«School» Everyday Life of the Early Twentieth Century: Based on the Materials of M. N. Khangalov’s Diaries

Abstract

The relevance of the research is determined by the enduring significance of a talented scientist M. N. Khangalov for the Buryat people, whose legacy is huge and still not fully studied. The diaries of Matvey Nikolaevich of the beginning of the XX century are of great scientific interest. The diaries also allow to judge his pedagogical activity, which has become for the scientist-ethnographer not only the main income, but also the manifestation of concern for the Buryat people. For a partial analysis of school daily life of Irkutsk governorate Bilchir district presented in diary entries, attention should be paid to the importance of the demonstration historical processes through the prism of personal perception and the need of using cross-cultural methods and methods of research of memoirs, in particular logical and textual analysis with a clear adherence to general historical principles. M. N. Khangalov in his diaries devoted special attention to certain problems of the educational process, the main of which was the problem of pedagogical staff such as the predominance of Russian teachers in the school who do not know the Buryat language and some of them do not perform their duties in good faith. The physical punishment of children and the need to expand classrooms because of the number pupils’ growth also reflected an awareness of the need for education and the growing confidence in schools, as well as an increase in Buryat teaching staff. As Director of the school, M. N. Khangalov recorded the complexity of school conditions in the national region, its material and organizational instability because of schools were kept at the expense of Steppe Duma and Russian teachers were not interested in coming to Buryat schools, as well as their hesitation in making decisions with moral and ethical considerations. In General, the diaries under study are an important document, which significantly complements, expands and clarifies the published heritage, and points to the need for further study of this ego source.