Russian language as a means of acculturation: development of Russian-foreign schools in the Orenburg Region in the middle of the XIX century

Abstract

The paper analyzes the main development trends of the so-called Russian-foreign schools in the Orenburg Region in the middle of the XIX century. The author shows that five primary Russian-Kyrgyz schools functioned in the Orenburg Region in the early 1860s. The Orenburg archive material drawn to the analysis showed that up to the introduction of the Rules of 1870 there was no well-thought-out policy and system for education in the foreign environment in the Russian Empire. The paper concludes that the administration of the region initiated the creation of schools for foreigners with a compulsory study of the Russian language long before these Rules. This was a feature of the Orenburg Region, connected with its border and border position. It is proved that the educational institutions for foreigners that arose on the territory of the Orenburg Region were brought to life by the needs of the regional administration in translators and lower employees. The conclusion is made that the problem of counteracting tatarization (changing the identity of the Kazakh inhabitants of the Orenburg province to the Tatar one) was extremely important for the regional administration. In addition the border authorities needed Kazakhs who knew the Russian language because they were interested in establishing a stable communication with the inhabitants of the steppe. It is proved that in the Orenburg Region there has been a systematic, well-thought-out course for creating a system of foreigners training only since the 1870s.