Рolycultural Education as a Socio-Pedagogical Phenomenon

By Tatyana V. Paliyeva | May 26, 2019
0 Comment

Abstract: The article analyses the conceptual foundations of polycultural education, both from a global philosophical and pedagogical point of view and using the example of the peculiarities of polycultural education in the Republic of Belarus. (The term “polycultural education” is understood in a similar way to “multicultural education” in the Anglo-American sphere or “interkulturelle Bildung” in the German language.) The author reflects on the use of different terminological concepts to illustrate the diversity of ideas regarding the purpose, nature and content of polycultural education and training in a multicultural world. The specificity of the theory and practice of polycultural education in Belarus is based on geographical, historical, denominational, cultural, sociolinguistic, social and pedagogical factors. At present, the Republic of Belarus is a practically multi-ethnic country with rather low migration. Nevertheless, the development of a multicultural personality is seen as an important task in preparing the younger generation for life in today’s society.
Keywords: polycultural education, multi-ethnic society, personality development and national identity, Belarus

(Simplified Chinese:) 摘要（Tatyana V. Paliyeva：多元文化教育作为一种社会教育现象）：本文以白俄罗斯多元文化教育的特点为例，以全球视野，从哲学和教育学的角度对多元文化教育的概念基础进行了分析。(“polycultural education” 一词的定义与英美体系中的“multicultural education”或德语中的“interkulturelle Bildung”类似。)作者反思了在多元文化世界中使用不同术语概念对多元文化教育和培训的目标、性质和内容的多样性进行阐述的尝试。地理、历史、宗派、文化、社会语言学、社会和教育学等因素造成了白俄罗斯多元文化教育理论和实践的特殊性。目前，白俄罗斯共和国实际上是一个移民人数较少的多民族国家，但发展多元文化人格被白俄罗斯社会视为培养年轻一代的重要任务。
关键词：多元文化教育，多民族社会，人格发展和民族认同，白俄罗斯

(Traditional Chinese:) 摘要（Tatyana V. Paliyeva：多元文化教育作為一種社會教育現象）：本文以白俄羅斯多元文化教育的特點為例，以全球視野，從哲學和教育學的角度對多元文化教育的概念基礎進行了分析。(“polycultural education” 一詞的定义與英美体系中的“multicultural education”或德語中的“interkulturelle Bildung”類似。)作者反思了在多元文化世界中使用不同術語概念對多元文化教育和培訓的目標、性質和內容的多樣性進行闡述的嘗試。地理、歷史、宗派、文化、社會語言學、社會和教育學等因素造成了白俄羅斯多元文化教育理論和實踐的特殊性。目前，白俄羅斯共和國實際上是一個移民人數較少的多民族國家， 但發展多元文化人格被白俄羅斯社會視為培養年輕一代的重要任務。
關鍵詞：多元文化教育，多民族社會，人格發展和民族認同，白俄羅斯

Zusammenfassung (Tatyana V. Paliyeva: Polykulturelle Bildung als sozialpädagogisches Phänomen): Der Artikel analysiert die konzeptionellen Grundlagen der polykulturellen Bildung, sowohl aus globaler philosophischer und pädagogischer Sicht als auch am Beispiel der Besonderheiten polykultureller Bildung in der Republik Belarus. (Der Begriff “polykulturelle Bildung” wird in ähnlicher Weise als “multikulturelle Bildung” im angloamerikanischen Raum oder als “interkulturelle Bildung” in deutscher Sprache verstanden.) Die Autorin reflektiert die Verwendung verschiedener terminologischer Konzepte, um die Vielfalt der Ideen hinsichtlich Zweck, Wesen und Inhalt polykultureller Bildung und Ausbildung in einer polykulturellen Welt zu verdeutlichen. Die Besonderheit der Theorie und Praxis der polykulturellen Bildung in Weißrussland beruht auf geographischen, historischen, konfessionellen, kulturellen, soziolinguistischen, sozialen und pädagogischen Faktoren. Gegenwärtig ist die Republik Belarus ein praktisch multiethnisches Land mit einer eher niedrigen Migrationsbewegung. Dennoch wird die Entwicklung einer polykulturellen Persönlichkeit als wichtige Aufgabe angesehen, um die jüngere Generation auf das Leben in der heutigen Gesellschaft vorzubereiten.
Schlüsselwörter: polykulturelle Bildung und Erziehung, multiethnische Gesellschaft Entwicklung nationaler Identität, Weißrussland

Аннотация (Татьяна В. Палиева: Поликультурное образование как социально-педагогический феномен): В статье рассматриваются концептуальные основания поликультурного образования – в глобальной философской и педагогической перспективе, также на примере особенностей поликультурного образования в Республике Беларусь. Термин “поликультурное образование” понимается почти похож на “multicultural education“ в англо-американском регионе или как “interkulturelle Bildung“ на немецком языке.) Автор анализирует использование разных терминологических концептов, чтобы продемонстрировать многообразие идей относительно целей, сущности и содержания поликультурного образования и профессиональной подготовки в поликультурном мире. Особенность теоретических исследований и практических решений в вопросах поликультурного образования в Республике Беларусь основывается на географических, исторических, конфессиональных, культурных, социолингвистических, социальных и педагогических факторах. На сегодняшний день Республика Беларусь – практически мультиэтническое государство, с незначительной долей мигрантов. Тем не менее развитие поликультурной личности считается в Беларуси важной задачей, направленной на подготовку молодого поколения к жизненным реалиям в современном обществе.
Ключевые слова: поликультурное образование и воспитание, мультиэтническое общество, формирование национальной идентичности, Беларусь

Introduction

In the world of pedagogical theory and educational systems, the problem of the polycultural education of the younger generation is currently receiving wide coverage. This is due to a number of social, political, economic and other factors. The development of communication technologies, the expansion of the information space and economic international relations have necessitated the organization of interaction between people of different nationalities. Modern migration processes have led to the fact that all states of the world are multinational. Languages, cultures and nations are mixed, the number of ethnic conflicts increases. Under these conditions, a huge number of problems manifest themselves, such as problems of social adaptation, preservation of national identity, traditions and cultural values, organization of mutual understanding and interaction between representatives of different nationalities and others. Separate existence of peoples and cultures becomes almost impossible. In this regard, polycultural education in a polycultural world and a multi-ethnic society is becoming an integral part of modern culture.

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 for the period up to 2030 and are aimed at ensuring peace and prosperity for all people and the planet as a whole. It is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are defined by tasks that define the main activities of all countries in the framework of the global partnership (Transforming Our World: A Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, 2015).

It should be noted that, in general, the entire document “Transforming our world: the Sustainable Development Agenda until 2030”, while defining the Sustainable Development Goals, focuses on close international cooperation, assistance and mutual support. The fourth goal focuses on providing quality education. It is education that is considered as a resource capable of ensuring the sustainable development of countries and peoples. Achieving this goal seems possible by solving several problems. In particular, we note task number 7, orienting the education systems of different countries to “promoting a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and recognition of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development” (Transforming our world: Sustainable Agenda 2030, 2019).

Considering the importance of polycultural education for many countries of the world and the complexity of the problem of inter-ethnic interaction, when searching for effective ways of its implementation, it is necessary to carefully study the accumulated both theoretical and practical experience of various countries. The Republic of Belarus also has considerable experience in the implementation of polycultural education. Under the influence of general historical, ethnogenetic, geographical and confessional factors of the development of the Belarusian people, there has been an integration of various cultures and ideological ideas, reflected in pedagogical theory and practice. In each historical epoch, the rethinking and enrichment of fundamental approaches to education and training in a polycultural world took place, which were subsequently not only thoroughly worked out in theoretical terms, but also largely implemented.

The essence of polycultural education

The theory of polycultural education is relatively young (it first appeared in the 1960s ). Having emerged as a pedagogical solution for settling relations between representatives of different ethnic cultures in a multinational social environment, polycultural education has been widely developed and diverse interpretations presented in modern pedagogical theory and practice in many countries of the world. Polycultural education initially considered the protection of the cultural and educational interests of ethnic minorities, and today, in its field of attention, the titular nations of small countries.

In Russian pedagogy, the doctrine of polycultural education began to be developed in the 1990s. Theoretical and practical issues of the organization of polycultural education in a modern Russian school were studied by N.N. Vygodchikova, T.N. Gello, A.N. Dzhurinsky, F.N. Ziatdinova, I.I. Kalacheva, Yu.A. Karyagina, V.V. Makayev, Z.A. Malkova, S.V. Rykova, N.I. Sorochkina, L.L. Suprunova, N.N. Ushnurtseva, A.E. Shabaldas, A.G.Shirin and others. Similar studies were conducted in other neighbouring countries (M.A. Abrahamyan, Armenia; K.G. Adylbek, Kyrgyzstan; A.K. Solodka and V.V. Boichenko, Ukraine) and others. Researchers are also interested in the organization of polycultural education in the field of higher and secondary vocational education, including pedagogical education (N.Kh. Baicheueva, Russia; L.V. Volik, Ukraine; V.M. Yeremina (Russia), L.V. Orinina (Russia), D.V. Sazhin (Russia), K.N. Topolyan (Russia) and others.

However, despite the significant number of scientific works devoted to the problem of polycultural education, the availability of legal documents regulating the activities of educational systems in many countries and guiding them along the path of polyculturalism, there remain a number of problems that need to be resolved: uncontrolled migration, inter-ethnic and religious conflicts, terrorist activity, vivid manifestations of nationalism and chauvinism, etc. That is, problems determined by society and capable of being resolved including through the exercise of effective pedagogical influence on the process of individual personality formation.

To determine the essence of polycultural education, let us dwell on the terminological meanings used in the definitions of this work.

Thus, the concept of “education” is traditionally regarded as a process, result and system. As a system, education is usually represented by a set of educational institutions and their management bodies. Education as a process is carried out in educational institutions and consists of two interrelated and complementary processes – education and training. At the same time, training is viewed as a process of mastering a system of knowledge, skills and abilities, and upbringing as a process aimed at shaping personal qualities and their relationship to the world and to oneself. Education as a result is an achieved level in mastering the content of education, cultivating personal qualities and developing mental processes.

Based on the above relation between the concepts of “education” and “upbringing”, we consider polycultural education as a broad process, carried out through training and upbringing and implemented in an integrated system, having centralization of government at the state level.

In the world of pedagogical theory and practice, there is currently no single approach to the terminology used. For example, Russian researchers M.I. Bogomolova and L.M. Zakharova use the term “international education”, meaning by it

the process of purposeful interaction between the teacher and the educated in order to familiarize them with the rich cultural heritage accumulated by mankind, the formation of friendly relations, and positive international relations communication, manifestations of friendliness and sympathy for his and other peoples, tolerance and delicacy towards them (Bogomolova & Zakharova, 2016, 121).

The authors consider inter-ethnic education as comprehensive, based on ethno-cultural, national, and civic-patriotic education. The term “polyethnic education” in the scientific literature was developed precisely in connection with the need to implement education for ethnic minorities. In its content, polyethnic education is limited to the assimilation of the achievements of national, racial and ethnic culture. Education tolerance is a mandatory part of this type of education.

The definition of the essence of tolerance, the problems of its formation and implementation both at the personal and public levels are investigated by philosophers, teachers, psychologists, sociologists, etc. As early as 1995, UNESCO approved the Declaration of Tolerance Principles. Nowadays, the term “tolerance” is more commonly used to translate into Russian. The Declaration proposes the following definition:

Tolerance means respect, acceptance and correct understanding of the rich diversity of the cultures of our world, our forms of self-expression and ways of manifestation of human individuality. (…) Tolerance is harmony in diversity. Tolerance is a virtue that makes peace possible and contributes to replacing a culture of war with a culture of peace. Tolerance is first and foremost an active attitude, formed on the basis of the recognition of universal rights and fundamental freedoms of a person. (Declaration of Tolerance Principles, 1995)

This declaration considers tolerance at the personal, state and social levels and proclaims education as the most effective means of preventing intolerance. Education in the spirit of tolerance is regarded as an urgent imperative. To define the essence of the concept of “polycultural education”, it is necessary to establish the dictionary meaning of the word “polyculturalism”. The prefix “poly” refers to the many and comprehensive coverage or diverse composition of something. The meaning of the word “culture” is determined ambiguously. In science, there are more than a thousand definitions of this concept. By “culture” we understand the historically-formed certain level of development of society, the creative forces and abilities of a person, expressed in the types and forms of organization of life and activities of people, as well as in the material and spiritual values they create. Culture includes the objective results of people’s activities, as well as human strengths and abilities realized in activities (knowledge, skills, intellect, moral and aesthetic development, outlook on life, ways and forms of communication of people, etc.). Also, the culture of a person means the rules of behaviour, the ability to follow them, education and education. At the level of a social group, culture both unites people and differentiates them. At the individual level, culture provides access to the wealth of human activity, contributes to the development of creative abilities. At the synthesizing level – human creation – all of the above forms are expressed.

Polyculturalism in the educational process contributes to the interaction of ethnic, national, racial and world culture

World culture is the totality of all the cultures of the world. National culture is the culture of a group of peoples of the same linguistic community, including the originality of traditions, and customs that distinguish it from the cultures of other nations. National-specific features of culture are caused by ethno-landscape, natural, social conditions, peculiarities of historical genesis, level of production development, etc.

Ethnic culture is the culture of representatives of one or another ethnos. In the conditions of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian culture is the meaning of the national culture, the culture of the representatives of national minorities is the meaning of ethnic culture.

The concept of racial culture is based primarily on the theories of racial classification of human populations. Since the XVII century, scientists have been actively offering more and more new classifications, differing in the characteristics underlying them. However, to date, there is no universally accepted approach to determining both the number and morphological characteristics of races. Moreover, racial theories and attempts to classify them are increasingly recognized as untenable.

Culture is a universal mechanism for the formation of a humane person. A major role in the harmonious development of relations between members of the world community is played by the mastery of the national-cultural values of other nations.

In a large modern pedagogical encyclopedia, the concept of “polyculturalism” includes the principle of cultural pluralism, based on the recognition of the equal value and equal rights of all ethnic and social groups that make up a given society, on the inadmissibility of discrimination of people on grounds of national or religious affiliation, gender and age. Polyculturism in education makes it possible to turn the diversity of society into a useful factor in its development, as well as to ensure a more rapid adaptability of a person to the changing conditions of existence in society (Pedagogy: The Big Modern Encyclopedia, 2005).

Summarizing the definitions given by many authors, let us formulate the essence of the basic concepts of our research:

Polycultural education is

  • education that includes the organization and content of the pedagogical process, in which two or more cultures are represented, differing by language, ethnic, national or racial basis;
  • aimed at familiarizing the younger generation with ethnic, national and world culture, developing on this basis planetary consciousness, forming readiness and ability to live in a multi-ethnic environment;
  • the process of formation and development in students of ideas about the diversity of cultures in the world and in their country, raising their positive, respectful attitude to the cultural differences of other nations, developing the skills of humane, productive interaction with carriers of other cultures.

A polycultural personality is

  • a person ready for effective inter-ethnic interaction, preserving ethnic identity and striving for understanding of other ethnic cultures, respecting other ethnic communities, able to live in peace and harmony with representatives of different nationalities.

Polyculturism is

  • the construction of education on the principle of cultural pluralism, recognition of the equal value and equality of all ethnic and social groups that make up this society, on the inadmissibility of discrimination of people on grounds of national and religious affiliation, gender and age;
  • helps to turn the diversity of society into a useful factor in its development, provides a more rapid adaptation of a person to changing conditions of existence, helps him to form a multi-faceted picture of the world.

Migration policy and polycultural education

The theory of polycultural education arose and developed most actively in countries with a high migration balance. Nowadays, often referred to as the “Great Migration of Peoples”, many countries have adopted a stabilization option for solving demographic problems by compensating for the population decline through the recruitment of migrants.

The need to regulate migration policy is also stated in the document defining the Sustainable Development Goals. Thus, Task 7 of the Tenth Goal speaks of the need to create “orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies” (Transforming our world: The Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, 2015).

The expansion of migration processes actualizes the search for ways of effective socialization of migrants in the socio-cultural space, which is feasible only through educational systems. Therefore, the theory and practice of polycultural education has developed along the path of finding new models that take into account the specifics of the cultural characteristics of teaching migrant children, thereby focusing on the protection of cultural and educational interests of ethnic minorities. But today, in connection with the intensification of migration processes and their aggravation, the interests of titular nations are in the field of special attention of many countries.

Moreover, as the Russian philosopher A. Dmitriev notes, “the growth of cultural and ethnic diversification within the states themselves basically makes impossible the cultural homogeneity of the population” (Dmitriev, 2015).

The specifics of the implementation of polycultural education in the Republic of Belarus

Historically, a unique system existed on the territory of Belarus, where East Slavic, West Slavic, Balt and other cultures intersected and interacted in different periods. The territory of Belarus was part of Kievan Rus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, the USSR. Many ethnic groups and religious movements created a single cultural space. The spread of various national cultures on the territory of Belarus was also associated with a peculiar geographical location. The location of Belarus almost in the geographic center of Europe, on the one hand, was the cause of numerous bloody and tragic events, on the other hand, contributed to the economic and cultural development of the region, penetration and further interaction of various languages and religions.

On the basis of opposition and integration of various views of the world and cultural ideas of East and West, the formation of a special type of Belarusian mentality, characterized by tolerance and openness to other traditions, was ensured. This approach was implemented through educational systems. In each historical epoch, the rethinking and enrichment of fundamental approaches to education and training in a polycultural society, which were not only thoroughly developed in theoretical terms, but also largely implemented in the modern education system, took place.

In the history of pedagogical thought in Belarus, special emphasis has always been placed on the need to create a truly national school, the formation of patriotism and citizenship of the younger generation. The process of national identification is impossible without awareness of the cultural and national diversity of the world. Only by comparing and understanding of the uniqueness of the ethnic group and its culture.

At present, migration processes in the Republic of Belarus are not so intensive, and in recent years their decline has generally been observed. Thus, the migration balance (the difference in the number of people arriving on any territory and the number of people leaving for the same period of time) in 2015 was 18,494 people (this was the highest figure since 2010), and the migration increase in 2017 was only 3874 people. It should be noted that the migration increase in the Republic is carried out mainly at the expense of migrants from the CIS countries (Krasovsky, 2018).

According to the 2009 census (we note that in 2019 a new population census will be carried out in the Republic), the national composition was as follows: Belarusians made up 83.7% of the total population, Russians 8.26%, Poles 3.09%, Ukrainians 1.67%, Jews 0.13%. Such nations as Armenians, Tatars, ‘Gypsies’, Azeris, Lithuanians, Moldovans, Turkmen, Germans, Georgians, Chinese, Uzbeks, Latvians, Kazakhs, Arabs, Chuvash, etc. (listed in descending order according to the results of statistical data) are less than 0, 1% of the total population (2009 Population Census).

Despite the ethnic homogeneity characteristic of modernity, the theory and practice of polycultural education is actively developing in our country, since such education is now becoming an integral part of modern culture and is designed to ensure political stability and integration into the world socio-cultural space at the state level; at the public level – increasing the spiritual potential of the people; on the ethnic level – the guarantee of the survival of the ethnic group, the harmonization of inter-ethnic relations; on a personal level – the formation of a competitive, creative personality, able to assimilate and rethink the heritage of various cultures. Therefore, the modern concept of polycultural education pays great attention to the formation of the national identity of the individual.

The activity of the entire modern education system is regulated by the Education Code of the Republic of Belarus. The Code repeatedly emphasizes the importance of familiarizing the younger generation with the cultural traditions and values of the Belarusian people, as well as the need to master the achievements of world culture (Chapter 9, Article 89; Chapter 62, Article 290, Education Code of the Republic of Belarus, 2011).

All educational programs of the Republic, starting with preschool education, are permeated with the principle of polyculturalism, which is the basis for the selection of the content of education. Polyculturalism is considered as a source that provides a more rapid adaptation of a person to changing conditions of existence and helps him or her to form a multifaceted picture of the world.

The introduction to universal and national values is provided both in the learning process and in the process of education. In the Concept of Continuous Upbringing of Children and Young Students, approved by the Decree of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus of July 15, 2015 No. 82, polycultural education is considered as mandatory, “aimed at forming a tolerant attitude towards people of other cultures, nationalities, religions, etc.”. The fifth chapter of the document devoted to polycultural education determines the content, conditions and specifics of its implementation, depending on age and individual characteristics. Particular attention is paid to the education of students, “the ability to live in a polycultural world, to resist political and religious extremism” (Concept of continuous education of children and young people, 2015).

An obligatory component of any polycultural educational systems is an appeal to the problem of linguistic competence. In linguistics, the disciplines of sociolinguistics, linguo-didactics, psycho-linguistics, linguistic culturology are often the issues discussed relating to the influence of language on the process of formation of the polycultural personality.

In the Republic, the state has two languages – Russian and Belarusian. The language situation in Belarus is distinguished by its uniqueness, caused by the fact that the national language (Belarusian) being a minority language, at the same time, is nominally considered the native majority of the inhabitants of the Republic. Thus, according to the latest census (2009), 62.2% of the total number of inhabitants of the Republic consider Belarusian as their mother tongue, although only 23.43% said they speak it at home. If we compare the results of the 1999 census, we will see a significant decrease in the role and significance of the Belarusian language in the Republic: 73.7% of the total number of inhabitants of the Republic considered Belarusian as their mother tongue, although only 36.7% said they speak it at home (2009 Population Census).

Based on the terminological definitions of the notion “native language” and the existing sociolinguistic situation in the Republic, one can hypothetically deduce the status of the Belarusian and Russian languages. Today, for the majority of Belarusian children (who originally master Russian, think and speak mainly in it) two languages are native – Russian and Belarusian. Russian – according to the criteria of competence and functionality, and Belarusian – according to the criterion of identification. Due to the current linguistic situation in the Republic of Belarus, a bilingual educational system has been formed. Educational institutions with both Russian and Belarusian language of instruction have worked and are working in the country. However, there has been a steady decline in the number of educational institutions engaged in the pedagogical process in the Belarusian language.

The distribution of children in pre-school education institutions by language of instruction and upbringing at the end of 2012 was as follows: 12.7% of the total number of children enrolled in public pre-school education were taught in Belarusian, 84.8% in Russian, 3.8% children were taught in two languages – Russian and Belarusian. For comparison, in 2005, 12.7% of preschool children studied in Belarusian, 76.7% in Russian, and 10.6% in two languages (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013).

According to the latest statistics, in 2016, 90.3% of pupils studied in pre-school institutions in Russian, respectively, in Belarusian – 9.7% (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2017).

Most Belarusian-language preschool institutions are located in rural areas. Thus, in 2012, 56.1% of children in preschool institutions located in rural areas studied in Belarusian, 39.6% in Russian, and 4.3% in two languages. Only 2.9% of preschool children studied in Belarusian cities (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013). Note that in the statistical information for 2017 there is no indicator of the distribution of preschool institutions by language of instruction relative to location in rural or urban areas.

In the 2005/2006 school year, pupils studying in the Belarusian language were 23.3% (280,200 people) of the total number of schoolchildren (1,203,000 people), and in the 2012/2013 school year only 16,6% (150,700 people) of the total number of schoolchildren (909,100 people). It should also be noted that in the 2012/2013 academic year, 670 people studied in institutions of general secondary education in Polish, 57 people in Lithuanian (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013).

According to statistical data for the 2016/2017 academic year, 838,400 people studied in Russian (which is 86.6% of the total number of students (967,900), 128,600 in Belarusian (which is 13,3% of the total number of students.) 868 people studied in Polish, 63 people in Lithuanian (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2017). Thus, there is a constant reduction in the number of educational institutions providing training in the Belarusian language.

The use of two languages in the education system requires special regulations and software, a relevant scientific and methodological base of bilingual education, the availability of human resources capable of providing education and training in two languages. An obligatory component of the curriculum of general secondary education is the study of foreign languages. According to statistics in the 2012/2013 school year, 724,700 people studied the English language in Belarusian schools, 78.1% German, 17.1% French 3.5%, Spanish 0.7 % (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013).

In the 2016/2017 academic year, out of the total number of general secondary education students studying foreign languages (746,100 people), 82.6% studied English, 13.9% German, 2.8% French, 6% Chinese (Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2017).

Conclusions

Thus, the specific features of the development of the theory and practice of polycultural education in the Republic of Belarus include:

  • relative multi-ethnic population homogeneity and a slight migration balance;
  • rich historical pedagogical experience of educational systems in the context of ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious diversity;
  • the presence of tolerance as a mental characteristic of a nation;
  • the focus of modern educational policy on the development of both the cultural traditions and values of the Belarusian people, and the achievements of world culture; implementation of bilingual education;
  • the implementation of education mainly in Russian with a pronounced national orientation of the content of education and training towards the development of the values and traditions of the Belarusian culture.

Summarizing the above, we note that the adoption of polycultural education does not imply the destruction of the already existing and functioning educational system but ensures its improvement by introducing new qualitative characteristics. Polycultural education should become the ideological basis of the educational systems of many countries of the world and be implemented in the aspect of a dialogue of cultures, education for tolerance and multilingual education. Polycultural education has the potential to ensure the relevance of the educational system to modern social challenges.

References

  • Богомолова, М.И., Захарова Л.М. (2016) [Bogomolova, Zakharova] Межнациональное воспитание детей: учеб. пособие [Interethnic education of children: educational publication] Moscow: ФЛИНТА
  • Декларация принципов терпимости. Утверждена резолюцией 5.61 Генеральной конференции ЮНЕСКО от 16 ноября 1995 г. (1995) [Declaration of Tolerance Principles. Approved by Resolution 5.61 of the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1995] URL: https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/declarations/toleranc.shtml
  • Дмитриев, А.В. [Dmitriev] (2015) Конфликтогенность миграции: теоретические и практические проблемы [Conflictology of Migration: Theoretical and Practical Problems]: Социологическая наука и социальная практика [Sociological Science and Social Practice], No. 1-2015, pp.16–29.
  • Кодекс Республики Беларусь об образовании (2011) [Education Code of the Republic of Belarus] Минск : Нац. центр правовой информ. Респ. Беларусь[Minsk: National Center of Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus]
  • Концепция непрерывного воспитания детей и учащейся молодежи (2015) [The concept of continuous education of children and young people] Национальный образовательный портал [National Educational Portal] URL: www.adu.by/ru/rukovoditelyam/organizatsiya-vospitaniya.html
  • Красовский, К.К. (2018) [Krasovski] Демографические вызовы системе дошкольного и начального образования Беларуси в начале XXI века [Demographic challenges to the system of pre-school and primary education in Belarus at the beginning of the XXI century]: Дзіцячы сад – пачатковая школа: вопыт, пераемнасць, перспектывы: зборнік артыкулаў [Kindergarten – Elementary School: experience, continuity, perspective: a collection of articles] Мазыр : МДПУ імя І.П.Шамякіна [Mozyr State University named after I. Shamyakin], pp. 53–55.
  • Образование в Республике Беларусь, 2013: статистический сборник [Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013: a statistical compendium]: Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь (2013) [National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus] URL: www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/publications/izdania/public_compilation/index_487/
  • Образование в Республике Беларусь, 2017: статистический сборник [Education in the Republic of Belarus, 2017: a statistical compendium]: Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь [National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (2017)] URL: http://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/publications/izdania/public_compilation/index_7498/
  • Перепись населения 2009. Национальный состав Республики Беларусь. Том 3 : статистическийсборник (2009) [Population census 2009. National composition of the Republic of Belarus. Volume 3: statistical compilation] : НациональныйстатистическийкомитетРеспубликиБеларусь [National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus] URL: www.belstat.gov.by/informatsiya-dlya-respondenta/perepis-naseleniya/perepis-naseleniya-2009-goda
  • Преобразование нашего мира: Повестка дня в области устойчивого развития на период до 2030 года (2015) [Transforming our world: the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform: Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform]. URL: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld
  • Педагогика: Большая современная энциклопедия / сост. Е.С.Рапацевич (2005) [Pedagogy: Great modern encyclopedia compiler E. Rapatsevich ] Минск: Современное слово [Minsk: Present Word]

About the Author

Tatyana V. Paliyeva: Lecturer, Doctoral Candidate in Educational Science, Vice Rector of Sciences of Mozyr State Pedagogical University (MSPU) named after I.P. Shamyakin, Mozyr (Belarus); contact: 0605tanya1980@rambler.ru

Category: