The Formation Of Ethnographic Culture Of Students As Pedagogical And Socio-Cultural Issue

Abstract

The study of issues of ethnography and ethnographic competence remains relevant, as it makes possible to bring the system of ethnographic education in the Russian Federation to a higher level, which can resolve and improve the quality of interethnic interaction of people. Under the conditions of political and spiritual transformations occurring in recent years in all the spheres of the Chechen Republic the tendencies of revival of traditional forms of national education are outlined in the state education system. This fact can be explained by the need to remember about people who live nearby, about their concerns as well as to find the ways to help them to tackle their problems etc. For this reason, one of the important components of ethnographic competence is profound knowledge of own surrounding world, of those who speak a different language, have different family and everyday habits and traditions, a different culture, cuisine preferences, national costumes, etc. The author of the article concludes that the modern Chechen Republic is a fork in the road, the intersection of many civilizations. The fact of multi-ethnic and multi-religious Chechen republics, the further development of inter-ethnic friendship and unity between nations make it necessary to raise and develop the ethnography of the republic, ethnographic education, and ethnographic competence of population, contributing to understanding of surrounding people, neighboring cultures and their interests. The discussion of the problems of ethnographic competence will generally raise the ethnographic education of the inhabitants of the republic to a new level.

Keywords: Ethnographic cultureethnographic competenceethnographic education of a student

Introduction

Today, more than 160 peoples live in Russia: the Russians, the Bashkirs, the Buryats, the Chuvash, the Mordovians, the peoples of the North Caucasus - the Dagestani, the Ingushs, the Kabardians, the Balkarians, the Circassians, and the Chechens - whose population exceeds 1 million people. The region of the North Caucasus is quite multinational, having in its composition a complex national population. For example, more than 36 nations and nationalities live in the territory of Daghestan. The Chechen Republic is also multinational and multi-religious, where Chechens have been living since ancient times, as the most numerous nation, as well as the Ingush, the Russians, the Kumyks, the Lezghins, the Nogais, the Armenians, the Jews, the Terek Cossacks, etc. As a result, the North Caucasus presents a multi-colored mosaic of peoples, traditions, languages, cultures, rituals, religious and mundane rituals. The study of issues of ethnography, ethnographic competence has always been and remains relevant, because it makes it to bring the system of ethnographic education in the Russian Federation to a higher level, which can resolve and improve the quality of interethnic interaction of peoples.

The fact of multi-ethnic and multi-religious Chechen republics, the further development of inter-ethnic friendship and unity between nations make it necessary to raise and develop the ethnography of the republic, ethnographic education, and ethnographic competence of population, contributing to understanding of surrounding people, neighboring cultures and their interests. The discussion of the problems of ethnographic competence will generally raise the ethnographic education of the inhabitants of the republic to a new level. Within the framework of ethnographic education, it is assumed that professional knowledge responsible for ethnographic terminology, various theories and concepts will be actively developed, but in everyday life of people, formed ethno-cultural competence is very important, due to the experience of an individual, his or her skills, daily practice of interethnic interaction and communication.

Problem Statement

The existing diversity of multicultural life forms the ethno-cultural literacy of the population of the republic, but, more often, it happens spontaneously, not consistently, at the level of sophomoric interest. In our case, we should talk about a deliberately organized ethnographic education, which involves not only pupils, but also their parents, teachers, principals of schools, lyceums and gymnasiums, students who represent the future of the republic, who will live in modern poly-ethnic society and build a fortress of interethnic relations, excluding intolerance and indifference to their neighbor, who belongs to another culture and speaks another language. Based on the above mentioned aspects, it follows that the problem of the formation of ethnographic culture of students today is relevant and requires more detailed study.

Research Questions

The ethnographic culture of a student is an integrative personal education - the presence and recognition by a person of the free existence and development of various ethnic cultures as part of a unified Chechen national community.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the work is to study the process of the formation of ethnographic culture of students as a pedagogical and sociocultural problem.

Research Methods

In order to solve research problems, the following methods were used: theoretical (the analysis of philosophical, psychological, sociocultural, educational and methodical literature, synthesis, generalization); applied (observation, questioning, tests, diagnostics, experiment).

For a better understanding of the process of the formation of ethnographic culture of students, theories of tolerance, humanization, humanitarization, and technologization of the educational process have become; the ideas of ethno-cultural education (T.I. Baklanova, T.V. Poshtareva, T.K. Solodukhina, and others); the concept of professional training of teachers T.S. Ilina, V.G. Levchenko, M.A. Surkhaeva, V.M. Filippova, K.D. Chermitova, O.V. Ursova and others.

Findings

In order to determine the essence and content of the term “ethnographic culture”, “ethnographic competence”, let us refer to the term “competence”, which in Greek means “proficiency in speaking and writing, which is one of the most important indicators of the cultural level of the population”. Who is a competent person? The dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov explains this concept as follows: “a competent person is a person who has the necessary knowledge and information in any field”. (Ozhegov, 1999). Initially, the concept of competence was used to determine the level of proficiency in reading and writing in accordance with the norms of the native language (Ushakov, 2014). If we try to translate the term “competence” into “ethnographic competence”, we find that the ethnographic competence of an individual is the possession of the necessary ethnographic knowledge and information from different cultures, languages and traditions, which is the most important indicator of the cultural level of an individual. That is, the ethnographic competence of the personality of a gymnasium teacher is responsible for the study and knowledge of the numerous ethnic peoples inhabiting the Chechen Republic and other ethnic formations, their origin (ethnogenesis), composition, resettlement, and cultural and everyday characteristics.

Referring to the concept of “ethnographic culture”, it is important to separate it with another similar “ethnic culture”, the essence of which is that the first concept is largely based on the basic concept of “ethnography”, denoting ethnos - people, graphy - I write, that is a science which studies ethnic peoples and other ethnic formations, their origin (ethnogenesis), composition, settlement, cultural and everyday characteristics”. The concept of “ethnic culture” is based on the term “ethnics”, which also derives from Greek (ethnos - people, synonyms - folklore, folk, authentic, archaic) and presents a set of customs, songs, music, dance, material culture of a certain people. (Ushakov, 2014). In other words, the main difference between the formations “ethnographic culture” and “ethnic culture” is that the concept of “ethnographic culture” is a broader term, implying not just knowledge of one’s own culture, customs and traditions, one’s own language, sometimes “closing” from close cultures, do not present the subject of our interest, the desire to learn something “alien”. Otherwise, indifference and unconcern can lead to complete ignorance of their “neighbors”, who may sooner and later become alien and sometimes “interfere” with the titular nations in a given region. This circumstance most often leads to interethnic tensions and conflicts.

The author considers important to bring the well-known commandment of all ethnographers, the author of which is Lev Y. Sternberg, a well-known Russian scientist, ethnographer, and corresponding member: “Who knows one people, does not know any, who knows one religion, does not know any. One cannot appreciate one's own culture without recognizing others; only in this way we ultimately make them “ours”. (Zhukov, 1976). It is difficult to disagree with this “commandment”. Indeed, learning about another, “alien” culture, you will better know your culture, your people, your traditions, having decided on self-identification.

At the same time, today we are witnessing another aspect of the development of such an ethnographic process among the youth. That is, on the one hand, the Chechen youth (and other youth of the North Caucasus), actively integrating into the all-Russian space, carefully study the Russian language, necessary for further study and work, unfortunately, began to forget their national traditions, rarely use their native language, speaking it only on arrival to home on holidays. The crisis of the ethnic identity of an individual in certain subjects is connected with the leveling of “I”, the erosion of national language and national culture. This circumstance can interfere with or “slow down” the young person’s ethnic self-determination when he can hardly answer the question “Who am I?”, “Who am I with?”, “Who are my ancestors?” By virtue of growing ethnic culture and competence, ethnic identity of a person is formed on the basis of many terms and definitions, but today ethnic identity and ethnic self-determination, ethnic thinking, closest to an individual and have a purely subjective character, are decisive today.

It is known that nation exists as long as there are people, ethnic groups who identify themselves with this nation. Numerous publications (Absalyamova, 2016; Visitayev, 2018; Kosven, 2014; Kosven, 2001) show that under the conditions of rapid globalization, with obvious processes of universalization of culture, unity of mono-language in the global world, people nevertheless vote for sovereignty of nations, originality, national interests and national culture.

Each subject of the Russian Federation still maintains its own national specificity, language, customs and traditions. In the Chechen Republic, national specificity is most often reflected in the synthesis of many cultural traditions, languages and customs, which requires the study of all the cultures, languages and traditions existing in a given territory.

As it is known the ethnic self-consciousness, the thinking of young people is characterized by maximalism, impatience, extremeness and uncompromising views and demands on others, as well as an overestimated level of claims on everything. Therefore, going to study to a Russian university, he or she completely plunges into a different culture, different everyday behavior, forgetting native language, often forgetting about the elementary folk traditions of family, showing disrespect for elders, impatience, aggressiveness, inability to accept tolerance. Therefore, a student’s ethnic culture presupposes a degree of expression of “his own”, national behavior and activity, as a sign of ethnic identity, his focus on respect for his people and his neighbors, as well as the level of ethnic tolerance, which is formed in interaction with other ethnic groups and in dealing with special situations in a multicultural environment.

Ethnic self-consciousness, as part of ethnographic culture, is formed in the course of inter-ethnic situations, in certain ethnic conflicts, when certain ethnic stereotypes of ethnic culture acquiring personal meaning, where the presence or absence of ethnic tolerance of a young person manifests itself. In psychology, tolerance is understood as “the absence or weakening of the response to any adverse factor” (Semigin, 2003). Ethnic tolerance of a person can manifest itself in a situation of interethnic interaction, during which he displays restraint, self-control, the ability to endure adverse effects from outside and provocation for a long time. Sociologists explain the term “tolerance” from the Latin “tolerantia”, suggesting “tolerance, condescension towards someone or something, in society - the tolerant attitude of an individual, social group or society as a whole to the interests, beliefs and habits of other people”. (Soldatova, 2003).

In Chechnya the due attention is paid to ethnic education at family and educational levels as well as at the level of ministries and departments of the republic. As far back as in 2013, the “Unified Concept of Spiritual and Moral Education and Development of the Younger Generation of the Chechen Republic” was approved, where “the priorities in the work of spiritual and moral education and the development of the younger generation, creating a sense of patriotism, pride for their Fatherland, for their small Homeland, city, countryside, where a young Chechen was born and grew” were determined (Mamalova, 2014; Mamalova, 2015).

The concept focuses on the creation in educational institutions of clubs, societies of amateurs of national history, literature, and painting. The concept emphasizes the importance of reading the literature of national authors, visiting local museums where works of national artists are exhibited. It is also necessary to widely popularize literature and Chechen authors themselves, who create works of art through the creation and placement of visual images in educational institutions, the organization of creative evenings, competitions, festivals, etc.” (Mamalova, 2018). Due attention in the Concept is paid to the formation of the civic position of young people, the formation of a sense of responsibility for the development and organization of the Chechen Republic, a conscious choice and priority of national interests, and national education.

Speaking about the importance of the organization of ethnic education at the level of the government, ministries and departments, it is impossible not to say that the formation of ethnic culture among young teachers begins in the family, then at school and in a pedagogical university. The family is the beginning of everything that will be laid and developed in a person in his subsequent years. Family is the first environment for a person where everything is clear, familiar and akin. In a family, a person learns everything in order to determine his own life path and the formation of a personality. The Chechen family is an important system of kinship relations, where the use of progressive folk traditions and customs, which promote the formation of ethnic competence among young people, occupies a special place. The modern Chechen family partially retained the features of a historically distant time, preserving folk, ethnographic traditions and values originating from time immemorial. “The peculiarity of family education in Chechen folk pedagogics has the norms and moral values that constitute the ethnic basis of people's lives. It is associated with the ability to adhere to solid rules of behavior and not to deviate from them. The Chechen family has a number of significant factors contributing to the formation of strong moral and labor qualities in children, which are a foundation in the formation of a spiritual and moral personality” (Dandieva, 2011).

Ethnography and the ethnographic education of the Chechens trace their origins back to distant depth of centuries. The scientists have been researching for a long time the ethnographic knowledge about the Nakh or, so called, the Chechen-Ingush and the Batsbi tribes. Today, within the framework of ethnography, ethnology and individual disciplines on “National Culture of Chechnya”, young people learn about the most ancient life of the Chechens, about the peculiarities of the fact that there are national (own) names of flora and fauna, toponymy and hydronymy on modern Chechen territory, as well as a number of ethno-geographical concepts, which were reflected in the various languages of the Vainakhs. The Chechens are well aware of the specificity of the Vainakh folklore poetics, which is revealed in numerous materials and documents reflecting the emergence of the Chechen ancestors in the North Caucasus from Western Asia. But the construction of the famous high-rise towers in the mountains, which are the pride and national heritage of the Chechen people, is associated with the Greeks, known as the Vainakhs by the ethnonym “gelt” – “greek”.

Due to ethnographic knowledge, the Chechens are proud that the Vainakhs are the ancient, indigenous people of the central part of the North-East Caucasus, with a rich culture, rites, traditions and customs. Nowadays, the role of ethnographic knowledge, scientific research of Chechen history, the culture in the education of young generation, in the formation of their ethnographic competence has increased as never before. In the education of the young generation of Chechens the important place is occupied by the history and ethnography of the Chechen Republic. Young people’s respect for the older generation, and care of them have always presented the basis of family and school education of Chechen children since ancient times. Nowadays, the history and ethnography of Chechnya have transformed into important tools for educating the modern teachers of ethnographic culture. Historical and ethnographic material about ancient and modern Chechens in the research of Chechen, Russian, foreign scholars, travelers, geographers and writers should be more actively used as additional material to history, geography and literature in schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, colleges and in higher education institutions of the Chechen Republic.

Due to the fact that Russia and the North Caucasus are multinational and multi-religious regions, its inhabitants and young people, arguing on cultural and national issues, should know these regions well and have a deep understanding of the ethnicity of the Republic. Since shallow ethnographic competence often leads to completely absurd, inter-ethnic conflicts, insults against entire nations and certain ethnic groups, it is important to have an idea about the peoples inhabiting the region of residence, and to express understanding and tolerance in communication. The formed ethnographic culture will not allow the emergence of incorrect questions or the emergence of topics - “Where did these Tajiks come from?” or questions regarding migrant workers who came to work – the Vietnamese, the Chinese, the Mongols. The ethnic culture, patriotism, which presupposes love for one’s nation, a small Motherland, one’s culture and language, differs from what is called “ethnographic culture”, the essence of which presupposes knowledge and understanding not only of one’s nation and one’s culture, but also knowledge on cultures of those peoples who live nearby. If we are talking about the ethnographic culture of teachers, then we need to understand that it presupposes knowledge of the culture and customs of those peoples who live on the territory of Chechnya and alongside the Chechens from ancient times - these are the Tatars, the Avars, the Lezghins, the Kumyks, the Nogays, and the Meskhetian Turks. It is the lack of ethnographic competence that often leads to clashes, misunderstanding, and ethnic tension in the Republic.

Saying that under the conditions of political and spiritual transformations occurring in recent years in all the spheres of the Chechen Republic the tendencies of revival of traditional forms of national education are outlined in the state education system we must remember about people who live nearby, about their concerns as well as find the ways to help them to tackle their problems etc.

For this reason, one of the important components of ethnographic competence is profound knowledge of own surrounding world, of those who speak a different language, have different family and everyday habits and traditions, a different culture, cuisine preferences, national costumes, etc. After questioning the students, whom they know among the students living and studying in university, except for those of Chechen nationality the majority of students, unfortunately, named only 2-3 nationalities (the Tatars, the Turks, the Avars), although it is known that there are more nationalities living on the territory of Chechnya, except for the Chechens. The second question concerned how well they know the culture, characteristics, and traditions of the people who live in the neighborhood of the Chechens and among them. Again, the majority of students could not tell about the difference between the Meskhetian Turks and the Chechens. These facts indicates on shallow knowledge among young people of those who live side by side, which means it can always serve as a misunderstanding between nations and inter-ethnic tensions.

At the same time, the representatives of the five main nationalities live compactly in different areas of Chechnya - they are the Kumyks, the Nogais, the Avars, the Meskhetian Turks and the Tatars, who approved their national-cultural centers or local national-cultural autonomies. Along with this, the Ingush, the Russians, the Armenians, the Jews, the Terek Cossacks live in Chechnya. The level of ethnographic competence among students should be formed within the framework of the assimilation of a number of ethnographic knowledge, which will indicate not only how many people, except the Chechen people, live in Chechnya, but also what these people are, what they live for, the peculiarities of their culture, traditions and customs. It is this knowledge that the teachers are aimed to transmit to students, who will develop ethnographic competence.

As a factor contributing to the effective formation of ethnographic culture among the Chechen youth, the first document signed by Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic was the “Concept of State National Policy”, which reaffirmed the need to create appropriate conditions for economic and cultural development of peoples of all nationalities, occupying Chechnya since ancient times.

For example, the representatives of more than thirty nationalities live in the Shelkovsky district, and in the village of Sary-Su, Chervlennaya and Voskresenovskaya villages have long been inhabited by more than 4 thousand Nogais engaged in construction and agriculture. It is known that the village of Sary-Su was formed after the revolution, and at the end of the 1930s, the resettlement of the Nogai people inhabiting small settlements into the general community began. The Noghais have always actively honored and supported their culture, national cuisine, customs and traditions. At the same time, cross marriages of the Noghais with the Chechens, the Kumyks, supporting their traditions and customs, are also noted here, but at the same time, cross marriages with the Chechens are also not rare. The Noghais very warmly say that the the Noghais, who grew up in Chechnya, will always consider Chechnya as their home. Another large nation living in Chechnya is the Tatars living in the village of Grebenskaya by the Terek River. The village has a large Muslim school, which introduces children to Islam, Islamic culture. Along with the Tatar language, many Tatars speak the Chechen language well, but they fervently honor the Tatar culture, in particular, it concerns the national cuisine, national costume and holidays.

There is one peculiarity in the education of children, typical for the North Caucasus - this is the desire of families to give for education of their children the teachers of Russian nationality. It is known, for example, that a monument to a Russian teacher was built in Dagestan - it is the image of a young Russian woman who arrived immediately after graduating from university to distant Dagestan, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, etc. “Russian teacher”, as a collective image, came to unfamiliar people in order to transmit her knowledge to other people, to teach them the Russian language, Russian culture, customs and traditions.

The elders point out that the ancestors, along with the Chechen language, were fluent in a number of other languages. The modern peoples of the Caucasian republics most often identify themselves by ethnicity of one or another nation. In antiquity, the ancestors of the Chechen people, communicating with people from other settlements, could easily switch from one language to another language, so their entry, “infusion” was just as harmonious as cross marriages happened. This is evidenced by the fact that the ethnically divided peoples of Chechnya, nevertheless, have a large number of similar surnames. For example, separated Chechens and Kumyks have a large number of identical surnames. The same can be said about the Chechens and the Ingush, who also have the same last name. The Chechens have many common names with the Avars. The surname “Galbatsov” has a beginning with the Avar word “galbats”, meaning “lion” or the Kumyks and the Lezghins have many identical surnames (Butaev), which is also found in other Caucasian nations.

In the Chechen Republic, over a thousand of the Meskhetian Turks live in the villages of Novoye Solkusheno, Alpatovo, Ishcherskaya, Naurskaya, engaged in farming and animal husbandry. By the way, it is necessary to note that this is the only Turkish community officially registered in Russia. The chairman of the Turkish community and the Turks themselves confirm their commonality and unity with the Chechen people, having in culture a lot of common customs and traditions, for example in national cuisine and national costumes. The elders and Aqsaqals point out that the stated ethnographic knowledge of the multinational composition of the Chechen Republic must necessarily be known to both pupils and students, and students of higher educational institutions, and even more to the teachers themselves who teach students. It can be facilitated by the creation of various elective and facultative courses, quizzes, scientific conferences, and practical seminars. The Chechen Ministry for External Relations, National Policy, Press and Information, which regularly organizes the Days of National Cultures of ethnic groups living in Chechnya, also supports the ethnographic competence of the Chechen youth. Chechens organize annual festivals of culture and arts, which are held throughout the country in the autumn, the representatives of different nationalities and cultural centers take part in the festivals, gathering more than 100 thousand participants, whose guests are always the representatives of the administration and government of Chechnya and visiting guests from other regions of Russia.

Conclusion

Thus, the modern Chechen Republic is the intersection of many civilizations, the place which was visited by a large number of people over the long history. It is the most visited territory of the Russian Federation.

The intersection of many civilizations is easily explained by the economic and geographical position of the republic, being on one of the main migrations corridors of peoples from Asia to Europe. The fact of multi-ethnic and multi-religious Chechen republics, the further development of inter-ethnic friendship and unity between nations accentuate the need to raise and develop the ethnography of the republic, ethnographic education, ethnographic competence of the population, to understanding of surrounding people, neighboring cultures and their interests. The discussion of the problems of ethnographic competence will generally raise the ethnographic education of the inhabitants of the republic to a new level.

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29 March 2019

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Cite this article as:

Mamalova, K. E. (2019). The Formation Of Ethnographic Culture Of Students As Pedagogical And Socio-Cultural Issue. In D. K. Bataev (Ed.), Social and Cultural Transformations in the Context of Modern Globalism, vol 58. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 1023-1031). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.03.02.118