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14Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 2 (2012 5) 232-241
УДК 376.7
Adaptation of Indigenous Youth from the Northern Territories to Studying at University: Establishment of the "Higher Northern School" in Siberian Federal University
Elena A. Nozdrenko and Natalya P. Koptseva*
Siberian Federal University 82 Svobodny, Krasnoyarsk, 660041 Russia 1
Received 18.06.2011, received in revised form 19.11.2011, accepted 17.01.2012
This article is devoted to one of the topical issues of adaptation of secondary education school graduates from the northern territories to studying in post-school educational institutions in the "big" city. This scientific issue is considered in the context of global transformations that are typical for indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia nowadays. The idea of establishment of the "Northern School" is one of the results of the two years of work in grant projects that deal with the integrated study of ethno-cultural, demographic, religious and migration processes and strategic forecasting of the future socio-cultural development of the indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia. Research path of the projects in the specified field has identified the main directions of the future research work. Among the priority areas of activity there is an implementation of the project to establish new university structure. This structure aims at an active adaptation (social adaptation) of young indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia to the megalopolis social environment in the form of intensive training for the enrollment in educational institutions. "Higher Northern School " in SibFU should be the "platform-bridge" between the three realities: the reality of secondary education that is received by graduates from the northern territories, the real educational needs of these graduates and the real labor market needs of the northern territories that are places of compact residence of indigenous ethnic groups of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. We see implementation of this idea in the field of multicultural education, that on the one hand promotes ethnic identity and formation of the cultural awareness of students, on the other hand, it prevents their ethnic and cultural isolation from others.
Keywords: ethnos, social adaptation, multicultural education, ethnopedagogy, indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia, indigenous identity, ethnic and cultural authenticity, indigenous youth of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Point civilization pressure" in all media channels.
Trends of the development of information Transmission of Western values, life styles and
environment in our culture today are closely consumption rates that are aimed primarily at
connected with the intensification of the "Western the formation of "consumer society" values
* Corresponding author E-mail address: decanka@mail.ru
1 © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved
constitute certain threat to the young generation. It can lead to a significant constriction of the "living space" of northern peoples and can put them in a situation of "cultural and value occupation" and on the verge of dissipation on a scale of two or three generations. Problems that constitute a threat to reproduction and survival of northern ethnic groups are connected with three large-scale "waves" of civilization and economic development:
1) The wave of new industrialization is connected with the activity of large Russian, foreign and multinational corporations (that mainly extract resources) on the territory of indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia.
2) The wave of modernization development is connected with innovation and technological projects of the Russian Government and business, with the establishment of industries and services that are typical for the post-industrial phase.
3) Western civilization wave is generated by global parties (Governments of the U.S. and the Eurozone countries), it is based on the practice of "cultural and value occupation" with the wide use of human postmodern technologies that are aimed at the destruction of traditional societies culture and the formation of the global society of "total consumption".
We suppose that these three waves create conditions in which the forms of economic activity that are typical for the northern peoples, forms of social organization, the mechanisms of national culture transmission, system of values and mental dominants, "national character" are put to the test of "survival". Thus, the problem is the loss of ethnic identity by youth, its "isolation" from the national culture (loss of language, ethno-specific forms of communication and behaviour and national values under the pressure of mass culture and "consumer society "values), "destruction of the gene pool" as a result of migrations, decline of the birth rate during the
increasing urbanization processes, display of medical and medico-social problems.
The principal possibilities of the "breakthrough" in the development of northern peoples create the following: the large-scale development of natural resources in the northern territories of the Russian Federation, the formation of the innovative economy sector, including the activation of Siberian Federal University. Increasing the scale and variety of industrial and service activities and activities in the socio-cultural sector creates the "window of opportunities" for expansion of "the set of competencies" of indigenous peoples of the North and the formation of its "social and human capital". We suppose that in this context we should give serious attention to the following:
S Determination of the trends in the changes of living conditions of indigenous peoples of the North; S Determination of crisis situations in the
economy, culture and social sector; S Identification of the promising technologies of social and cultural ethnos reproduction, socio-human technologies of human development;
Problems of indigenous children of the North and Siberia are basically generalized with the problems of Russian children (as in the case of social and legal protection programs) and representatives of the indigenous people of all ages (in the case of programs that are related to indigenous peoples). In our opinion this problem should be discussed individually. Despite the obvious lack of basic forms of education for young generation of indigenous peoples, another problem is actively discussed today as the main problem in education -correspondence of the basic forms (preschool and school) of education with the features of lifestyle and culture of the peoples of the North and Siberia.
Ethnopedagogy
or multicultural education?
The need for new approaches in the educational system of indigenous youth is obvious today. Its purpose and content are changing with account taken of the specific features of place of residence and development in the modern conditions. In the scientific community we can find two contrary opinions about the educational system of indigenous children: firstly, there is discussion of an urgent need of indigenous peoples in ethnopedagogical means to revive and preserve traditional culture and way of life, and secondly, there is quite reasonable position about the need to establish multicultural education.
In the scientific literature sufficient number of researchers is supporters and ideologues of multicultural education system. In this case we share the opinion that multicultural education is a necessary condition of tolerant coexistence of different ethnic and cultural groups.
1. Comenskiy Ya.A. supposes that the idea of multicultural education about the community of people, their needs and desires is laid in the developed program "Panpediya". Particular attention is paid to the importance of formation of the children ability to perform the mutual responsibilities, the ability to live in peace with other people, to respect and love your neighbor (KoMeHCKHH, 1982);
2. Kapterev P.F. understands the role of multicultural education in the individual development and the relationship between national and universal in pedagogy. Features of the educational process are determined by the national values (language, religion, everyday life). The researcher calls to develop in children the sense of belonging to mankind (KaurepeB, 1982);
3. Hessen S.I. emphasizes that education is really national, when it satisfies the requirements of the scientific nature, artistry and morality
(personal, ethical and universal). His approach includes the provision of the unity of two processes in education: development of universal values in national content and development of national values in universal content (recceH, 1995).
Thus, the synthetic ideas of different scientific schools about the educational purposes of multicultural education can be summarized in the following theses:
S Development of tolerance for the lifestyle and behavior of other people that is based on understanding of the differences in the human cultural image that can lead to conflicts between different social strata. S Recognition of the fact that cultural differences and other cultures in general affect the human emotional sphere and become the source of human emotional experience and need states. S Development of the differentiation capacity within foreign culture, the ability to evaluate the system of values and norms according to their concrete historical importance for certain activities. S Formulation of the ability to integrate elements of other cultures in own system of thinking and values.
Pedagogy is the actual trend in the study of socialization and education today. This area of scientific knowledge studies the laws of the formation of traditional educational cultures in connection with the development of economic, moral, social and other public events. Thus, the researchers think that ethnopedagogical methods are the way of human ethnic survival (®pyMaK, 2002), the system of personality formation of humans who are able to survive in the harsh tundra environment (MoMge, 2010, c. 61-67). Valuable properties of ethnopedagogics are deep individualization and differentiation of education and training, development of student independence and respect for him as a person, efficiency and
simplicity of the methods (education by example, persuasion, compulsion, stimulus, demand, system of punishments and rewards). Great advantage of ethnopedagogics is also its support on the family education: it's not the school that sets the tone for training and education, even counter to the family methods, but vice versa -organized education is based on the principles of family education that is education by example, when the parent is an example and authority, as it has formed in the national tradition (Беликова, 2004, с. 206-208).
We have found that etnopedagogical aspects of education are often a subject of discussion and the cross-point of different and even polar interests. Thus, the component-specific organization of education content in ethnic schools (since the establishment of national schools in the RSFSR in the early 1920s) has revealed the inability of the mechanical reduction of value orientations of different cultures to a common denominator. A number of researchers propose to use the forms and methods of ethnopedagogics exactly
as means of initial identification restoration. However, in this case we have a number of risks that are connected with the fact that its methods can be a significant break on the integration of indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia into modern society.
Our opinion is that the synthesis of the multicultural approach and ethnopedagogics is actual today (Fig. 1). We believe that the basis of the synthetic approach should be an organized educationthat isbuiltontheprinciplesofthe family education (that is declared my ethnopedagogics) and implemented in the primary education of indigenous children. Multicultural approach is being implemented mainly in the secondary education system, in the process of preparing and education in educational institutions of post-school education in urban areas. The given approach is grounded on the fact that there is an obvious need for development of ethno-cultural authenticity of the given ethnic groups, as well as understanding that for the personality adoption of the new culture is associated with
Ethnopedagogics or multicultural education?
Ethnopedagogics (as a way of ethnic population survival; Support on the family education: organized education is based on th
principles of the family education (in the system of elementary education in the native land)!
Complementarity.
\
Multicultural education
(in the system of secondary education,
preparation and education in the educational institutions of post-school education in urban areas)
Fig. 1. Complementarity ofetimopedagogics and multicultural education
the association of ethnic and general national identity.
Social adaptation of indigenous youth is a foreground direction in the system of post-school education in the megalopolis conditions.
Young people from the northern territories who arrive in the megalopolis for study confront the need to master new things in the new reality: norms, values, concepts, rules, restrictions, etc. that cover and regulate almost every aspect of life. So they start to face new problems that are connected with the painful process of social adaptation. Indigenous youth of the North is regarded as a special group that is self-organized on the basis of common components of the "traditional worldview", cultural patterns (concepts) and narratives (interpretations), as well as the stimulatory effect of the external, "foreign" for them social and cultural environment.
According to Charles Teloru, people can realize their authenticity only through recognition of others. He defines authenticity in terms of the moral ideal of self-realization (Taylor, 1994, с. 2573). A. Giddens identifies authenticity as the base of personal self-actualization. In his opinion, the search for authenticity is an attempt to find something "real" in contemporary globalized world, the search for true identity, true self and the desire to implement it into reality (Giddens, 2004). One of the important goals in the process of social adaptation is the development of ethnic and cultural authenticity. By the ethnic and cultural authenticity in this case we understand the presentation and reproduction of the local features of the groups or individuals in different cultural and social environment (Давыдов, 2007). It means that for young indigenous peoples that have come from their "small" motherland to continue their education in a "big" city the search of the true self-identity and the desire to implement it into the new reality are really important. The problem of representatives of
the dominant culture (in this case, those people who are involved in the process of adaptation and training of indigenous youth), in our opinion, is also in development and implementation of the programs for creation of the image of "others" that could be controlled. Important role in this process is played by dislocality of given youth, the need in the constant communication with his fellow countrymen in the megalopolis and regular visits to the "small motherland". In this case we agree with the opinion of A.P. Davydov that during the dropping of young people from such context of communication their identity is strongly inclined to the dominant ethnic group (Давыдов, 2007).
Social adaptation of young indigenous peoples should be directed not only to adaptation to the training conditions, ability to build personal relationships with "others", knowledge of the cultural environment and the rules of leisure time, organization of everyday life in the new conditions, but also to the intentional change of all of this (active adaptation). However, we understand the risks that are connected with the fact that the sharp change in living conditions and environment of the megalopolis can lead to the desadaptation of given youth. Therefore special attention in the process of social adaptation should be paid to the compulsory presence of the elements of culture of small ethnic groups that are typical for the local community in "small motherland" (things and objects, account of behavior stereotypes, national speech, ways of communication, food habits, etc.). In education sector in the urban areas it can be appeared in the form of reproduction of cultural authenticity symbols through everyday practices and social interactions with fellow countrymen, all forms of translation of the "authentic" locality symbols in the "different environment" for example, through folklore and other forms of folk art.
Example
We have indicated that today education of indigenous peoples from the North and Siberia has the following problems:
1) the need to preserve traditional ways of life and the restoration of ethnic identity of the younger generation of indigenous peoples from the North and Siberia;
2) the need for integration of young representatives of indigenous peoples from the North and Siberia into the contemporary Russian society;
3) the demand for the reform of education system in the territories of indigenous peoples with the dominant of any of the above-mentioned problem areas.
As one of the solutions to these problems we propose the establishment of the "Higher Northern School" in Siberian Federal University. It should be a new structure in SibFU, and its goal orientation consists in an active adaptation (social adaptation) of young indigenous peoples to the social environment of the megalopolis in the form of accelerated training for the enrollment in educational institutions (basic vocational, secondary vocational and higher vocational education). Mission of the Northern School is to help every person in getting vocational education, taking into account ethnic features as well as prospects of personal development, civil and professional development in the multi-ethnic community of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
As a support for the development of new forms of educational activities in the SibFU there is Article 8 of the Federal Law "On Guarantees of the rights of indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation" that establishes the right of indigenous people to receive help from the state in reforming of the forms of education and training of the younger generation with account taken of the specific of traditional live activities.
"Higher Northern School " in SibFU is the "platform-bridge" between the three realities: the reality of secondary education that is received by graduates from the northern territories, the real educational needs of these graduates and the real labor market needs of the northern territories that are places of compact residence of indigenous ethnic groups of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. At this stage of the idea implementation we propose and develop ways and means of functioning of the "Higher Northern School" in the modern educational system of SibFU as an organic strategic element.
Goals that are reached in the process of idea implementation are related primarily to the problems of social adaptation:
a) providing with the conditions favour the formation of actual needs, interests and life goals of indigenous children of the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory in the urban environment;
b) adaptation of young indigenous peoples to the conditions and type of study in educational institutions of basic vocational, secondary vocational and higher vocational education;
c) development of interpersonal relationships of the younger generation of indigenous peoples with various subcultures of the "big city" while maintaining their indigenous identity;
d) development of ethnic and cultural authenticity (when the dominant culture creates the controllable image of "others"). People can realize own authenticity only through recognition by others (Charles Taylor). Search of the true identity and the desire to implement it in the new reality is really important;
e) study of ecological and cultural environment of urban areas;
f) adaptation of northerners to the conditions of youth leisure time, family life in the megalopolis, etc.
g) preparation for the admission to institutions of post-school education.
As can be seen from the goals mentioned above, preparation for the admission to educational institutions is not the priority of the school. This prioritization is due to the realization that effective study can't be without adaptation. And, above all, the proposed school is focused on the complex process of social adaptation according to all listed points, and only then can we talk about the success of the student that is confirmed by the level of his knowledge.
In the simplified manner the process of functioning of the northern school we see in the following way (Fig. 2): the graduate from the secondary school arrives in Siberian Federal University and undergoes testing. According to the results teachers build the plan for further study. We believe that tracking of the dynamics of educational success and psychological adaptability of students should be carried out by the monthly tests. Final test results (after one year of study) of indigenous youth are three versions of course of events that are related to further
study in the education system: 1) basic vocational education, 2) general vocational education and 3) higher vocational education. The third variant is connected with further study (second year of study) of young people in the "Northern School" at SibFU. Given the specificity of the native places of residence of young indigenous peoples it is necessary to include in the modular plan of further study training for traditional animal husbandry (reindeer breeding), sectors of culture and arts (musicians, singers, artists, masters of art and craft). Compulsory and necessary condition for effective study is the involvement of the specialists, who have grown up in these cultures - specialists in language, ethnopedagogics, socio-cultural practices, history, culture of the given peoples, art history, folklore, etc. This problem should be developed by the most talented representatives of these cultures. We are convinced that without the creative and scientific elite of indigenous peoples their culture will be lost.
Basic vocational educational institution
Trainingfor traditional animal husbandry (reindeer breeding), sectors of culture and arts (musicians, singers, artists, masters of art and craft).
Study of this culture needs the specialists, who have grown up in it- specialists in language, ethnopedagogics, socio-cultural practices, history, culture of the given peoples, art history, folklore, etc. This problem should be developed by the most talented representatives of these cultures. Without the creative and scientific elite of indigenous peoples their culture will be lost..
Fig. 2. Plan of study in the "Higher No rthern School", SibFU
Implementation of the idea of the "Higher Northern School" establishment we see in the field of multicultural education that on the one hand helps ethnic identity and formation of the cultural awareness of students, on the other hand, interferes with their ethnic and cultural isolation from the others. According to Thomas (Thomas, 1988): "Multicultural education takes place when a certain person during the communication with people from another culture is seeking to understand their specific system of perception, cognition, thinking, their system of values and actions, to integrate new experience into own culture system and change it in accordance with foreign culture. Along with the knowledge of another culture multicultural education encourages to the analysis of the system of own culture "(Thomas, 1988, c. 83).
The organizational structure of the "Northern School" must meet the goals of its functioning and be a condition for the effective management system. It is reasonable in our opinion to include the following units such as: prevocational training center, the center of passing the Unified State Exam, the center of the educational and psycho-pedagogical monitoring, psychological support center, research center of the northern indigenous cultures, vocational guidance center of indigenous peoples, centre of information resources of indigenous peoples.
Resume
The education system in the territories of indigenous peoples of Siberia and the North of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, of course, needs reformation. This absoluteness is connected, at least, with two arguments: 1) the preservation of traditional lifestyles of these ethnic groups and ethnic identity of the young generation, and 2) the effective integration of indigenous youth into society due to modern trends of development. "Education must create the
conditions for human development as such: for the development of knowledge, and body, and emotions, and spiritual, and patrimonial, and individual, and all of those personal aspects that we still do not know enough" (Образование в конце.., 1992, с. 3-22). Effectiveness of the educational system of young indigenous people is connected precisely with the solution of the problem of their social adaptation in the "big" world. Social adaptation is determined by several factors (economic, social, cultural, demographic, etc.) that should be taken into account during the design of a new educational system model for indigenous peoples. One of the important conditions for the new approach if the establishment of the "Higher North School" in SibFU, the priorities of which are connected with the development of ethno-cultural authenticity of the northern youth, preservation of their indigenous identity in the form of training and preparation for admission into educational institutions.
I.V. Kireevskiy wrote: "Destruction of the traditional feature of national mental life is just as impossible as it is impossible to destroy national history. Replacement of the fundamental national beliefs with the literary concepts is as easily as to change the bones of the developing organism with an abstract thought. However, if we could only concede for one minute that this proposal can actually come true, then its only result was not in the upbringing and education, but in the destruction of people. Because people are the whole set of beliefs that are more or less developed in their manners, their customs, their language, their cordial and mental concepts, their religious community and personal relationships - in short, in entirety of their Н£г"(Антология педагогической мысли.., 1987, с. 218).
It is multicultural education that gives the opportunity for the interaction and mutual
enrichment of cultures, where these cultures are declared as equal. The concept of "Higher Northern School" is aimed at providing of the training of students for understanding of other cultures and recognition of their surrounding diversity. Modular education programs
should provide students with the possibility to expand the boundaries of their world view. The role of teachers in this process can't be underestimated. The special problem is the problem of their level of teaching competence in the social adaptation of indigenous youth.
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Адаптация индигенной молодежи северных территорий к обучению в университете: создание в Сибирском федеральном университете «Высшей северной школы»
Е.А. Ноздренко, Н.П. Копцева
Сибирский федеральный университет Россия 660041, Красноярск, пр. Свободный, 82
Научная статья посвящена одной из актуальных проблем адаптации выпускников средних образовательных школ северных территорий к обучению в образовательных учреждениях постшкольного обучения в условиях «большого» города. Данная исследовательская проблема рассматривается в контексте глобальных трансформаций, характерных для коренных малочисленных народов Севера и Сибири в современной ситуации. Идея создания «Северной школы» является одним из результатов двухлетней работы в грантовых проектах, посвященных комплексному исследованию этнокультурных, демографических, религиозных, миграционных процессов и стратегического прогнозирования будущего социально-культурного развития коренных малочисленных народов Севера и Сибири. Исследовательская траектория проектов в обозначенном проблемном поле определила основные направления дальнейших исследований. Среди приоритетных направлений определена реализация проекта по созданию в университете новой структуры, целевая ориентация которой - активное приспособление (социальная адаптация) молодежи КМНС к социальной среде мегаполиса в формате ускоренной подготовки к поступлению в учебные заведения. «Высшая северная школа» в СФУ должна стать «площадкой-мостом» между тремя реальностями: реальностью среднего образования, которое получают выпускники на северных территориях, реальными образовательными потребностями этих выпускников и реальными потребностями рынка труда северных территорий - мест компактного проживания коренных этносов Красноярского края. Реализацию идеи мы видим в поле поликультурного образования, которое, с одной стороны, способствует этнической идентификации и формированию культурного самосознания обучаемых, а с другой стороны, препятствует их этнокультурной изоляции от иных.
Ключевые слова: этнос, социальная адаптация, поликультурное образование, этнопедагогика, коренные малочисленные народы Севера и Сибири, индигенная идентичность, этнокультурная аутентичность, индигенная молодежь Красноярского края.
