We Are Different but We Are Together: Implementing the Project Azbuka v Rossii

Abstract

We Are Different but We Are Together: Implementing the Project Azbuka v Rossii Guriya Osmanova (bio) Translated by Natalia Malkina Such was the slogan for the educational project “Azbuka v Rossii” (“ABC Book in Russia”) that started in St. Petersburg in 2017. Through introducing young children to the literature, cultures, traditions, and languages of diverse people, the project’s goal was to develop positive experiences with and attitudes toward different nationalities living in Russia and beyond. The project title reflects the specifics of preschool childhood as it is exactly at this period of life that children first learn about Azbuka (the ABC book). Every child in Russia between the age of five and six knows that Azbuka is a book that is a “home” for letters. The letters are numerous, and each one is important and indispensable; should even one disappear, so would many words and as a result, conversation would be impoverished. Kids know that all letters in Azbuka “live” together, just as friendly people of over 190 nationalities live in multinational Russia. During the last two years, preschoolers in St. Petersburg have participated in the project Azbuka v Rossii through reading folk tales, singing, drama, and other activities as they gained knowledge of national cultures and everyday living within different nationalities. Children widen their cultural horizons, develop friendly and welcoming attitudes toward others, and acquire the skills necessary for intercultural communication. Content and teaching materials in the Azbuka project are rich in information and have been developed with young children in mind. The materials are created to spark positive feelings and experiences in children as well as interest and respect. Children’s parties and festivals, book readings, and other activities add to children’s happy feelings and attitudes. Click for larger view View full resolution To facilitate cooperation and the exchange of teaching experiences and materials between teachers participating in the project, a networking group was established in the vkontakte, a popular Russian social media platform. Teachers use it to present teaching materials they have developed, exchange ideas, and share their pedagogical outcomes and discoveries as [End Page 67] well as photos and videos. Anyone who is interested can get information about the project, its implementation, and materials on the group page in the vkontakte. The gem of the project is unique imaginative stitched letters, an idea developed and implemented in the kindergarten no. 30 jointly by parents, teachers, and children. Every letter of the Russian alphabet stands for a nationality that can be found in Russia or a country from which Russia has visitors. For example, the Russian letter “A” represents the face of a man, a highlander, in whom one can recognize a typical Avar, the inhabitant of Dagestan. This is a black-haired man with black eyes and a black moustache. The letter itself is made up of red fabric, the color often found in Avar national costumes, like a cherkeska (an Avar man’s jacket), for example. A white edging decorates the letter just like a white papakha (a man’s hat made of sheepskin) decorates an Avar’s head. The letter is also decorated with bright stars as a remembrance of the starred sky embracing mountaintops in Dagestan. These stars are a tribute to the memory of the great people of Dagestan, among whom the greatest star is the national poet Rasul Gamzatov. With the letter “M,” children learned about Mordovia, the part of Russia where Moksha and Erzyan peoples have long peacefully coexisted. A careful look at the stitched letter will reveal two dolls dressed in national costumes and holding hands. In the joined hands between them, they hold the coat of arms of the town of Saransk, the Mordovia capital. Through the letter, children not only learned about traditional Mordovian costumes and discovered that panar means a shirt, ponkst means trousers, and pulai is a wide loincloth for a female, but they also found out that Mordovia is famous for its valenki Mordovia, made in the village of Urusovo. Teachers asked, “How can parents get involved in the project?” Teachers from the kindergarten no. 17 suggested that parents together with their children should write down the names of all the...