ISSN 0798 1015

Vol. 38 (Nº 55) Year 2017. Páge 21

Staffing and Logistical Support of the Activities of Nomadic Schools of Tribal Communities in the North-East of Russia

Apoyo logístico y de personal de las actividades de las escuelas nómadas de comunidades tribales en el noreste de Rusia

Nikolai Dmitrievich NEUSTROEV 1; Anna Nikolaevna NEUSTROEVA 2; Ulyana Semenovna BORISOVA 3; Galina Alekseevna ZAKHAROVA 4; Maria Alekseevna ABRAMOVA 5

Received: 20/07/2017 • Approved: 27/08/2017

Content

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Discussion of the Results

4. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Bibliographic references

1. Introduction

The problem of the nomadic school of tribal communities in the North is especially actualized in the modern world. Along with the rapid pace of civilization development, there is another moderate, quiet life in the spirit of the ancestors’ traditions. This refers to the life of nomadic indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation in accordance with nature, under the laws of nature, traditional sustainable use of natural resources and environmental friendliness. The nomadic peoples of the North have created a unique and distinct culture, which is directly related to their traditional way of life and economic activities (hunting, fishing, reindeer breeding); avility to survive in the extreme conditions of the Arctic.

The indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation include 40 nations with population of no more than 50,000 people. Withn the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) 5 indigenous small peoples of the North live: Evenks, Evens, Yukagirs, Dolgans, and Chukchi. These peoples, keeping their traditional territories of economy management, graze deer, normandazing in the taiga and tundra. In the early 1990s, a new stage began in the development of self-determination of ethnic identity among indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North. In the post-Soviet period of perestroika, northern agriculture experienced a significant decline, especially, reindeer husbandry characterized by shard decrease in the reindeer livestock. New market relations and the associated social situation of those times pushed the small-numbered peoples of the North to return to their traditional origins, there emerged both an opportunity and the need to revive the original material and spiritual ethnic culture and native language. The young nomadic families and tribal communities appeared (Nikandrov, 2011).

The process of “ethnization” of education began to develop actively in the country. The problem of national education not only exceeded the limits of the theoretical analysis, passed beyond the framework of philosophy, cultural studies, ethnopsychology, it entered the sphere of “big politics”, “internal affairs and interstate relations”, because it contains a contradiction between the universal human mission of education and its similarly inherent function of the mechanism for transferring ethno-cultural heritage and preserving ethnic identity. It should be noted that the term “education of ethnic (national or linguistic) minorities” is used in scholarly pedagogical literature of foreign countries with a polyethnic composition of the population (Borisova, 2006).

In connection with a new stage in the development of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, nomadic educational institutions are created for children who carry on a nomadic lifestyle with their parents in the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to ensure their constitutional right to education. Today, 1,643 reindeer herders, more than 5,000 hunters and fishermen work in 134 reindeer herds, 229 indigenous communities, 18 state unitary enterprises, more than 50 enterprises and organizations of other forms of management of Yakutia; the absolute majority of these employees refer to indigenous small peoples.

The problem of the nomadic school of tribal communities in the North becomes especially relevant in the context of the implementation of Federal State Education Standards (FSES) for the new generation. A school of this type, as a mobile form of the school network, which provides access to education for the Northern children in the conditions of nomadic and semi-nomadic way of life, is a socio-economic regularity. All these factors require an adequate approach to planning and organizing the activities of the nomadic school, taking into account the specific conditions of the North, the original traditional way of life of the Arctic indigenous peoples.

The main goal of nomadic schools is to ensure the availability of education in nomadic conditions. But modern nomad schools are not prototypes of the first nomadic schools of the 1920-30s, which had a temporary nature of the educational institution before the creation of the education system in the places of compact residence of North indigenous small peoples. Modern nomadic schools are new models of mobile educational institutions that adapt the education system in nomadic conditions, using innovative distance learning technologies. On the basis of educational policy and guiding documents of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the life activity of tribal communities is maintained as a new form of original traditional economic activity in the conditions of market relations.

In the 1990s, the newly created nomadic schools faced many problems in organizing the educational process in the nomadizing conditions. These include the lack of a regulatory framework governing the management and organization of a nomadic school, poor material and technical equipment of schools and inadequate training facilities for nomadic conditions, and a shortage of professionally trained teaching staff. Nevertheless, the importance of the sociocultural role of the nomadic school entailed governmental and international attention to its problem. The social order of the peoples of the North on the need to organize nomadic schools for the development of their native language and authentic ethnic culture, the continuity of generations in traditional branches of economy management has become fully supported by the state (Gabisheva et al., 2007; Johannesson et al., 2002).

1.1. Literature Review  

The pedagogical literature lacks publications on this problem. Thus, the main areas of research on the organization and improvement of the activities of general education schools in the North were examined in the works of A.G. Bazanov and N.G. Kazansky (1939), F.F. Cronhaus (1948), A.A. Abakumov (1974), V.G. Arsenov (1977), L.N. Verin (1969), K.V. Sturov (1978), G.V. Sevil'gayaev (1972), V.I. Boyko (1988), and others.

Specifics of the activities of northern schools in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) were considered in the studies by pedagogic scholars: V.F. Afanasyev (1966), D.A. Danilov (1976), N.D. Neustroev (1990), U.A. Vinokurova (1997), P.P. Borisov (1974), E.P. Zhirkov (1992), and others.

In particular, the study of A.D. Marfusalova (2002) deals with the preservation and development of indigenous peoples of the North on the basis of the revival of traditional cultural and ideological values, centuries-old traditions of relationships with nature and a careful attitude towards it; improvement of environmental education and education of the rising generation; Z.S. Zhirkova (1998) examines the concept of organizational and pedagogical support for schools of indigenous peoples of the North, substantiating the real capacity of the school to revive the language, the culture of northern ethnic groups, stating that the variability of its types and kinds, the structure of the school year, the mode of operation are determined by the traditional way of life of the natives; N.D. Neustroev and V.N. Egorov (2003) consider the nomadic underfilled school as a mobile form of the school network in the conditions of the North, contributing to the creation of nomadic tribal communities, economic and cultural revival of the Arctic small peoples in modern socio-economic relations. Ex-President of the Russian Academy of Education, Academician N.D. Nikandrov maintains the thesis that “... socialization, surrounding reality have in many respects a stronger formative impact than education; i.e. the school of life is stronger than the school itself – which is understood widely, of course, – and if their influences are differently directed or simply not coordinated, a whole system of risks arises for the individual and society (Nikandrov, 2011; Ahonen et al., 2008).

In the context of democratization and humanization of society, the small peoples of the North underwent an active process of national revival. Many researchers justifiably note the negative consequences of the massive directional transfer of the Arctic nomadic peoples to the sedentary way of life, as a result of which they were detached from traditional branches of the economy (reindeer husbandry, hunting, and fishing). In turn, the children were separated from their native environment, family upbringing, active participation in the original life and activity of their ancestors due to children’s mass internment, keeping them in boarding schools with full state support.

1.2. The Purpose of the Article  

Purpose of the article is to theoretically and practically justify the authors’ conceptual provision that the authentic traditional livelihoods of tribal communities and the functioning of nomadic schools in the North are a socio-economic regularity. All these factors require initiating a scientifically substantiated search for determining approaches to the resource provision for nomadic schools and identifying the direction for taking managerial decisions with regard to the regulatory documents being currently in effect in the country. It is also true that the restoration of the traditional way of life and activities of Arctic indigenous small peoples is impossible without the revival of the nomadic school as an accessible and mobile form of the school network in the North conditions.

Historical, cultural, comparative-logical, sociocultural analysis of the topic and subject of the study makes it possible to reveal that in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) nomadic schools of tribal communities and peculiarities of their functioning in the severe conditions of the North are a factor of socio-economic regularity, which presupposes such methods and techniques of study; search for such content and forms of planning and organization of educational work that would adequately address problems of the nomadic school, such as the paucity of schoolchildren, the underfilled classes, the groups with mixed age, the phenomenon of psychological hyperprotection on the part of the teacher, some isolation and independence of school activities.

The creation of the Arctic model of education is connected with the new role of the northern regions in global development, the conceptualization of the Arctic as an international region, as one of the most resilient and adapted to extreme conditions of civilizations and a hypothesis about the possibility of acquiring Arctic knowledge as a model of viability, adaptation, survival in conditions of increasing global, environmental and technological problems (Robbek, 2007; Lovecraft et al., 2011; Rønning et al., 2008).

Initially, the Arctic education was primarily associated with the problems of ethnocultural (national) education, aimed at preserving and developing the existing ethno-cultures and meeting the needs of ethnic groups and ethnic self-identification. However, the current dynamics of cultural processes points to other trends. Today, private problems of ethno-cultural education have been replaced by more complex problems and tasks of intercultural Arctic communication, which is a reflection of the new national policy.

In the context of a new interpretation of meanings and tasks, the search for new targets, Arctic education implies expanding and deepening of cooperation both inside and outside the northern regions. At the same time, the interconnected indivisible triad “man-society-nature”, in which each element is equivalent, is considered as the basic reference point.

The notion of “indigenous peoples” is especially important in this triad since general stability can be achieved, first of all, in the intercultural study of the features of the worldview, ethno-cultural traditions, uniqueness, and consideration of these peoples’ mentality. The similarity of the experience, culture and professional views of the peoples inhabiting the Arctic serves as a guarantee of full-fledged cooperation and capacity buildup.

Arctic education as a way of obtaining and transmitting knowledge becomes an essential component of progress and modern civilization. Being largely freed of many acute problems of modern times – terrorism, lack of fresh water, etc. – the North is able to be the driving force in modern geopolitics; the experience of the North can give the world the desired models of development. Using Arctic educational programs developed in other countries, the positive experience of the Russian education system will lead to effective partnership and establishment of circumpolar contacts. Undoubtedly, awareness of key landmarks, resources, conditions and technologies of education are crucial.

The problem of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North (ISPN) is fundamental for Russia, because it reflects the huge world, the status of the economy, politics, spirituality and morality of the country, and the state as a whole. In particular, at the retreat session of the Presidium of the State Council in Salekhard, when discussing the ISPN problem, much was said about the quality of their life, the revival of the presidential program “Children of the North”. At the same meeting, President V.V. Putin spoke about the importance of the so-called “social responsibility of business” and “political will of local authorities.” “We should not lose the country’s greatest wealth,” said the President, referring to the northern culture and traditions of people (Robbek, 2007).

At the stage of a person’s new worldview formation conditioned by the influence of the current ecological situation, significant additions are possible in the theory and methodology of upbringing and education, in the formation of ecological consciousness, culture, responsibility for the destiny of the natural environment and vigorous creative activities in students (Borisova, 2006; Erickson et al., 1999).

The organization of the educational process in nomadic schools has its own specifics, i.e. it differs from ordinary rural schools, taking into account the nomadic way of life of the peoples of the North. The school determines the mode of educational activity for a year, depending on the type of traditional industry. Thus, reindeer herding has its own differences in natural and climatic conditions: taiga, mountainous taiga, mountainous tundra and tundra. In connection with this, the drafting of the curriculum, the plan for teaching and educational work, the salary classification for the educational support staff and teachers, the administrative and economic activities of the nomadic school are approved by the administration of the flagship basic school and the municipal educational authorities of a certain ulus (Lobok, 2007; Marker, 2011).

The specificity of the nomadic school activities is as follows:

• the ability of the participants of the educational process to live in extreme conditions of nomadism;

• conducting a lesson in classes with mixed age contingent;

• rotational teaching mode – learning by immersion in individual modules, distance learning (organizational and pedagogical support);

• parental responsibility for the education of their children, as well as the students themselves for their education, the conscious mastery of the self-education technology;

• training of multi-skilled teachers (able to teach several combined subjects);

• the variability of the schedule for the academic year with regard to the specifics of the traditional type of economic activities of the Arctic peoples;

• considering the specificity of the activities of nomadic schools, three main types of educational institutions were revealed: a nomadic school, a stationary nomadic school, a seasonal nomadic school. They have various combined forms of teaching: full-time, part-time and evening forms, as well as various forms of family education, self-education, and external studies.

It is possible to combine such forms of education as a rotational teaching mode – visits of subject teachers of the basic rural school to a nomadic school for a certain period of time, established in the training schedule – with the organization of immersion training and the use of intensive technology; distance learning – the education of children in conditions of nomadic roaming by the teachers of the basic school through the Internet, as well as training under the guidance of tutors (parents) using the case technology.

Nomadic schools differ also in the following features:

•  According to the geographical location and natural and climatic conditions: the tundra school operates in the Arctic zone, tundra; the taiga school works and nomadizes in the taiga zone; mountainous taiga school in summer and autumn time works and nomadizes in mountainous conditions, and in winter-spring time descends to the mountain bases – into the taiga zone.
• according to the leading traditional types of economic activity: reindeer breeding school functioning in reindeer husbandry; fishing oriented school – in fisheries; hunting oriented school - in commercial farms, specializing in the production of furs, fish, sea animals. As a rule, different types of traditional economic activities are comprehensively represented in the farm.
• according to the composition of founders: state (municipal) educational institutions that are created by public authorities and local self-government; non-state educational institutions that are created by domestic and foreign organizations of all forms of ownership, public and private funds, Russian and foreign citizens.
• according to the legal status - a nomadic educational institution may be a legal entity or a branch of a general education school located in the nearest village.
• according to the stages and types of education – a nomadic school-kindergarten, primary nomadic school (junior school), nomadic school of basic general education (senior school), nomadic school of secondary (complete) general education, nomadic school in the system additional education.
• according to the national composition of the students - the Evenk school, the Even school, the Chukchi school, the Dolgan school, etc. (Lobok, 2007).

Each nomadic school works out its own development program based on the goal of creation and socio-cultural problems. The models of the network nomadic school are being created, promoting the innovative activity of the nomadic school as an educational environment, with purposeful career guidance. Moreover, ethno-cultural education and traditional knowledge are combined with ethno-pedagogy and innovative education, forming certain competencies in students, according to the requirements of FSES of the new generation.

Several factors influence the achievement of the results while implementing the programs for the nomadic school development: the sociocultural situation at the local level; interest of economic entities; orientation and level of training of national teaching staff; material and technical resources, educational and methodical equipment of an educational institution. All these factors create conditions for the successful functioning of the nomadic school and orient the school to ensure the implementation of the FSES requirements with the translation of the ethnic cultural tradition and the formation of an ethnoculturally oriented personality capable of creative self-development in a multicultural open world (Johansson et al., 2003)

The created educational and methodical bases of nomadic schools include a set of programs and activities aimed at transforming the school into a sociocultural institution, combining the social and the cultural, the historical and the contemporary aspects. Native language, values, traditions, people are living bearers of the education content, being an informal educational community. These constructive principles are embodied in the sociocultural context of education (Neustroev, 2006; Barnhardt, 1977).

One of the determining factors in developing a strategy for organizing and developing viable nomadic schools is the type of sociocultural situation as a combination of two main parameters: the cultural and historical tradition (CHT) and the level of development of the modern sociocultural background (SCB).

In places of compact residence of indigenous small peoples of the North, cultural and historical traditions are still alive; the history of the area, culture, education are sometimes unique, but the modern socio-cultural background is extremely poor, the real environment is severe and destructive. In this situation, a number of cultural and educational strategies can be seen.

One strategy implies an attempt to maintain, preserve fading traditions, to resist destructive reality. The practice shows that at the same time the problems are somehow mitigated, but, finally, they are still not completely resolved, there is a kind of delay in cultural and spiritual degradation.

Another cultural and educational strategy is to change the nature of the sociocultural background while preserving and maintaining traditions. One educational institution cannot solve this problem. This is possible at the level of network territorial-regional programs. The need for the revival of reindeer husbandry as the main branch of agriculture in places of compact residence of small peoples of the North led municipal entities to establish educational institutions directly in the areas of nomadic reindeer herding (Neustroev, 2013, Aylward, 2009). In the system of education modernization in the Russian Federation a new dimension is required, in which ethnic and universal, social and cultural realities would be refracted in the content and organization of the nomadic school. Regional diversity, ethnic principles and ways of activity of the national experience make it possible to achieve colossal successes in the culture and education of the Arctic peoples. The key reasons for the modern education modernization, including the transition from the system to the sphere, from departmental to state-public education, find unique questions and answers in the ethno-regional, sociocultural dimension.

The strengthening of the material and technical base and the provision with highly qualified teaching staff remain the dominant conditions in resolving the problems of the nomad school activities.

The creation of the material and technical base of the nomadic school begins with the design and construction of the school building, its necessary facilities. In this case, the Law of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) "On nomadic housing for workers in the traditional industries of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)" is the basic legislative document. In particular, according to Article 3 – “Basic requirements for standards of nomadic housing”, the school building should:

1) be mobile, convenient for transportation by various kinds of transport;

2) be easy and quick to assemble and disassemble by several people;

3) have a long service life, withstand snow and wind loads, be water-proof and frost-resistant;

4) meet the firefighting, sanitary and hygienic requirements;

5) have autonomous engineering support in the form of power supply, heat supply and tele-radio-space communications;

6) have a set of kitchen equipment, furniture and items of economic activity; all-terrain vehicles or other draft power, fuel and lubricants to provide heating in accordance with established standards (Neustroev & Savvin, 2009).

Apparently, the logistics supply of nomadic schools does not meet the requirements for the conditions set by the modern Federal State Standard for Primary Education, where unified Russian requirements for the conditions of primary schools are defined. Therefore, further legislative and scientific-methodical work is needed in this direction to bring this contradiction into line.

As for the issue of providing with the teaching staff, in these conditions it is recommended to train a multi-skilled teacher. A broad-profile teacher is understood as an erudite person, whose knowledge and skill as if synthesize the content of combined learning subjects and private techniques. From this point of view, teachers teaching 2-3 subjects should be extremely clear aware of and apply the scientific foundations of general didactics in practice, grasp those key moments where the general didactics is refracted into the particular technique of certain combined subjects, where inter-subject connections are crossed into their content. This, in turn, implies a general theoretical, methodological and psychological training of the teacher (Neustroev & Egorov, 2003; Hargreaves et al., 2009).

What factors cause the need to train a multi-skilled teacher?

First, there is a trend to increase the number and the need to maintain underfilled and nomadic schools (primary, incomplete secondary and secondary) for the foreseeable future in the North-East of Russia.

Secondly, there is the contradiction between the growing demands of the social order of community and those traditional forms and methods of the educational process, which are at the disposal of a small rural school. In particular, the hidden labor intensity of the teacher's work, which is associated with the multidisciplinary nature of teaching and economic concerns, far exceeds the normative teaching time and causes a general physiological and psychological overload of both teachers and students.

Thirdly, the teacher’s creative potential is intensified, accumulating a constant search for new forms, methods and aids of teaching that allow for significant improvement of the quality level of the teaching and educational process in the specific conditions of low class occupancy and versatility of teaching.

Fourth, the multi-skilled training of pedagogical staff will help optimize the teaching and upbringing process, expanding the potential of one teacher in a competent manner instead of two or three teachers and educators.

It is possible to train a multi-skilled teacher in two ways:

1) by the cycles of subjects and integrated courses;

2) by the main specialty, i.e. by one subject and by training of school managers (school principal, deputy principal, organizer), managers of additional education (circles, clubs and other creative associations of schoolchildren).

In pedagogical literature, the following criteria are substantiated for determining the functional readiness of a multi-skilled teacher:

- a rational correlation of the main components: general theoretical, special, psychological, pedagogical and methodological readiness in the general scope of the professiogram of a multi-skilled teacher;

- an optimal circle of combination of subjects in cycles for the special training of multi-skilled teachers for rural underfilled and nomadic schools;

- creative, research activities, the choice of the most effective forms and methods of work in rural underfilled schools;

- the presence of a psychological attitude towards the life and activity in the North.

The inter-subject connections in cycles are more successfully established in conditions of multidisciplinary teaching, which, in turn, contributes to the intensive development of students on the basis of generalized logical concepts on the formation of methods, abilities and skills of mental activity, i.e. universal learning activities.

On the other hand, in the conditions of intensive differentiation and individualization of the schoolchildren’s education and upbringing, the need for mobile teaching staff on the basis of the cyclic training principle for rural underfilled and nomadic schools is increasing. 

The nomadic peoples of the North have created a unique and distinct culture, which is directly related to their traditional lifestyle and economic activity, nomadic and semi-nomadic way of life, ability to survive in the extreme conditions of the Arctic. At the present stage tribal communities of indigenous small peoples of the North appeared as a new form of economy management in the context of market relations. The main goal of the nomadic schools functioning in places of compact residence of aboriginal peoples is to ensure the availability of education for the Northern children in the conditions of nomadic and semi-nomadic ways of life. Specificity of their activities, as a socio-economic regularity, is determined by natural and climatic, demographic, cultural and domestic, national and regional peculiarities of the North.

In this situation, a number of cultural and educational strategies are observed. In particular, the cultural and educational strategy, preserving and maintaining traditions, should change the very character of the sociocultural background at the level of network territorial-regional programs.

When solving the problems of the nomadic school activities in the light of modern requirements, the strengthening of the material and technical base and the provision of highly qualified teaching staff (training of a multi-skilled teacher) remain the dominant conditions.

In the conditions of the nomadic school of tribal communities, the process of training, upbringing and development of children is performed “en masse”, by the “whole world together”, which implies the socialization of the Northern children. When we talk about the socialization of children, we mean education in a broader sense: education by the life itself and labor. In other words, “socialization of children” is understood as teaching, upbringing and development of children by the life itself, where the school, family and environment act as a unified socio-cultural space for the formation of the individual. The authors have revealed a contradiction relating to the directives of the modern standard, which specifies the requirements for the conditions to implement the educational program, and the existing material and technical support for nomadic schools. The article also substantiates the relevance and importance of multidisciplinary training of teachers for this type of school. In this direction, possible areas of combining the profiles of the modern schoolteacher training are determined.

The materials of the article represent both theoretical and practical value for improving the quality of education, upbringing and development of children in the nomadic schools of the North in the context of the implementation of FSES of a new generation on the basis of modern educational and training systems and technologies, training of a new multi-skilled teacher holding classes in 2-3 combined academic subjects of the humanities, natural sciences and engineering cycles. The created innovative experience will be in demand in other subjects of the Arctic zones of the Russian Federation.

Acknowledgements  

The article is published within the framework of the government's state order No. 27.3715.2017/PCh

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1. Doctor of Pedagogics, Professor, The Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Contact e-mail: neustroevnd@rambler.ru

2. Candidate of Pedagogics, Associate Professor, The Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Contact e-mail: annette2001@yandex.ru

3. Doctor of Sociology, Assistant Professor The Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Contact e-mail: ulsem2012@mail.ru

4. Candidate of Pedagogics. The Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Contact e-mail: zga_69@mail.ru

5. Doctor of Pedagogics, Institute of Philosophy and Law, Siberian branch of RAS, Novosibirsk National Research State University, Russian Federation. Contact e-mail: marika24@yandex.ru