EVENT-DRIVEN EDUCATION OF NORTHERNERS IN THE NOMADIC ARCTIC REGION

Abstract

Introduction. The nomadic peoples of the North, belonging to the Arctic world, can be regarded as a unique result of the development dynamics of world civilization. For many centuries, they managed to preserve a distinctive way of life and a nomadic lifestyle as the basis for the evolution of Arctic culture. Today, specialists are concerned about the traditional cultural norms, values, and ethnic characteristics of the northern territory peoples, established for centuries and which have now been partly lost. The goal is to characterize the educational process in the modern nomadic Arctic region. Materials and methods. Pedagogical literature analysis, the study of normative documentation regarding the education, systematization of the experience and practice from preschool and basic educational organizations in Yakutia, participant observation, questionnaire survey, expert assessment, use of the obtained results in the pedagogical practice. Results and Discussion. This study was carried out based on the following: regional educational space monitoring (the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)), community and family education surveys, the study of the relevance of national holidays, and the demand for nomadic educational structures. The study of inherent upbringing processes among the peoples of the northern territories expands the existing ideas about the variety of means and forms of upbringing and new opportunities for individuality and subjectivity formation among Northerners in the harsh conditions of the Arctic region. The intertwining of cultures among the peoples inhabiting modern Yakutia pushes us to study the educational traditions using ethnocultural experience. Ethnocultural traditions are passed from generation to generation and are considered to be historically formed and transmitted through behavior patterns and folk-education practices, which include behavioral rules of everyday life, lifestyle, occupation traditions, social environment, systems of value orientations, spirituality, and language. Creating preschool educational space in a nomadic structure and a nomadic basic education organization in the Arctic region with nomadic settlements is analyzed. It is substantiated that a nomadic preschool’s educational space is considered an environment where self-organization is the value-oriented meetings between a teacher and a child, pedagogical events with the participation of children and parents, and other adults who are significant for the child. The study of the upbringing history among the peoples of the northern territories expands the understanding of the diversity in upbringing practices. The intertwining of cultures pushes us to update the ethnocultural experience. The choice of the language of communication between subjects of the educational space plays an important role and affects the formation of labor skills, and guarantees the development of traditional folk crafts in the Arctic territories with harsh local climatic conditions. The study revealed original upbringing practices associated with the use, for example, of the Even traditional calendar, folklore texts, ditties (keinairsya), riddles (tumta), sayings (bodu), myths, and songs (Balyh). Conclusion. The upbringing process of the northerner schoolchild can be represented by a logical sequence, expressed in the form of a chain: family, community, preschool, and basic school upbringing. The chain can be disseminated into different territorial entities. The nomadic way of life being revived today must have legal legitimacy justified by the current state legislation and be recognized as a free choice of the Northerner’s life path.