CC BY
6Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 3 (2014 7) 451-456
УДК 39(571.52)
Ethnic Culture and Value System of Students (Based on the Material of the Republic of Tuva)
Herel-ool D-N Oorshak and S. Ya. Oorshak*
Kyzyl Pedagogical Institute of the Tuvan State University 36 Lenin Str., Kyzyl, 667000, Russia
Received 07.10.2013, received in revised form 15.12.2013, accepted 16.01.2014
In pedagogical science many scientists have studied ethnic culture, formation of ethnopedagogical culture and value system of students on the basis ofphilosophical, axiological and cultural foundations ofpedagogy. The authors of this article continue the analysis of theoretical resources developed in this field, compilation of empirical data on the importance of ethnic culture for students and its compliance with knowledge in this area, as well as identification of the value orientations of students of the Kyzyl Pedagogical Institute of the Tuvan State University.
Keywords: ethnic culture, importance of ethnic culture, values, value orientations.
Ethnic culture is a subject of numerous studies of Russian scientists. Their attention is drawn to different aspects of ethnic identity, for example, a traditional way of life, interconnection of lifestyle and culture (Yu.V. Bromley), the impact of modernization of lifestyle on the originality of ethnocultural environment (A.L. Gayzhutis), study of history of folk culture (A.S. Mylnikov), ethnocultural traditions in a family (M.Ya. Ustinova), etc. A.S. Karmin's studies show that "in culture of a developed nation there is always an ethnic component -culture of ethnoses (one or more) that the nation was formed of.
Ethnic (folk) culture is the most ancient layer of national culture. It covers mainly the sphere of everyday life and carries "customs of ancestors". Its features are manifested in specifics of food
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* Corresponding author E-mail address: herel-ool@mail.ru
and clothing, folklore, folk crafts, folk medicine, etc..." (Karmin, 1997). The author mentions such characteristics of the ethnic culture as conservatism, succession going back to the distant past and focus on the preservation of "roots". At the same time, it is noted that the "ethnic culture is the original basis of national culture, it is a source of the national language (which becomes a literary language). Writers borrow plots and characters from it, composers borrow music tones and rhythms, architects - design styles and techniques of building decoration. The originality and uniqueness of the "face" of any national culture largely depend on its ancient, centuries-old traditions. The author also notes the complexity and inconsistency of a relationship between national culture in general and ethnic culture as its oldest component (Karmin, 1997).
The researchers also reveal that ethnic (folk) culture is substantial and folklore occupies a significant place in its content (L.N. Kogan, Novosibirsk).
According to S.N. Artanovsky, both shifts in people's life and succession of its development are naturally imprinted in culture. Culture of a particular people, ethnic culture is a way of its life; it is its clothing, houses, food, folklore, religious views, beliefs, language, and much more. Ethnic culture is all that belongs to the people as a peculiar historical and anthropological formation that changes throughout history and yet remains in these changing forms some of the more or less stable characteristics. Thus, we can talk about culture of the Eskimos, Polynesians, Russian culture, French culture - they all are ethnic cultures, for they belong to a specific nation that has its own ethnos and has created an appropriate cultural complex" (Artanovsky, 1975). When describing ethnic culture and its characteristics, V.M. Mezhuyev notes that "it does not have, perhaps, the main feature of the national culture -the ability to correlate, compare, weigh itself with other cultures, to live with knowledge that it is not alone, but one of the many cultures and exists only in conjunction with them and thanks to them. For this purpose it, at least, needs to discover these cultures, join their "family". It is not that easy, given that its objective is to preserve and reproduce in an unaltered form a natural foundation that any ethnos is based on and that exists regardless of anything else. Ethnic culture allows each nation to be on their own, but it is insufficient to live with other nations and contact with them. When such life becomes a historical need, the time of national cultures will come". V.M. Mezhuyev showed that the transition to the national culture "will become possible as a result of fundamental changes in people's lives, their entry into a new stage of historical development breaking through the narrow horizon of their
separate ethnical existence. Nations should go through this spiritual revolution so that this transition could take place. And the invention of writing was this revolution. And it is national culture that would later emerge in the context of the written cultural tradition" (Mezhuyev, 1999).
Starting from the mid-1990s, researchers have been carrying out numerous studies on the ethnocultural development of peoples in Russia. They have begun to develop and use different techniques for the study of ethnic component in the culture of peoples. According to M.E. Kogan, "Ethnocultural settings can be found in various ways: by tests, expert evaluation or with the help of "indicators"-questions, etc. (Kogan, 1982).
The emergence and rapid development of mass media have a significant impact on the individuality of ethnocultural environment. New means of communication influence on people's way of live and its content; they are "wedged into the sphere of value orientations and modify some of our traditions and conceptions of the world" (A.L. Gayzhutis).
Ethnic culture, ethnic values and value orientations of today's youth need to be studied in their interconnection. The study of values and value system of young people in the educational process differs by an interdisciplinary nature. For example, I.Yu. Kuznetsova notes that "one of the conditions of the society's survival and its prospect is the position and activities of the youth in the present and the nearest future. What values the youth of modern Russia accepts and rejects, how they connect with the values of the "fathers" who had been predominating in the society for a long time - that is the main problem in socialization of young people today..." (Kuznetsova, 2001). Combination of young people's and "fathers'" values occurs naturally, since family is not only a unit of society, but also an important factor in socialization. Ethnocultural traditions are passed to the younger
generation, particularly in a family. The transfer of ethnocultural traditions (in household labour, in traditional amateur activities (handicraft)) goes on in modern families. Family continues to play a role in the transition of other forms of culture, particularly the traditional, spiritual culture (folklore genres). However, it is noted that, in this case, the position of the family is somewhat weakened. This is due to the modernization of the cultural environment. At the same time, changes in socio-cultural processes have an impact on the younger generation and the formation of their value orientations, ideology, moral and cultural ideals. I.Yu. Kuznetsova examines the impact on the process of socialization of different social institutions - schools, student groups, churches; attitude of young people to a family, leisure and work, politics and religion, as well as their assessment of the democratic changes and values of different spheres of life. (Kuznetsova, 2001).
The problem of values and goals of education is also analyzed in the writings of Professor M.I. Shilova who notes that "the value system fixes universal human values, based on which the social regulation and purposeful actions of people unfold". She has developed a method to identify the importance of values that can be tested among students (Shilova, 2003).
E.A. Danilova also notes that, traditionally, one of the leading roles in the process of socialization belongs to the social institution of education. The youth of today highly appreciate the availability of education to fulfil their life strategies. At the same time the specificity of socialization of students is that representatives of various nations are taught in groups, therefore, ethno-psychological characteristics of their communication and ethnocultural traditions, originality of language and customs are taken into account (Danilova, 2009). It is also necessary to continue to identify ethnocultural value orientations of students. "A human, a child
lives and learns in a particular socio-cultural environment, belongs to a particular ethnos. In this regard, culturological approach is transformed into ethnopedagogical. This transformation shows the unity of the international (universal), national and individual" (V.A. Slastenin).
It is known that the category of values has become the subject of philosophical understanding in Russian science since the '60s of the 20th century, when the interest in problems of a human, morality, humanism, a subjective factor in general has increased. "The category of values is applicable to the world of a human and society. The concept of value cannot exist beyond or without a human, because it is a special human type of significance of objects and phenomena... In society any event is meaningful one way or another, any phenomenon fulfils its individual role. However, only positively significant events and phenomena associated with the social progress can be applied to values". Successful socialization of the younger generation in higher education institution, where the formation of values continues, also holds considerable importance in achieving the social progress.
According to the words of V.M. Mezhuev, "the transition to the national culture" has been gradually carried out starting from the period of foundation of The Tuvan People's Republic in 1921. The difficulties of this transition for the Tuvan people and spiritual culture of Tuva are examined by A.K. Kuzhuget. However, the ethnic originality of Tuvan culture is retained. The rich content of ethnocultural traditions, ethnic pedagogy and their application in the modern system of education are studied by a number of researchers (M.B. Kenin-Lopsan, K.B. Salchak, A.S. Shaaly, T.T. Munzuk and others).
Some results of our experimental work show that the significance of the aspects of ethnic culture for students is low (9.2 % of students), average (67.9 % of students) and high (22.7 %).
These are the results of only one group. They show that by the end of the experimental work the significance of ethnic culture corresponds with knowledge in this field. Based on these data, at the implementation of socio-pedagogical work not only in schools, but also in terms of higher educational institutions, it is necessary to continue to form value orientations in relation to ethnic values, to reveal the importance of values and their content so that students could comprehend and learn them during their study. We continue to collect empirical data on the significance of ethnic culture for students and its compliance with knowledge in this field: as in previous years, the significance level remains high at the beginning of the course "Ethnopedagogy". In this case, the first-year students of the 2011-2012 year showed an evident compliance of the significance with knowledge in this area, especially at such aspects of ethnic culture as language and folklore.
Conclusions: In Russian science the issues of the study of ethnic culture and value orientations are considered in the interconnection with ethnic values. The study of the value system formation of young people is based on an interdisciplinary approach.
Culture of Tuva, its forms and types, historically-established ethnic originality, ethnic values are examined by a number of researchers, including Doctors of Historical Sciences, Cultural Studies, Art History and Philosophy N.V. Abayev, M.B. Kenin-Lopsan, A.K. Kuzhuget, M.V. Mongush, VYu. Suzukey, O.M. Khomushku and others. Based on the ideas of A.S. Karmin, we can say that the works of these scientists are "the product of creativity of
the most talented representatives of the nation, educated and knowledgeable people".
In order to form the ethnopedagogical culture of students, we have been studying different aspects of ethnic culture of the Tuvan people for many years. Considering the fact that in the theoretical papers of the best scientists in pedagogy and modern educational researches it was proved that folk knowledge is passed to the younger generation only within the ethnocultural traditions (K.D. Ushinsky, G.N. Volkov and others). A survey among students showed that they can identify the degree of importance of the aspects of ethnic culture and value orientations with the help of techniques. But among them there are those who still find it difficult to demonstrate knowledge in the given field. As a result of a dedicated work in the educational process of the special course "Ethnopedagogy" that studies the ethnic originality of Tuvan culture and other peoples living in Tuva, the students start to show a higher level of knowledge in the field of ethnic culture.
It should be noted that the content of the spiritual and moral development and education is the values stored in the cultural, ethnic, family and other social and cultural traditions passed from generation to generation. According to G.A. Stanchinsky, "the spiritual formation of a personality occurs by acquiring cultural and historical experience of ethnic norms and values of his/her nation". Thus, a collective study of ethnic culture, values and value orientations of students in their interconnection in the Higher Education Institution of the Republic of Tuva should be carried out.
References
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Этническая культура и ценностные ориентации студентов (на материале Республики Тыва)
Х. Д-Н. Ооржак, С.Я. Ооржак
Кызылский педагогический институт Тувинского государственного университета Россия, 667000, Республика Тыва, Кызыл, ул. Ленина, 36
В педагогической науке многие ученые осуществляют изучение этнической культуры, формирование этнопедагогической культуры, ценностных ориентаций студентов на базе философских, аксиологических и культурных основ педагогики. Авторы данной статьи продолжают анализ теоретических источников, разработанных в этом направлении, обобщение результатов эмпирических данных о значимости этнической культуры для студентов и ее соответствия знаниям в данной сфере, а также выявление ценностных ориентаций студентов Кызылского педагогического института Тувинского государственного университета.
Ключевые слова: этническая культура, значимость этнической культуры, ценности, ценностные ориентации.
