Conceptual Approach To The Organization Of Systematic Work On Interethnic Education

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of educating future journalists at the university during the training process, increasing their ethnic and religious competence, the forms and method of such work, as well as pressing issues of journalistic ethics in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious region. In the process of confronting globalization and regionalization of the modern world, Russia is characterized by increasing tension in socio-political life in general, and especially in the field of interethnic relations. The reason for this tendency is primarily because our country is multinational and multiconfessional in its composition. This circumstance explains the objective mosaic formation of cultural identities based on the cultural traditions of ethnic groups. The authors focus on the priority areas and pedagogical conditions for the implementation of the civil-patriotic education of university students. The article analyzes the factors that influence the formation of citizenship of students, the civic identity of Russians of different ethnic and religious affiliations. Special attention is paid to the principles of organizing the educational process in the multicultural educational space of a modern Russian university.

Keywords: JOURNALISMethicseducationhigh school

Introduction

In the process of confronting globalization and regionalization of the modern world, Russia is characterized by increasing tension in socio-political life in general, and especially in the field of interethnic relations. The reason for this tendency is primarily because our country is multinational and multiconfessional in its composition. This circumstance explains the objective mosaic formation of cultural identities based on the cultural traditions of ethnic groups. This socio-political background is a breeding ground for the emergence of various kinds of cultural clashes. As a result, there is a negative attitude towards the manifestation of the ethnic characteristics of a particular person. Historically, at various stages of the development of society, the level of this social negativity, due to certain social circumstances, either increases or decreases: in the first case, leading to conflicts between different peoples, in the second, significantly thickening the color of the negative attitude to aggression.

Problem Statement

This article intentionally focuses on this. The reason is that in the modern world, planetary, and not only in Russia, with the submission of the Quality Management System, the information space is actively filled with various kinds of materials, both socio-political and every day, causing the consumer, reader, viewer, radio listener to not just aggression, and often militant aggression. This process dynamically attacks tolerance as a contrast to aggression in public life and, in parallel, to the activities of modern media. It should be admitted with chagrin that under this pressure, tolerance has appeared on the periphery of our lives, which we consider to be one of the main links in the chain of interethnic conflicts almost every day in different parts of the globe. However, one cannot fail to take into account that "value differences in themselves are not a source of conflict," because the latter "most often have a socio-economic nature, they relate to issues of access to power and resources" (Ilyinskaya, 2007).

Research Questions

The relevance of "tolerance" or "tolerance" in public life becomes more and more evident as the potential that prevailed in the practice of the totalitarian regime of a forceful, repressive resource is exhausted. A tolerant attitude to a particular manifestation of public consciousness should be seen as a manifestation of tolerance.

Purpose of the Study

The issue of tolerance is not a new phenomenon in the public life of Russia, which has always played and today plays a huge role in government, representing the social basis for the successful resolution of geopolitical, political, socio-economic, and religious problems. This aspect is all the more critical because a civilized society based on legal, spiritual, and moral norms is different in that it actively opposes such destabilizing phenomena as racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, Russophobia, Islamophobia, which have become widespread over the past decades. Moreover, there is an admission that in the world, they increasingly talk about the occurrence of fascism locally in certain countries.

Research Methods

The empirical basis of the work is official documents of the universal level (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948) and official documents of the Russian Federation: the Constitution of the Russian Federation; The concept of patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 16, 2001, No 122 "On the State Program "Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation for 2001–2005"; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 11, 2005, No 422 (as amended on November 13, 2006) "On the state program "Patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation for 2006–2010"; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 05.10.2010, No 795 "On the state program" Patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation for 2011–2015 "; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2015, No 1493 "On the state program "Patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation for 2016–2020" (On Education in the Russian Federation, 2012; Constitution of the Russian Federation, 1993; The concept of patriotic Education of …, 2003; On the state program …, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015).

The methodological basis of the study was general scientific provisions on the interdependence and integrity of the concepts of patriotism and citizenship, on the relationship of the process of education and upbringing, on the role of education in shaping the patriotic qualities of students. The application of their principles and requirements of three hierarchical levels of methodologies: philosophical, general scientific, and specific scientific (pedagogical) ensured the scientific nature of a representative analysis of use.

Findings

There is no exception in Russia, in the central and southern parts of which there is an increase in anti-Caucasian moods. Moreover, media activities play the role of analysts of events and the determinant of ways to change the social atmosphere. For the most part, media plays the role of a fixator of broadcast events without "feedback," containing information about the reaction of leaders and the measures taken. Meanwhile, the leading role of the media today, as always, is to radically influence the mass consumer to be an organizer in providing comfortable social conditions in our challenging world today. Instead, the media, recording individual events and replicating the speeches of radical chauvinists and quasi-patriots, often themselves become translators and carriers of ethnophobia, which contributes to the rapid growth of xenophobia on the crest of a wave of social tension, especially in national regions and ethnic communities. The combination of these factors resonates with increasing tension in a full vector of public life.

The mainly above explains the importance of stabilizing tolerant public consciousness in Russia and stimulates the emergence of government policy documents, numerous scientific conferences, symposia, round tables and seminars on tolerance in the context of a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional environment. The urgency of the problem is also evidenced by the intensification of scientific research of various aspects of education: recent changes in the field of education and upbringing in higher educational institutions, problems introduced by the multilingualism, multiculturalism of Russian society (Astashova, Bondyreva, & Zhuk, 2019; Kuzminov & Peskov, 2017; Lolaeva & Salamova, 2012; Murzina & Kazakova, 2019; Tsalikova & Tautieva, 2014; Stepanova & Symanyuk, 2019).

The described difficult situation in Russia puts forward as an extremely urgent problem the activation of intelligence in the process of searching for ways and forms of increasing social tolerance, the search for possible vectors to relieve interfaith and interethnic tension. A significant role in this process is undoubtedly played by large scientific research associations and reputable universities. In the context of this, North Ossetian State University is based on the faculty of journalism, focusing in itself significant channels for the formation of the personnel potential of the region's media and, at the same time, educating the national intelligentsia. It is the national intelligentsia that traditionally productively reacts to destructive social processes, including religious and ethnic intolerance in the territory of modern Russia. North Ossetian State University sees its responsibility not only in determining the vector of education of future specialists of the journalism faculty but also in coordinating its activities in this direction with the activities of fellow journalists, including those working in the North Caucasus educational institutions, in educating the youth of the North Caucasus region as a whole. Media information addressed to a Russian and – more broadly – global audience, today often comes into conflict with established spiritual and moral values. Such professional irresponsibility of some journalists, caused by ethnic and confessional illiteracy, can turn – and partly have already turned – their activities into a catalyst for destructive processes in society. In order to predict the effect of mass communication information, one should take into account the social representations and value orientations inherent in the audience, which make it possible to detect the presence of a cognitive gap between the journalist and the audience. This stimulates the systematic study of intercultural mass communication and the practical application of its results in the work of the media, on the one hand, and in the preparation of journalists, on the other. The most important direction in the formation of the latter, in our opinion, is education heavily involved in the education of a consciously tolerant personality.

The problem of speech aggression and speech tolerance as a complex scientific problem is being developed by the department of speech culture and the language of mass communication of the journalism faculty of our university; at the same time, both teachers and students are involved in the scientific development of its aspects. And not without satisfaction, it should be recognized that individual results, generalized in the publication of articles, monographs, received a full resonance. So, being a 5th-year student, Biragova (2007), under the scientific supervision of prof. R.Z. Komaeva summarized the materials of his diploma in the monograph "Speech aggression in the media – a tool for manipulating the mass consciousness" (Biragova, 2007). As a teacher of the department's department, she continued to work on this problem actively, and in 2012 published the monograph "Media in global ethnocultural interaction" (Biragova, 2012). The massive demand for the latter is explained not only by the urgent issues raised by the author of modern media but also by the original conceptual views of the author on many aspects that have caused and continue to cause discussion in scientific and journalistic circles.

In the context of this, our attention was attracted by the scientist's view of tolerance not in general, but in the professional activity of a journalist, where, unlike social tolerance, it stands out with its civic sound, which, in the author's opinion, forms a state-civil theoretical model of tolerance, which is extremely important in our the time when the concept of tolerance goes into oblivion. We are talking about the need to instill tolerance as a respectful attitude to another, which involves the recognition of not just the equal existence of another, but the awareness of the degree of importance for his other value system, its differences, and features (Dialogue of cultures as a social …, 2012).

Tolerance in the professional activities of a journalist involves a set of knowledge and skills necessary for a journalist to tactfully, not leading to an aggravation of social confrontation of conflict situations of ethnocultural interaction. The most important is the readiness of an unbiased and objective reflection of the positions of all parties to the conflict; the destruction of the prejudices of the perception of ethnic groups; cultivating the perception of an ethnic group as a unique cultural phenomenon; the journalist's focus on searching, even in conflict situations, "points of contact" in situations that unite people regardless of national or religious affiliation; assess the situation in the context of diachronic and synchronous, reasoned analysis of all aspects of interethnic interaction.

This fact led the leadership of the faculty to the need to develop a "Concept of the faculty of journalism at North Ossetian State University for the interethnic education of students for 2011–2015. Its preamble notes the urgent need for a systematic conceptual approach to the organization of the educational process, focused on solving the complex and multidimensional problem of interethnic relations. This circumstance prompted the leadership of the faculty to develop a program for this concept of collective activity on interethnic relations, to introduce its provisions into practical work soon, and in the future, the developed document is also dictated by the multinational contingent of students. Particular attention in the organization of educational work is drawn to such vital components, which, unfortunately, remained in the recent past, such as fraternal friendship, humanism, collectivism, internationalism, without which the socio-ethical basis of tolerance is impossible, which explains the main reason for its disappearance in society with the active assistance of modern media.

The dean's office, departments, and public structural units of the faculty identified the following areas and measures on topical issues of interethnic relations, education of citizenship, tolerance, internationalism and patriotism, and the formation of precise ideological and civic positions among students:

- the systematic conduct of scientific conferences, round tables, disputes, discussions, student conferences on pressing issues of interethnic relations;

- a regular invitation to conduct workshops on the problems of interethnic and interfaith relations of prominent statesmen, public politicians, journalists, known not only in Russia but also abroad;

- introduction into the educational process of the program of joint activities of students of leading universities and youth organizations of the North Caucasus Federal District to solve pressing socio-political and moral-ethical problems with the holding of systematic round tables, scientific conferences, seminars;

- the organization of an inter-university exchange of teachers of journalism departments of leading universities of the North Caucasus Federal District to conduct special seminars on the most critical issues of modern media with an emphasis on national features of ethnic groups living in the region,

- the systematic introduction of a national-regional component into educational disciplines, which synthesizes the best national traditions of the people as the social foundation for the formation of the Ossetian mentality, material on Caucasian studies.

The faculty of journalism pays special attention to holding interuniversity, all-Russian, international round tables and conferences on intercultural interaction, a dialogue of cultures, tolerance as a socially significant category. Such projects have undeniable socio-political significance in the conditions of the multinational and multiconfessional region of Russia – the North Caucasus. Also, the educational value of events for future journalists is obvious: the necessary ethnocultural competence is being formed when covering national or confessional topics. Of particular importance is the aspect of their interaction, which will ensure the tolerant attitude of journalists in their work, allowing them realizing the educational function of journalism. This aspect of educational work is seen as an essential part of the civic identity development of students but the formation of this among consumers of the North Caucasus media.

As part of the implementation of the main provisions of the Concept, in March 2011, a round table discussion, “The Situation in the North Caucasus in the Context of International Politics,” was held at the Faculty of Journalism. The round table was attended by representatives of political circles, youth organizations, and the media of the Chechen Republic, which received broad resonance in the regional press. During the meeting, many issues were discussed, including the causes of a hotbed of tension in the Chechen Republic and the North Caucasus as a whole, the role of civil society in resolving conflicts, and countering international terrorism. The Caucasus is a region of particular importance to Russia. Together with the territories adjacent to it, including two seas – the Black and Caspian – it is an independent world-historical centuries-old given. There is a need for a community of ethnic groups living in the Caucasus to create unified socio-political projects as the basis of a well-thought-out media strategy in interethnic relations.

A vivid confirmation of this was the Interregional Student Scientific Conference “Media Against the Challenges and Threats of the 21st Century” held on February 29, 2012, at the Faculty of Journalism of North Ossetian State University named after Khetagurov. An active group of students of the Chechen State University, led by the head of the Department of Journalism L.A., took an active part in it. Turpalov, as well as representatives of the Faculty of Journalism of the South Ossetian State University. The leitmotif of the reports and messages of students determined the role of the media as an interethnic relations regulator and overtone, but at the same time, the problem of the professional and legal journalist ethics was deeply revealed. The relevance of this problem is that various kinds of threats are not only a Russian problem but also a global planetary one. There is evidenced by the endless flow of mass media, which emphasizes the urgent need for the correct coverage in modern mass media of contemporary confessional problems and almost daily facts of terrorism and banditry, which the media so often mention in connection with ethnic groups in the North Caucasus.

The abolition of censorship in our country and the legalized freedom of speech is an achievement of the long-held dream of media ministers. Unfortunately, having gained this freedom, a part of practicing journalists went into all serious, sloppy in their speech activity, generously pouring it with recently taboo vocabulary. As a rule, these processes push the limits of the self-discipline of a particular journalist. As a result, the information broadcast by the journalist violates all the lexical-stylistic and moral canons, and the form of presentation of the material goes beyond the bounds of decency.

The broad discussion that unfolded during the discussion revealed the pressing problems of the media, and also outlined ways to resolve them, summarized in the resolution of the conference. It is useful to note that all participants in the conference spoke about the need for holding regular such meetings, which are a kind of School for the exchange of experience in organizing work with young people with a view to moral and patriotic education. These issues are all the more remarkable because with the freedom of speech, often misunderstood as permissiveness; the term "professional ethics" rises sharper and sharper in analytical materials not only in the professional journal "Journalist," but also in other mass media, both on-air and print.

The latter prompted North Ossetian State University named after K.L. Khetagurova, together with the Vladikavkaz Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Government of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, the Ministry of Education and Science of North Ossetia-Alania with the support of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, organize and hold in Vladikavkaz October 29–30, 2012 the International scientific-practical conference "Dialogue of cultures as a social imperative of interethnic interaction" (Dialogue of cultures as a social …, 2012).

It was attended by more than 150 people from prominent public and political figures of Russia, employees of 20 universities and academic institutes of the Russian Federation, near and far abroad. The conference discussed current political, legal, economic, social, cultural aspects of interethnic harmony and humanitarian cooperation.

There were four sections at the conference: "Dialogue strategy in regional development models in the context of cultural education"; "Education, science, culture, social well-being – the foundations of civil peace and harmony between peoples"; "Features of interethnic interaction as the basis of civil society in the socio-cultural space of the North Caucasus region"; "Mass media – a social mechanism for the formation of a citizen of the modern era." Among the others, keynote addresses were delivered by the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO A.S. Dzasokhov and Rector of the North Caucasus Federal University A.A. Levitskaya, which aroused the interest of the participants, as evidenced by the questions addressed to them.

At present, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of ethnic and religious problems, which were proposed for discussion at the conference as extremely topical and requiring special attention of the scientific community. Particular attention was paid to the interaction of national languages ​​and the strengthening of the position of the Russian language as a means of interethnic communication in the Russian Federation and beyond. According to the general opinion of the conference participants, the diversity of cultures is a natural and necessary condition for the existence of a multiethnic society, and the development of intercultural dialogue, strengthening the traditions of dialogue between cultures and patient interaction helps to strengthen understanding between representatives of different ethnic groups and faiths. A guarantee of the existence of a democratic state and civil society in the Russian Federation is the establishment of a multiethnic composition but united by the national-state (civil) consciousness of the nation of Russians. Moreover, the education system is the most important institution of social reproduction and state security, a leading factor in the preservation and development of national cultures and languages, the most effective tool for the cultural and political integration of modern society (Nedzvetskaya, 2003).

A resolution was adopted at the final plenary session of the conference. In the resolution, the conference participants expressed their firm belief that the coordinated actions of state bodies and public organizations, cultural and educational figures, representatives of the world, and traditional faiths will create reliable foundations for the further development and expansion of intercultural dialogue.

The international conference “Dialogue of cultures as a social imperative of interethnic interaction” shows that intercultural dialogue is a powerful means of social cohesion and integration, an essential mechanism for the development of civil society. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion” (Article 18) and that education “should promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship between all peoples, racial and religious groups” (Article 26). The international conference resolutely condemns all forms of terrorism and political extremism, all forms of support and justification of violence. Conference participants noted the growing importance of the education system, the media, new information technologies in creating an atmosphere of civil peace and interethnic harmony, in explaining and upholding the principles of tolerance, the dialogue of cultures. Conference participants urge all public forces, government departments, and the media to show tolerance, trust, and mutual understanding, which are vital for strengthening civil peace and public safety. The following recommendations were adopted at the conference:

- to develop and strengthen the traditional commitment of the civil society to a culture of peace and respect for all cultures, languages, religions;

- to form the Russian civic identity in the natural conditions of the socio-political diversity of the Russian Federation – to fully promote the methods of systematic training and education of new generations in the spirit of tolerance, openness to the perception of other cultures, the ability to respect human dignity and individuality, to prevent or overcome conflicts by non-violent means;

- take extraordinary measures to ensure equality in the rights of those individuals and groups, people who are in adverse social or economic conditions, to ensure respect for the identity of their culture, to promote their professional development and social integration through education;

- pay special attention to improving the quality of teacher training, improving teaching materials and educational technologies that contribute to improving mutual understanding, strengthening solidarity and tolerance in relations between national, ethnic, social, cultural, religious and linguistic groups, as well as between individuals;

- recognize the traditional folk culture as the basis for the functioning and development of local culture, preserving various forms of folk art, family, youth policy, social rehabilitation, and patriotic education of the population;

- actively study traditional folk culture and use its capabilities in strengthening social stability and civil harmony, preserving national identity.

Conference proceedings published.

Taking into account the relevance of the problems considered and positively evaluating the results of the International Conference “Dialogue of Cultures as a Social Imperative of Interethnic Interaction,” its participants consider it necessary to create a permanent scientific forum for the operational discussion of problems of intercultural dialogue and scientific support of educational, cultural and cultural integration projects, dialogue and cooperation.

Following the strategies and tactics defined in the concept described above, the faculty organizes a partnership in journalism education between the faculties and journalism departments of state universities of the North Caucasus: North Ossetian, Chechen, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkarsky, Adygea, and South Ossetia. The program provides for the exchange of scientific teaching staff for lectures, seminars, short-term advanced training courses, the exchange of scientific literature, provides for the exchange of research results and participation in academic projects, joint publications, and scientific conferences.

The cooperation of the faculty is aimed at developing new curricula and materials taking into account the national-regional component, reading courses jointly by teachers from North Caucasian universities, and cooperation in research in the field of science, sharing the results of research on pressing media problems, introducing students to the results of such studies in the form of specialized courses. Teachers of North Ossetian State University and other universities will teach in educational institutions of the North Caucasus: in North Ossetia, Dagestan, Chechnya, South Ossetia, giving an intensive course of lectures for 1–2 weeks. The exchange of teachers will be combined with joint analytical studies in the field of QMS, comparative studies, and studies of the influence of external factors on the media activities of the region and Russia as a whole.

The second part of the project is the development based on the university of communication programs with the North Ossetian and North Caucasian media, the provision of information, and the transfer of media experience and knowledge (of the region). An essential component of collaboration is the use of the Internet. The Internet should expand the ability to solve problems by distributing curricula and materials, as well as research results. The academic exchange involves the development of new curricula and materials, the modification of existing ones, joint training courses carried out by teachers, and joint empirical studies, purposefully aimed at the development of journalistic Education and the Education of journalistic students at universities in the North Caucasus region.

Conclusion

The faculty of journalism of North Ossetian State University provides training for competent, tolerantly oriented journalists. The organization is conducting a public discussion of the pressing problems of Russian society, which is a crucial component of Russia's overall strategy in the Caucasus, aimed at turning this region into a bastion of strategic stability.

References

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Publication Date

31 October 2020

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-091-4

Publisher

European Publisher

Volume

92

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Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

1-3929

Subjects

Sociolinguistics, linguistics, semantics, discourse analysis, translation, interpretation

Cite this article as:

Khasanbekovna, T. Z., & Akhmetovna, T. M. (2020). Conceptual Approach To The Organization Of Systematic Work On Interethnic Education. In D. K. Bataev (Ed.), Social and Cultural Transformations in the Context of Modern Globalism» Dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of Turkayev Hassan Vakhitovich, vol 92. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 3920-3929). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.10.05.520