The Development Of A Culture Of Interethnic Communication In A Multinational Society

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the development of a culture of interethnic communication among senior pupils. A special role belongs to teachers who must form interethnic communication among senior pupils without conflicts. It is necessary to work systematically in schools, public organizations and youth institutions to form interethnic tolerance for countering the ideology of terrorism and extremism. The study aims at identifying the main components of pedagogical technologies for the development of a culture of interethnic communication. The study was conducted in the republics of the North Caucasus: in Dagestan, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and North Ossetia-Alania. As the main method of education has been used a method of socio-psychological training. The training included four modules. The first module was designed for team-building and consensus in the group. The second module focuses on teaching methods of conflict-free communication. The third module was aimed at studying interethnic prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination. The fourth module was devoted to the formation of tolerance in interethnic communication. Approbation of the training using variation statistics shows the effectiveness of the proposed program.

Keywords: Interethnic communicationmethods of socio-psychological trainingsenior pupils

Introduction

The 21st century is marked by the growth of terrorist threats and extremism. In Russia, the number of terrorist crimes is committed in the North Caucasus in connection with the special geopolitical location of the region. Extremists use the ideas of disunity and stratification of Russian society, the creation of the image of the enemy, the destruction of the culture of interethnic and inter-confessional dialogue, the devaluation of patriotism and citizenship values for involving children and youth in anti-state activities.

Mallaev (2008), Mallaev and Bazhukova (2013), Omarova (2009), Omarova and Gasanova (2008), Zainulbidov and Omarova (2015) studied the formation of tolerance among students, analyzed the experience of Soviet pedagogy in comparison with the realities of the 21st century and explored the content and methods of developing interethnic communication. The analysis of theoretical works and our experience in the North Caucasus together with a group of Professor Omarova (2009) has allowed us to create a pedagogical technology of development of inter-ethnic communication.

Problem Statement

The objectives of the study:

• To examine the level of interethnic tolerance before the beginning of the formative experiment.

• To propose a methodology for training inter-ethnic communication.

• To examine the content and structure of the training of international communication in a formative experiment

• To examine the level of interethnic tolerance after the completion of the formative experimentt.

Research Questions

In scientific works of outstanding teachers (Ushinsky, 1856; Makarenko, 1971; Shatsky, 1964) gives an idea of the social conditioning of the upbringing and development of the child’s personality and the importance of the effective organization of educational systems. In the context of these ideas, the development of intercultural communication of children and young people should have a rational methodological and methodological development.

A deep study of psychological and pedagogical research since the formation of the APN USSR testifies to the immediate response of the Academy of Sciences to all cardinal changes in the public life of the state, when already in 1969 problem laboratories were established at the universities of the North Caucasus, including the Dagestan State Pedagogical Institute (DGPI).

Then, troubled councils were set up to coordinate this research in the North Caucasus. In 1970, the first session of the Council took place, which included leading scientists of the country who arranged discussion areas for discussing the vital problems of pedagogical science in resolving the main problems of interethnic communication, and the members of the laboratory of the DGPI were experts.

In 1976 the People's University of Scientific and Pedagogical Knowledge (with 12 faculties) was established at the DGPI. The main task: the education of patriotism among young people. With the development of teachers, special emphasis was placed on rural schools. He also had a school for a young teacher with a total enrollment of about 2,000 students. A special youth platform was the annual "Weeks of Friendship" for students of the country and abroad. Meetings of children and youth of frontier schools on the administrative border of the Chechen and Dagestan republics were also organized. Such work solved extremely important national issues, laid deep in the traumatized consciousness of both peoples.

The laboratory under the DGPI in 1994 was reorganized into the Interuniversity Center for the Development of New Approaches to the Formation of a Culture of Interethnic Communication in the Conditions of a Polyethnic Region. The main customer was (94-95 years) the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Dagestan.

The result of the center's work was the fundamental monograph of Hasanov (1998) "Education of the Culture of Interethnic Communication: Methodology, Theory, Practice". In the following, the university course "Pedagogy of Interethnic Communication" was developed. It was approved by the Government of the Russian Federation 12.08.1994 No. 940). Disclosure of the content of this course is devoted to the textbook "Pedagogy of Interethnic Communication: Education of Patriotism, Friendship of Peoples, Tolerance." All activities of the Center were conducted in close cooperation with administrative bodies, schools, healthcare institutions, social protection of the population, public and religious organizations, and the media.

"Pedagogy of Interethnic Communication" was taught in 68 universities of the Russian Federation and 8 universities in Kazakhstan. The works of Hasanov (1998) were awarded the Russian Government Prize. Under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Education and the State Pedagogical University, five All-Russian conferences were held (in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2013).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to identify the main components of pedagogical technologies for the development of a culture of interethnic communication. It was suggested that training is a way of reprogramming a person's existing model of managing his or her behaviour and activities, a group of methods for developing abilities to learn and master any complex activity.

Research Methods

The research problem lies in the need to search for technologies for the education of conflict-free interethnic communication for high school students of the North Caucasus. We consider effective interethnic communication as a factor in counteracting the ideology of extremism.

In the course of the research, we faced the following questions, to which we tried to find answers:

- What are the features of interethnic tolerance among schoolchildren in the North Caucasus?

- What pedagogical technologies can be used to increase interethnic tolerance?

The study involved schoolchildren from Dagestan, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and North Ossetia-Alania. The experiment involved 2,500 schoolchildren.

Methods of research: theoretical and methodological analysis of literary sources, questioning of schoolchildren and teachers using author's techniques, interethnic tolerance test, ascertaining, forming and control experiments, mathematical data processing: Mann-Whitney test (Shier, 2004).

Findings

Pedagogy of interethnic communication is a scientific direction in pedagogy, which considers the area of interethnic communication in indissoluble connection with life and social practice.

The qualitative improvement of social relations in society requires the development of a scientific platform for the implementation not only of theoretical training in this area of youth, but also the adequate practical application of acquired knowledge in the field of interethnic communication in all spheres of society. The pedagogy of interethnic communication as a theoretical and practical sphere of human life creates a social and psychological platform designed to ensure a relative rule of law in all spheres of society.

Without deep research in the field of interethnic communication, it is hardly possible to form a system where in this area not only citizens are responsible to the state, but the state must bear the highest responsibility to its citizens for preserving unity and mutual understanding within the framework of law, for a sense of security, consequently, for the mental balance of their citizens.

Training of international communication is conducted with various groups of the population - schoolchildren, students, representatives of public organizations, etc.

In this case, it is welcomed if the participants of the training will be able to multiply the experience gained during the classes into their own public activities. So, for example, conducting psychological training in schools by student volunteers contributes to the formation of the all-Russian identity and inter-ethnic culture for the following reasons:

1. students are closer to adolescents by age and their words are more referent in nature than a very adult coach.

2. It is adolescence that is most sensitive for the socio-psychological development and the formation of the civil position of the individual.

One of the urgent tasks of the social policy of any democratic state is the strengthening of interethnic harmony. In the modern ranking, pedagogy found itself in the last places, having surrendered its position of primacy in the study and implementation of research results in the field of interethnic communication culture.

The results of the research showed that children from different republics of the North Caucasus have a different level of interethnic tolerance (Table 01 ).

In our opinion, the high rates of Dagestani schoolchildren are the result of the multinationality of Dagestan. More than 100 autochthonous ethnic groups lives in Dagestan.

As a result of the study, a model for the formation of interethnic tolerance was developed, which was tested on the basis of: school No. 1 in the village of Sergokala, schools No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 (Botlikh village), Manas secondary school (Karabudakhkent district of the Republic of Dagestan), schools No. 8, No. 26 , No. 37 (Makhachkala), the Republican Center for Social Assistance to Family and Childhood (Makhachkala), the Energy College (Kaspisk), children's peace keeping camps in Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia-Alania, and Kabardino-Balkaria.

The model includes the purpose, tasks, methods, principles, technologies, means of formation of interethnic tolerance.

We have identified the basic starting principles on which the group training work on interethnic communication should be built:

1. The principle of correctional orientation of training on interethnic communication of participants. This principle assumes that the training is aimed not only at developing the necessary socio-psychological qualities, but at correcting negative attitudes and socially-maladaptive patterns of behavior that were formed among the participants before the start of the training.

2. The principle of voluntary participation in the proposed group work on interethnic communication both as a whole in the whole training, and in its individual structural components (reflection, games, the main part, various exercises, sharing). This principle, as the name implies, assumes that participation in the training and its individual components is the result of a conscious voluntary choice of the participant.

3. The principle of mutual respect of participants. This principle assumes full-fledged interpersonal communication between students during the training, which is based on trust, respectful attitude towards each other, and non-aggressive behavior.

4. The principle of intensification of communication. This principle implies the active use of mechanisms of interpersonal communication and their analysis with the aim of forming an all-Russian identity. Communication here is an instrument for achieving the main goal of the training.

Pedagogical technologies for the formation of interethnic tolerance include:

• Training for school children.

• Creation of social projects.

• Technologies for creating social video and animation.

The main technology used in the forming experiment was the training seminar for children and youth leaders "Training on the formation of interethnic tolerance", where schoolchildren-volunteers are trained on a four-module system.

This system includes:

1. Module "Formation of tolerance and culture of interethnic communication". It is aimed at acquaintance, team building in the group, providing primary information on intercultural dialogue.

2. Module «Conflict-free culture of personality». This module is a complex of mini-lectures, assignments, exercises aimed at understanding the diversity of the world of human relationships, studying conflict-free culture, developing skills of barrier-free communication. Exercises on this module allow participants to learn the uniqueness of the individual, regardless of nationality, religion, social status, health (disability / non-disability).

3. Module "Prejudices and stereotypes, discrimination." Participants study the role of prejudices and stereotypes in the social environment, explore the possibilities of finding compromises and cooperation in difficult situations, develop skills of intercultural dialogue. This module is very difficult for the coach and requires caution when using interactive tasks. Participants come to understand how to erase the sharp edges of prejudice and stereotypes by actively participating in interactive games, exercises, warm-ups.

This module causes the greatest interest among the participants, and the intensity of passions and emotions during the training reaches a critical level.

4. The module "Formation of interethnic tolerance" is generalizing. It is aimed at the participants' awareness of their civil identity, the degree of development of interethnic tolerance.

The training on inter-ethnic communication in structure consists of the following main components: iintroduction, warm up, the main part, reflection and summary of the day.

After the completion of the trainings, a group of volunteers is created. They receive additional assignments and co-train with other classes.

The next technology we used was the method of creating social projects, the students create social projects aimed at improving the culture of interethnic communication. Among the projects implemented are the "Bright World" multi-therapy school, the ecological patrol "Green leaf", the school volunteer headquarters and many others.

Technologies for creating social video and animation are relatively new, but very popular in the children's and youth environment, and represent a kind of practical activity of school children using modern gadgets and software.

Causing unconditional interest among schoolchildren (since they allow to expand the virtual environment of communication in social networks), with special organization of the process they are used by school children as a way of understanding social reality through creative self-realization and raising the information culture.

For the formation of interethnic tolerance, it is important to actively involve the parental community in all activities. At the parents' meetings, they were informed about the activities being implemented, they were invited to participate in schools to involve students in social practice.

After the experiment, the indicators of interethnic tolerance changed. The results are shown in the table 02 .

The verification of the Mann-Whitney test (Shier, 2004) indicates a statistical certainty of these change.

Conclusion

1. Approbation of the model allowed us to formulate the pedagogical conditions for effective educational work on the formation of interethnic tolerance among schoolchildren. The educational process to develop a culture of interethnic communication in a modern school will be more successful if the following conditions are observed: special organization of the process of development of interethnic tolerance; development of the socio-psychological climate in the school to increase interethnic tolerance and prevent extremism; taking into account the individual characteristics and needs of schoolchildren in the educational process; the use of methods of pedagogical diagnosis of the level of culture of interethnic communication, the formation of interethnic tolerance; use of innovative technologies, techniques and practices for the formation of interethnic tolerance (training, method of creating social projects, technologies for creating social video and animation); parental involvement. 3. Analysis of the results of the research using mathematical data processing, the Mann-Whitney criterion (Shier, 2004), allows us to conclude that as a result of the formative experiment, participants change social attitudes, empathy appears, a culture of interethnic communication develops and awareness of the problems of socialization of various groups of the population.

Acknowledgments

Our gratitude to Professor Patimat O. Omarova of Dagestan State Pedagogical University and her research team for assistance in organizing the study in the North Caucasus.

References

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