CC BY
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УДК 37.03(470.343)
Н. С. Морова, Н. А. Бирюкова,
Л. В. Лежнина, С. А. Домрачева
Марийский государственный университет, Йошкар-Ола
Развитие культурного разнообразия и толерантности в полиэтническом регионе: на примере Республики Марий Эл1
Статья посвящена проблеме сохранения и развития толерантности в условиях национальнокультурного многообразия гражданского общества в Республике Марий Эл как одном из полиэтнических регионов Российской Федерации. Дано подробное описание этнического, языкового и конфессионального разнообразия населения республики на основе анализа результатов опубликованных педагогических и социологических исследований. Представлены результаты проведенного авторами исследования толерантных установок различных групп населения: студентов, преподавателей, экспертов - представителей органов власти, общественных организаций, СМИ. Вскрыты два важнейших условия формирования толерантности в полиэтническом регионе: государственная политика и межкультурный подход в образовании. Показано, что актуальное состояние гражданского общества в Республике Марий Эл характеризуется подлинной межкультурной толерантностью, которая формируется в условиях многонационального разнообразия региона благодаря грамотной политике региональной власти в социальной сфере, культуре и образовании.
Ключевые слова: разнообразие этническое, культурное, языковое; толерантность; государственные программы; образование; межкультурный подход.
Публикация подготовлена в рамках международного научного проекта № 544410- TEMP US-1-2013-1 -IT- TEMP US-JPHES «Actions of Lifelong Learning addressing Multicultural Education and Tolerance in Russia» («Организация обучения в течение всей жизни, ориентированного на поликультурное образование и формирование толерантности в России»), реализуемого по программе ТЕМПУСIV (2013-2016 гг.)
In 2013-2015 within the program and tasks of the TEMPUS project “Actions of Lifelong Learning addressing Multicultural Education and Tolerance in Russia» the special research has been done by the research group from Mari State University. Its objective was to study the conditions under which tolerance is developed and manifested in a multi-ethnic region. The subject of the research is diversity and tolerance of the civil society of the Republic of Mari El as one of the multi-ethnic regions in Russia.
The Mari El Republic is a national Republic within the Russian Federation located in the Volga Federal District. It is situated in the eastern part in the Middle Volga Region where the biggest Russian rivers come together - the Volga, the Vetluga and the Sura. Mari El borders on Kirov Oblast in the north, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chuvash
1 Работа была представлена на международной конференции «Culture, Language and Religion in Russia and Europe: Key Aspects in Education for Tolerance» в Болонском университете, Италия (20-23 апреля 2015 г.).
Republic - in the south, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in the west. Such geographical position of the republic has determined its ethnic and cultural diversity. Representatives of more than 100 ethnic groups inhabit the Republic.
Let's examine the heterogeneity and the complexity of the national, cultural and religion diversity of Mari El Republic as a multi-ethnic region.
Ethnic diversity. The total population of the Republic is 690 thousand people. Among them - 65 % constitute urban population, 35 % - rural population. Its ethnic structure is represented by 45 % the Russians, 42 % - the Mari, 6 % - the Tatar. The amount of other nationalities (the Chuvash, the Udmurt, the Mordva, the Ukrainian and etc.) is 3 %. The title nationality of the Republic - the Mari - is divided into three sub-ethnic groups: the Mountain, the Meadow and the Eastern Mari [15].
Language diversity. The state languages of the Mari El Republic are Mari (mountain and meadow) and Russian. Their official status is recognised in the Constitution of the Mari El Republic. The law of the
Н. С. Морова, Н. А. Бирюкова, Л. В. Лежнина, С. А. Домрачева
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Mari El Republic «On languages in the Mari El Republic» declares the equality of languages and linguistic rights of citizens of any group [6].
The dominant spoken language is Russian, according to the results of the last census, all residents of the Republic know it sufficiently to communicate. The Russian language dominates almost everywhere, it has a higher social status, but a number of newspapers, magazines and television and radio programs are in the Mari language. The law «On languages...»: is aimed at creation conditions for the preservation and equitable development of all languages.
Religion diversity. The Mari El Republic refers to multi-religious territories of Russia, where different confessions exist and interact for many centuries: Orthodoxy, Paganism, Islam, etc. The Orthodoxy has been the main religion in the Republic. The majority of the Russian population and a large part of the Mari ethnic group confess it. The Tatar ethnic group and other small ethnic communities are Muslim.
The small number of the Mari confesses the Mari pagan religion. However, the Paganism is widely spread in the “dual faith” confessional group, which amounts up to a quarter of the Mari population. The history of the Mari traditional religion began in ancient times. Nature worship (sun, water and wind) and the veneration to plants, animals, birds as well as natural objects and phenomena take a central place in Mari religion. Prayers are held in the sacred groves (Mari: oto, kusoto). The national Mari holidays are accompanied with ancient rituals.
According to the survey carried out in 2013, 56 % of respondents practice the Orthodox religion; 8 % mainly confess the Orthodox faith, and sometimes follow the Mari traditional faith; 6 % are equally attached to the Orthodox and Mari traditional faith, 5 % mainly follow the Mari traditional faith; 5 % confess Islam; 4 % - believe in God, but “do not understand the religions”; 3 % - believe in “their God”; 16 % - did not answer this question [14].
Tolerance. Opinion polls that followed the study of ethnic and religious aspects of the Mari El social life demonstrated a high level of tolerance in intergroup relations. The studies of two last decades indicate peaceful interethnic relations in the region [8; 9; 12]. So, from the point of view of the majority of respondents, nationality in everyday life is not an obstacle for interaction. For example, nationality does not matter for.:
- communication (83 %);
- choosing close friends (66 %);
- working together (56 %);
- choosing a marriage partner (56 %).
The last factor could be determined as an important indicator of interethnic peace in the Republic. The percentage of intermarriages within the total number of marriages amounts to around 30 %. The following intermarriages dominate in the Republic: Russian husband - Mari wife and vice versa. The second place is taken by the Russian - Tatar and Tatar - Russian marriages, the third - Russian -Ukrainian and Ukrainian - Russian, the fourth place -Mari - Tatar and Tatar - Mari marriages. This indicates a high level of tolerance and fairly close cultural level of the various ethnic groups living in the Republic [14].
In 2014 the research group from MarSU has conducted two studies: a survey of 200 students of Mari State University and interviews of 20 experts. According to the results of students' answers we revealed the following:
1. 50 % of respondents (that is every second student) replied that he has friends who are representatives of other nationalities.
2. Most of the students are satisfied with the fact that they live in a multicultural environment (38 % -are satisfied, 34 % - rather satisfied than not satisfied, 18 % said - «I do not care»).
3. 60 % are ready to be intermarried with people of other ethnicity.
4. The majority of students (70 %) has never encountered a manifestation of stigma on a national basis, (22 %) experienced the phenomenon only occasionally.
5. 52 % of respondents believe that the inter-ethnic situation in the republic is stable, 40 % - estimate it generally stable but they do not exclude the possibility of conflicts arising from domestic violence. Only 8 % of the students accept «the possibility of inter-ethnic conflict».
Thus, comparing the results of the studies done in 2011 and 2014, we can see that the Republic of Mari El has been stable in terms of inter-ethnic and interreligious relations.
Expert survey revealed the following results:
1) the absence of significant differences in the experts’ assessment no matter what sector they represent (government, society, mass media, science);
2) the majority of the respondents (80 %) evaluated the social and economic situation in the Republic as stable, “normal”;
3) the most active in defending their ethnic interests were the Tatars (30 % of the experts), then - representatives of the Central Asia and the Caucuses (15 %), the titular nation Mari and the Russian (5 %);
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4) 30 % of the experts rated intensity of migration flows in the Republic as low, 25 % - as average, 10 % -as high, the other 35 % could not give such evaluation;
5) the majority (85 %) of the respondents denied the existence of xenophobic attitudes towards migrants and ethnic groups living in the Republic;
6) the majority (90 %) of the experts called the traditional national holidays (Peledysh Pairem, Sabantuy, Russian birch) and the Days of national cultures as successful initiatives and activities aimed at interethnic and interconfessional consent;
7) the majority (90 %) of the respondents rated the linguistic situation as normal and stable;
8) the majority (95 %) of the respondents considered the religious situation in the Republic as peaceful and stable;
9) the majority (85 %) of the respondents denied the connection of ethnic or religious factors with criminality. They stressed that «criminality has no face», «all the crimes have no nations, they are committed by individuals»;
10) the majority (90 %) of the respondents noted the absence of ethnic or religious groups whose rights and interests are infringed in the Republic;
11) all the experts agreed with the fact that the federal governmental policies have a great influence on the inter-ethnic and inter-confessional situation in the Republic;
12) 100 % of the respondents rated the inter-ethnic and inter-confessional situation in the Republic as stable and normal.
Thus, we can draw a conclusion that the survey indicates a stable situation in the Republic in the field of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations and the absence of obvious signs of potential conflicts on this ground.
We can enumerate several factors of preservation and development of tolerance in a diverse society.
The first factor is state regional policy. The Mari El Republic is one of the first regions of the Russian Federation which adopted the target-oriented approach in the state national policy. The work in the field of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations is carried out under the leadership of special Governmental Commission. It interacts with the Commission on the State Languages of the Mari El Republic, religious organizations, the Advisory Council on Religious Associations and the Council on Ethnic Affairs.
In 2012 the Mari El government approved a new state program “State national policy of the Mari El Republic for 2013-2020” and its subprogram called
“Ethnic and cultural development, inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations in the Mari El Republic” [4].
The program is aimed at:
- creating highly favourable conditions in the Republic for meeting national interests of all the peoples living in its territory,
- ensuring their full participation in the political, social, economic and cultural development,
- preserving interethnic peace and harmony in the region.
The functions of monitoring, regulation and coordination of this program are assigned on the Ministry of Culture, Press and on Ethnic Affairs.
Thus, the Mari El Republic can be currently characterized as the territory where three main ethnoses and three main religions successfully coexist. Inter-ethnic and inter-confessional contradictions are expressed rather weakly due to competent state policy of regional authorities.
The implementation of above mentioned programs also requires the implementation of intercultural education which is a basic approach to teaching representatives of various ethnic groups. The main strategy of intercultural education is teaching people of different nationalities in one and the same group (in school, class, team etc.). It provides direct communication and interpenetration between cultures and communities with different identity.
Intercultural education is provided through:
- studying the Russian language, foreign (English, French, German, etc.) and native language in different educational institutions (kindergarten, school, college, university);
- studying the history of civilizations, history of Russia and foreign countries (in school, college, university);
- studying philosophical theories and the history of science within special study programs (in university, post-graduate education);
- studying ethnology, ethno-psychology and ethno-pedagogics (in college, university, post-graduate education).
Students of different nationalities are included in intercultural education system of the Mari El Republic [7; 10]. However, the representatives of the titular nation (Mari) and other ethnic groups living in places of their compact residence (e. g., the Tatars in the Paranginsky region of the Republic) have the opportunity to organize the educational process in their native language.
The number of pupils and students involved in the process of education carried out in a native
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language in recent years remains stable. The provision of such education is determined by the demand or the desire of stakeholders (parents, pupils). In addition, pupils in secondary schools study the Mari language as the obligatorily subject in the amount of 1-2 hours per week. Another subject, studied in all schools, is the History and Culture of Mari El. So, in the 2013-2014 academic year the Mari language as a native language was studied by 18 % of the pupils, as a state language - by 45 %, the subject «History and culture of the people of Mari El» - by 78 % of pupils.
The opportunity of implementing intercultural education in schools and universities is stipulated in the Federal State Educational Standards [3; 11]. For example, at Mari State University Bachelor’s students doing their degree in the field “Psycho-pedagogical education” study such disciplines as: Russian Language and Culture of Speech; Culture and Intercultural Interaction in the Modern World; History and Culture of the Mari People; Mari language, and also some elective courses (Cultural Studies, Ethnology, World Art Culture).
In 2012 the Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics was introduces as a compulsory subject for all the Russian fourth-graders. The main ideas of Orthodox, Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish churches are discussed with pupils within its program.
The ideas of intercultural education are implemented not only among schoolchildren and students [2; 5; 13], but cover all groups of citizens: working youth, adults and elderly people. Here are some examples of educational activities of that kind carried out in Mari State University:
1. Training and certification exams in Russian as a foreign language carried out in the framework of the state testing system of Russian language proficiency to obtain Russian citizenship and working visa.
2. Annual 3-week program “Summer school of Mari language and culture”. Its participants are citizens of the Russian Federation, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, Austria, Finland and other countries.
3. Professional development programs for state and municipal employees “Strengthening of interethnic and interreligious harmony in the Russian Federation”, “Organization of counteraction to extremism in Mari El”.
4. Educational program “University of the third age” designed for adult learners, who aim to maintain an active life position, aspire to get continuing personal development and communication. More than 1000 adults have been trained in Mari state university so far.
Despite the successful experience of implementing the intercultural approach in education, we face some current challenges, for example, the problem of teaching immigrant children in schools and finding best practices for them. Socio-economic features of the Republic account for the low percentage of migrant families. They are mainly the representatives of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and other CIS countries.
The main problem for children from such families - learning difficulties - appears because children either do not understand Russian, or have a very poor knowledge of it. Today there are no state programmes aimed at working with foreign speakers’ children, no tutorials, and specialized centers for migrants.
As a rule, the staff of the centers for social and psychological help do not have specific training for working with families of migrants. There are no programmes for their adaptation to the new socio-cultural conditions, no specialized centers and training courses for migrants.
One of the ways of solving these problems is the development of an Intercultural Educational Platform in Mari State University within the Tempus project ALLMEET. This project entitled “Actions of Lifelong Learning Addressing Multicultural Education and Tolerance in Russia” is supported by the European Commission for 2013-2016 [1].
Summarizing all said above one should stress that the results of the research indicate a problem-free interethnic and inter-confessional situation in the Republic of Mari El. The last decades are characterized by interethnic consent and tolerant relations among the representatives of different nationalities and faiths.
Mari El Republic is one of the most favorable regions for the regulation of interethnic relations, which are not burdened by any historical conflict factors. Today it can be characterized as a territory with many ethnic groups and religions. But ethnic and religious contradictions are expressed rather poorly. According to the first ranking of international threats, conducted in the Russian Federation, Mari El Republic is one of the prosperous regions, where interethnic peace and consent are preserved and the tendency towards mutual development and tolerant attitudes is shown.
A stable interethnic situation has been maintained here for centuries in spite of such a multi-ethnic composition of the population. It became possible due to the competent public policy in the social sphere and education. The Government of the Republic of
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Mari El, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture encourage the implementation of necessary and obligatory activities supporting various nationalities, the introduction of knowledge of various cultures to the process of education and the development of respect to each other.
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Н. С. Морова, Н. А. Бирюкова, Л. В. Лежнина, С. А. Домрачева
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N. S. Morova, N. A. Biryukova,
L. V. Lezhnina, S. A. Domracheva
Mari State University, Yoshkar-Ola
Development of cultural diversity and tolerance
IN A MULTI-ETHNIC REGION: A CASE STUDY OF MARI EL REPUBLIC
The article is dedicated to the problem of tolerance preservation under the conditions of national and cultural diversity of civil society on the example of the Republic of Mari El - a multi-ethnic region of the Russian Federation. On the basis of the analysis of earlier pedagogical and sociological research the ethnic, linguistic and confessional diversity of the Republic population has been described. The study of tolerance motivation of different population groups including teachers, students, experts, representatives of public authorities, civil society organizations and the mass media has been presented. A detailed description has been given to the most important conditions of the formation and tolerance manifestation in a multi-ethnic region: state policy and inter-cultural approach to education. The research has indicated that the present state of civil society in the Republic is characterized by the real inter-cultural tolerance being formed under the conditions of multinational diversity of the region due to the sensible politics of the regional government in social sphere, culture and education.
Keywords: diversity, tolerance, state regional policy, edication, intercultural approach.
