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CHARACTERISTICS OF AESTHETIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOL BY MEANS OF NATIONAL FOLK TRADITIONS A. Zh. Nuralieva
In modern society the interest to comprehend and actively propagate national-cultural traditions embodied in original genres of folklore and family customs, ceremonies and rituals, is growing from strength to strength. In the public consciousness the understanding of folk culture’s true role and it’s great spiritual-moral purpose in improving and developing society, is gradually maturing. The road to revival has always lain in the strengthening of society’s spiritual roots, referencing monuments of folk culture, which in the complex process of the past often replaced abstract enlightenment. In modern conditions the onset of folk art as mass culture demands special attention and propagation. As national-cultural heritage, embedded in the human genetic code, it promotes the formation of historical memory, creative thinking and moral beliefs. This is included in the spiritual value of folk art.
The modern comprehensive school fundamentally strives to improve the aesthetic upbringing of the coming generation, to find the reserves to perfect the creative person’s development on the basic traditions of folk education. The best pedagogical collectives widely in use are traditional forms of work, such as school museums, clubs, choreographic groups, vocal and theatrical groupings, etc. Considerable attention is given to the increase of classes’ aesthetic orientation, the search for new forms of out-of-class work by familiarizing students with the history of their people, by mastering skills of the performing arts, by means of folk art and handicraft, the propagation of spiritual heredity and by protecting historical monuments and culture.
The task of combining the use of folk art for school education is not confined to mastering a specific set of knowledge. It is a question of shaping the school children’s inner world, as well as mastering folk art technique. Thus isolated, pupils’ private impressions should be transformed into a complete representation of the world of folk art. Naturally, exclusively employing literature, the fine arts or music cannot fulfill this task. Moreover, it requires a combined approach, including both in-class, and extracurricular methods of educational influence. The combination of inclass, extracurricular and those work methods in between (optional extracurricular reading lessons) should be directed at the students’
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comprehension, at the systems of folk creativity, and the different approaches of entering into it. Kazakh national creativity has always included music and poetry, traditions and ceremonies, elements of theatre (drama and singing), as well as instrumental music. Aqyns, Zhyrshy and Dombrysty all possessed high associative abilities, sensitive perception of their surroundings, tenacious and long-term memory, promoting the preservation of Kazakh people’s traditions regarding many types and genres of folk art.
In various genres of creative folk, such as song, the interdependency of arts is organic. Owing to the successive communication of national musical traditions, traditional poetic art has survived to this day. "A song is an still living witness of the folk lifestyle, of working life, of cults, ceremonies and games”, wrote B.Asafev. In the past, Kazakh people had a patrimonial way of life and every family event was celebrated with the corresponding ceremony, which in itself formed a basis for developing tunes. Thus, songs were a kind of explanation and assessment during ceremonies. We know of several examples of ceremonial action belonging to already existing rituals, having been entirely constructed according to original performances. During weddings, for example, Aitys (lyrical singing competitions), Aqyns (improvisers) and Dombrashy-Kjujshi would visit. At the beginning of a wedding they would sing the song "Toi bastar” (opening of the celebration). This ceremonial song represented a certain interpretation of the action happening. From then onwards any ceremony was a short summarized cycle, according to which songs accompanied different kinds of actions. In the Kazakh family, great attention was paid to the bride’s song, performed after the farewell ceremony; "Synsu” ("Crying”), "Koshtasu” ("Farewell”), etc. At weddings "Zhar-zhar” and "Aryz olen” ("the Song: the complaint”) was sung while the bride was being brought to the groom’s house. Usually "Betashar” (literally - "to show the face of the bride”) is inherently instructive in character.
The most widespread songs in the musical world were lyrical songs written by national Aqyn-composers, such as Birzhan-Sal, Abaj, Ahan-Sere, Baluan-Sholak, Majra, Zhajau Musa, and others. The Kazakh lyrical folk songs, along with common ritual tunes exist to this day. Widespread tunes about loss ("Zhiyrma bes” - "Twenty five” - a song about irrevocably lost youth), for example, as well as about the nomadic cycle ("Auylym koship barady”), about everyday life ("Akzhelen”), etc. Kazakh national lyrical folklore includes many love songs. They bear the mark of domestic relations in the past. Kazakh song culture was a direct source of
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knowledge, kindness, beauty, of the sublime and even today carries rich educational potential.
The ancient tradition of mourning over the deceased remains to this day. The songs "Dauys” (wail) and "Zhylau” (lament) entered the funereal-memorial cycle of songs. These songs did not only carry ritual character, but also aesthetic functions.
National cultural traditions as peoples’ historically developed experience in the field of training and education, aimed at the forming of highly moral individuals, are a people’s outlook which is being passed from generation to generation by means of songs, qui, aitys, eposes, dancing, ceremonies, rituals and holidays.
Thus, school pupils’ aesthetic education should be based on national cultural traditions, which posses huge educational potential, most effective in promoting the process of forming a person as part of an ethno-culture, who is capable of being integrated into the system of national and global cultures, who is focused on understanding dialectic essence - from the national to the universal.
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