THE FUNCTIONING OF THE MINSK POLISH PEDAGOGICAL COLLEGE (1922 – 1937) IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL-CULTURAL BUILDING IN THE SOVIET BELARUS

Abstract

The article examines the problem of training teachers for the Polish schools of Soviet Belarus in the 1920s and 1930s, little studied in Belarusian historiography. The materials of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, the State Archives of the Minsk Region and press materials were first introduced into scientific circulation. The purpose of the article is to identify, on the basis of documents introduced for the first time in scientific circulation, the essential characteristics of the functioning of the Minsk Polish Pedagogical College in the context of the socio-political, socio-economic, national and cultural life of the BSSR of the 1920s – 1930s. The following methods were used in the work: historical-genetic (the features of the functioning of the technical school are considered at various stages of its formation and development), historical-systemic (the educational institution is considered as a complex system, the functioning of various elements of which was influenced by the economic and national-cultural policy of Soviet Belarus), a method of content analysis (the most frequent semantic constructions in the documents were noted, and then the results were interpreted). The principal conclusion is made that, for a number of objective and subjective reasons, the technical school has not fully fulfilled function for in mass preparation of the Polish-speaking intelligentsia, loyal to Soviet authorities. Many areas of national construction in the Soviet Belarus were decorative, did not have a clear plan and staffing, and were aimed exclusively at ideological expansion against neighboring states. The transition to the principles of internationalization in cultural building, the intensification of political repression led to the liquidation of the Minsk Polish Pedagogical College in 1937. The article provides data on the functioning of national pedagogical technical schools in Soviet Russia, which confirm the general features in the national building of various Soviet republics.