Ethnopedagogical practices of preservation and reproduction of the traditional culture of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North and Siberia (the case of Krasnoyarsk region)

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the study is determined by the search for new pedagogical technologies for the formation, preservation and reproduction of traditional cultural values in the socio-cultural space of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North and Siberia. The social transformation processes experienced today by these nations predetermine the need to change the main pedagogical approaches to preservation of their traditional culture. The purpose of the article is the analysis of modern ethnopedagogical practices aimed at formation of favourable educational environment for children belonging to indigenous minorities of the North and Siberia living in Krasnoyarsk region. Materials and methods: 1) fieldwork in places of compact residence of Dolgans, Selkups, Evenks, 2) quantitative analysis of the content of 14 web resources devoted to the traditional culture of Evenks, Dolgans, Selkups; 3) organisation of 12 semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of education and culture of small-numbered indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia; 4) questioning of 650 Evenks living in Krasnoyarsk region; 5) comparative analysis of the factual survey results. Results. A survey of 7 northern settlements of Krasnoyarsk region inhabited by indigenous minorities of the North and Siberia was carried out; the survey revealed a low degree of native language proficiency among the Evenks in the age group under 19 years old (in 1997, the Evenk language was considered native by 6.7% of the Evenks in this group; in 2017, the Evenk language was not deemed by this group participants to be their native language; in 1997, the Russian language was considered to be the native language by 88.2% of the Evenks aged 10 to 19, in 2017 – by 91.7%). Over the 10 years, the share of Evenks who are fluent in the Evenk language decreased twofold (from 31.1% in 1997 to 15.1% in 2017). The overall expert assessment formed through analysis of 12 semi-structured interviews makes it possible to conclude on the change in the ethnopedagogical practices of the indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia in studying the native languages, in connection with “retirement” of the native language from the practice of everyday communication. All of the 12 experts recorded the shift of the educational practices of the indigenous minorities, as to the study of their native languages, to the similar practice involving the mastery of foreign languages. The overwhelming majority of experts (10 out of 12) believe that the observed efficiency of school education in the North and the Arctic is connected with the development of online education and increased availability of federal educational platforms for schoolchildren of northern settlements. Some of the ethnopedagogical practices are being transferred to cyberspace. The traditional culture of the indigenous minorities of the North and Siberia assumes virtual forms characteristic of the modern informational Internet environment.