwardness and primitive
passivity at first glance, the factors of upbringing appear quite clearly such as nature, game,
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word (thought), labor (action, deed, activity), tradition, everyday life, art, religion,
communication, and example. Certainly, the unifying principle is native word...” (Volkov,
2002). Therefore, comprehension of the originality of the inner world of any nation should be
based on deep penetration into the features of the traditional way of living and the ethnic
system of education. In our opinion, the essence of the indigenous approach is
ethnopedagogization of school education for children of indigenous peoples of the North
(Neustroev et al., 2017).
The authors provide the main character of the film “The North Wind is Warm” as a
typical example. The movie was the winner of a media grant from the Russian Geographical
Society. The main character Alexander Kolesov, a reindeer herdsman from Eveno-
Bytantaysky ulus of Yakutia, is a man with his own life philosophy. There is almost a
deserted taiga, mountains and tundra for hundreds of kilometers around his house. However,
he is not a hermit. He is open to people. There are often guests in his forest house. He learned
to love the freedom and nature of the Earth. He appreciates the world where he lives in:
everything here has a soul that needs to be respected if you want nature to not reject you.
Every day he works: grazes deer, nomadizes, and hunts. He considers all this a pleasure. In
general, he has his own philosophical understanding: “happiness is a state of mind”, “Even is
primarily a child of nature, a nomad”, “everything will be fine if you tune into the beat of
nature” (Golovkov, 2018). In terms of the traditional ethnic education of the children of the
indigenous peoples of the North, the authors of the present research emphasize the necessity
to develop a state of mind that “ability to live in native environment is happiness”. However,
there is also a serious contradiction when most people, living in the North, often complain
about their difficult fate.
During active national revival of the indigenous peoples of the North and the
expansion of a new form of farming, i.e., ancestral communes, the nomadic schools were also
functioning as a mobile form of the school network in the conditions of a nomadic living in
taiga, tundra and highlands (Fomenko, 2019). There was an opportunity for traditional family
education, the development of the personality of children as carriers of the native language
and ethnic culture. The effectiveness and performance of the educational process were
ensured by the active labor participation of children in the economic activity of the family.
The natural and cultural conformity, as the principles of traditional public education and
modern ethnopedagogical theory and practice, have revived.
The composition of Dima Nikitin, a student of the nomadic school “Nerget” of
Municipal Budgetary General Education Institution (BGEI) “Sebyan-Kuel national Even
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school named after P. A. Lamutsky” is a vivid example of the development of the children’s
ethnic identity:
I love my native land. I love its beautiful mountains, rivers and flowers. Every summer
I go to my favorite herd with my family. I help brothers graze deer. Nature is my
element; I am a child of nature. I have been attracted to it since childhood. I am proud
that my ancestral childhood has been preserved. My grandfather is a famous reindeer
herder. He is an example for the younger generation. I also want to be like him. From
my childhood, my grandfather has told me about the hard work of reindeer herders. I
have understood that their work is really difficult in the harsh conditions of the North.
However, they work to preserve the traditional work of reindeer herders. We, the
students of a nomadic school, must continue the original occupation of our ancestors,
which we consider the realization of our happy future.
There is a result of the revival of progressive tradition of public education of the
indigenous peoples of the North. It should be emphasized that the family for the peoples of
the North is of high importance, which is historically based, since they wandered in small
groups of the clan community and were usually isolated from large settlements.
Careful, caring relations between all family members contributed to the upbringing of
a healthy child, both mentally and physiologically (Shadrina, 2012). Children grew up
obedient and respectful to old people, hardworking and independent. At present, the
indigenous peoples of the North are overcoming prevailing stereotypes of the boarding
schools implementation in the Soviet period. Children were torn from their parents and from
the native element of traditional living for years.
According to the requirements of the new generation of FSES, the qualitative
education and upbringing of a Russian citizen should be based on ethnocultural education and
training of the children of the North. From these positions, what we should do with a
graduate, who has been raising at school for 11 years in isolation from real life, i.e., without a
deer, tundra and taiga. What can we offer him at the end of high school?
Real reindeer herders, the parents of these students, are firmly convinced that the deer
in the North is still irreplaceable. Of course, they would like to see their children as the
successors of their traditional way of life. In fact, the indigenous children of the North have
peculiar thinking, mental and physical condition, and behavior, which are adequate to the
living conditions in the native environment.
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Teaching staff understand that in new economic conditions in the places of compact
residence of indigenous peoples of the North, it is necessary to introduce practical reindeer
husbandry and crafts as the basis for the traditional upbringing of the children as the bearers
of native language, culture and way of living. Under such conditions of schooling, the
foundations of ethnic self-awareness, knowledge, labor skills and competences are developed
from early childhood (Pankin, 2004). Before choosing a life journey, a school graduate
realizes that he can already say “I know this,” “I can do this”.
New generation appears which is ready to continue the traditional way of living and
activity of the indigenous peoples of the North. This forms the basis for the development of
labor resources, training and consolidation of the necessary personnel, increase in the
population of indigenous people in places of compact residence of the peoples of the North.
There is a process of prosperity of the tribal community settlements, the reclamation of vast
territories of ancestral habitats according to the programs for the development of the
traditional sectors of the Northern economy, i.e., reindeer husbandry, fishing, hunting, and
folk crafts, in the context of new economic relations (Neustroev, Savvin, 2009).
The implementation of the state social policy in the sphere of school education in the
North is primarily related to the extension of the social function of the rural school as a socio-
pedagogical complex in the society (Shergina, Neustroev, 2018). This involves the
combination of rural resources and finances to create an appropriate additional base of the
complex. Thus, it is necessary to buy reindeer, to include the positions of a reindeer herder, a
veterinarian, a hunter, and specialists in national ornamental art and folk crafts in the staffing
of the school. According to Northern life realities, the basic curriculum of the Russian schools
should be revised for reorienting the vector of educational development to a variable solution
of the local problems, taking into account the specific life and activity, as well as natural and
climatic, national and regional characteristics of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia
and the Far East (Neustroev, 2009).
Considering the development of school education in the North in the context of an
indigenous approach, the authors of the present research relied on the following fundamental
provisions:
- The mentality of indigenous peoples of the North is regarded as a philosophical
category, i.e. in order to reveal the content of mentality which is relative to the
indigenous peoples of the North, it is necessary to study the origin and formation of
the mentality of the dynasty, to correlate it with the concept of consciousness, psyche,
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spiritual culture, and the people’s way of living, their native landscape, and, finally, to
try to look into his future;
- School education in the North is regarded as a factor of the spiritual transformation
of the village, national revival, ethnic mentality and identity of indigenous peoples in
the places of their traditional compact residence. The government of the Republic is
developing a program for the comprehensive development of the village to achieve a
high sociocultural standard of living in the North basing on the principle of the
transition from native sources to the all-Russian civil identity and world civilization;
- In the context of active industrial development of the Arctic territories of the
Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the indigenous peoples of the North are being involved
into new socio-economic relations. Nowadays, the Arctic uluses of the Republic
collaborate on a contractual basis with subsurface users that work in their
administrative territory, seeking an active participation in all events where local
workers and specialists are in demand;
- Pedagogical wisdom of the indigenous peoples of the North lies in the fact that the
effectiveness and performance of the educational process was ensured by the
children’s active labor participation in the family economy. Nature and cultural
conformity have been revived as the principles of traditional public education, as well
as modern ethnopedagogical theory and practice;
- The researchers and scientists, who are focused on the indigenous peoples studying,
come to the conclusion that Northern rural school is based on the development of a
single educational space in the school system, family, village, and surrounding society.
Socio-pedagogical complex takes into account all available resources, opportunities
and needs; ethno-cultural characteristics, interests and desires of children, social orders
for the development of the village and the inhabitants themselves. Additionally, the
ideas of the ancestors’ life philosophy and older generations’ experience are being
realized;
- Considering the prospects for the development of school education in the North in
the context of an indigenous approach, we rely on special legislative regulatory acts,
and guiding documents of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Republic
of Sakha (Yakutia) on the problems of the development of indigenous peoples of the
North. In particular, the implementation of the “Concept for the Renewal and
Development of National Schools in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)” has contributed
to the revival and development of languages and cultures of indigenous peoples of the
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North, as well as the development of new programs “We Are Children of the Land of
Olonkho” for schools with an ethnocultural component of education for the
northerners basing on the progressive traditions of public education.
Observation of the pupils in the course of the experimental work was carried out
continuously, generalizing sections were made at the diagnostic stage and annually at the
practical stage of the research. An increase in the quality of value attitudes in younger
schoolchildren occurs in most cases in connection with the accumulation of relationship
experience by younger schoolchildren, the use of other methods of forming a value attitude in
younger schoolchildren. At the same time, the results of the experiment indicate that the
proposed system of educational work is the most effective in the formation of value attitudes
towards ethnic traditions and beyond the limits of individuality, more precisely, in a
multicultural environment. At this point, the authors relied on the views and conceptual ideas of
multicultural education of foreign researchers Y. Garcia and K. Grant that the multiculturalism
of upbringing is focused on the study of the native language and on the unique socio-cultural
experience acquired by the child himself, which does not in all aspects coincide with the culture
groups; and on the priority of the individuality of a particular student, bearer of a particular
culture (Garcia, 2002; Grant, 2001). Further, the authors consider the methodological
foundations and specific views of the indigenous pedagogy of the North in the context of
globalization (Vinokurova, 2015) that the value of nature conservation and people's
conservation in the global “We” formula is expressed through the definitions of ecosophy and
ecological balance. At the same time, according to U.A. Vinokurova, earlier education served
the purpose of unification, maintaining social uniformity (for example, the Soviet common
man), then in the context of the global knowledge economy and digital society, the goal of
education and upbringing is changing. Now this goal is about identifying, maintaining and
developing differences, because it is the differences that provide the basis for innovation and
creativity. The leading task of the pedagogical meaning of education is the development of
social, emotional and cultural intelligence, the creative principle of the individual.
Thus, in the experimental group, a tendency to an increase in indicators at all stages of
work was revealed, but the maximum success of such conditions as the "exit" of the educational
process outside the school, socially significant activity of younger students is obvious. Such
events as “My neighbors”, “Our friendly yard”, “How many nationalities live in our yard?”,
Contests “National costume”, “Folk songs and dances” were held. Such events bring together
not only children, but also adults. Based on the three levels of formation of value attitudes of
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younger schoolchildren that we established, we identified the average indicator of the value
attitudes of younger schoolchildren (Table 2).
Table 2
Average statistical indicators of the value attitude of primary schoolchildren
to ethnic traditions at the control stage of the study (in%)
Group Low level Middle level High level
Experimental
20%
53%
27%
Control
34%
47%
19%
To compare the data of the ascertaining and control stages of the experimental study, let
us consider Diagram 1.
Ascertaining experiment
high – 19% high – 19%
average – 44% average – 45%
low – 37% low – 36%
Control experiment
high – 27% high – 19%
average – 53% average – 47%
low – 20% low – 34%
Diagram 1. Indicators of the formation of the value attitude of younger students at the
ascertaining and control stages of the study
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These diagrams indicate that at the ascertaining stage of the study, the majority of
children in the experimental (44%) and control (45%) groups have average values of the value
attitude. A high level is characteristic of a small number of younger students: 19% in the
experimental group, 19% in the control group. A low level is observed in 37% of children in
the experimental group and 36% in the control group.
The control stage of the study showed the predominance of both the experimental and
the control group in children of the average level of value attitude, but qualitatively the
picture significantly changed in the experimental group, where the number of children with a
high level of value attitude increased by 27%, in the control group the positive dynamics is
19%. The number of children with a low level of value attitudes in the experimental group
decreased by 20%, while in the control group - by 34%.
The processing of the results of the ascertaining stage shows that, according to the
results of the formative experiment, there is a tendency towards an increase in the number of
children with a high level of development of value attitudes towards ethnic traditions beyond
indigenousness, in a multicultural environment.
Thus, a comparative analysis of the data obtained at the beginning and at the end of
experimental training, proved the effectiveness, expediency and effectiveness of the
pedagogical conditions developed by us for the formation of the value attitude of primary
schoolchildren to ethnic traditions and the educational program “We are the children of the
land of Olonkho”.
The implementation of the proposed program and cultural integration contribute to the
successful formation of the value attitude of primary schoolchildren to ethnocultural folk
traditions. Success is ensured by the fact that cultural folk traditions are presented not only in
a folklore and entertainment form, but in the form of a prescribed pedagogical system, where
an integrative approach is an effective pedagogical condition.
Conclusion
Theoretical justification and practical implementation of promising ethno-regional
education systems, models of general educational organizations in the North are becoming
relevant under current conditions of social development. It is worth highlighting that the
tendency to absolutize ethno-regional specificity and to underestimate its specific features is
unacceptable in terms of the future development of the socio-pedagogical functions of school
education in the North.
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Acknowledgments
The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number № 19-013-00730 of
24.04.2020.
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