Psychological-pedagogical bases of multicultural education of the person
Absatova
Ì.À. doctor of pedagogical sciences, associate professor,
Usenova
À.Ì. undergraduate student
Abai
Kazakh National Pedagogical University
Almaty,
the Republic of Kazakhstan
Nowadays during a globalization epoch when the isolated existence of the
different people and cultures becomes impossible
when there is a reconsideration of the purposes and problems of education from positions of the new competence paradigms there is
a sharp requirement for education of the multicultural person.
Acknowledgement to that is the Report of the
International commission of UNESCO on global strategy of the development of education in the XXI
century in which it is underlined that one of the major functions of school is
to teach people to live together, to help
them to transform existing interdependence
of the states and ethnics to conscious solidarity. In these purposes education should promote that on the one
hand the person has realized the roots
and thereby could define a place which he occupies in the world and on
another hand is to impart to him respect for other cultures.
In this plan there was a task to analyze the psychological-pedagogical
literature on required problem.
It is necessary to notice that the ideas of multicultural education are not a product
of a modern life. They were mentioned and developed by many outstanding minds
of mankind in the past.
As shows the cultural-historical
analysis of a problem a special role has played in Kazakhstan the educational
thought that has become one of the fundamental cultural values in the course of
ethnic consciousness formation. Enlightenment has strongly affected disclosing
of a picture of the world in which the individual system of representations
about the surrounding validity helped the individual to identify himself with
the natural native environment. Under the influence of various forms of
educational activity of the relatives and emotionally sated dialogue on the
equal beginnings with talented zhyraus and akyns people even in the
conditions of oral verbal activity received the greatest charge of cogitative
activity keeping thus high level of informative interests and requirements. Considerably
later such educators as Ch.Valikhanov, I.Altynsarin, A.Kunanbaev, etc. marked
merits of zhyraus and akyns in the creation of preconditions for familiarizing
with culture of other people [1, 2, 3].
It is necessary to notice
that Ch.Valikhanov was the first representative of the Kazakh intellectuals who
has proved philosophical and social-pedagogical principles of education with
reference to conditions of a nomadic way of life. But he was the supporter of
the humanistic enlightenment based on a harmonious combination of national
features and universal values. Ch.Valikhanov considering the person and mankind
as result of development of the nature has been convinced that the public life
development is directly connected with the nature laws as the nature
development has natural character. Speaking about distribution of Moslem to
steppes Ch.Valikhanov drew the interesting pedagogical prospects connected with
process of intercultural contacts. In general, - he wrote, - there is the
disastrous prospect for the Kirghiz people to reach a western civilization not differently
as having passed through the Tatar period as the Russians have passed through
the period of Byzantine. Further in “Notes about judicial reform” he wrote: “We
think the mastering of universal European education and vigorous struggle
against obstacles should make an ultimate goal for any people capable to
development and culture [1, 77].
In this respect we concede
only to Buryats but also that because Buryats were lucky enough to accept the
most humane and high doctrine - the Buddhism…”. Rich spiritual heritage of Chokan Valikhanov (1835-1865), the scientist-educator,
is sated by psychological-pedagogical statements. The scientist understood the displaying
of the features of national character in multidimensional aspect. In a number
of his works he carefully analyzed a life, traditions, customs, and culture of different
people. In his opinion, under the influence of education the Kazakhs will grow:
“Normal growth and people development need freedom and knowledge. It follows
that first of all it is necessary to teach…” (“About Moslem in steppe”) [1,
64].
The merit of
teacher-educator Ibrai Altynsarin (1841-1889) is not less important as well. He
is the first that has developed the system of school education for Kazakh
people simultaneously giving the great value to the role of educational
establishments for national culture development. For us it is very important to
allocate that fact that in his pedagogical activity he strived first of all for
the distribution of general educational knowledge imparting Russian culture to
Kazakh people. His well-known «Kirghiz reading book» (1879) has been made on
the Russian alphabet and was very accessible to children's understanding
successfully used a folklore material in a combination with the translations of
well-known Russian writers and educators’ texts. He translated verses, fables
of Russian writers, and his story «Assan and Ussen» has subsequently been
translated into the Russian, Tatar, Bashkir languages.
I.Altynsarin was the first
among the Kazakhs who has paid attention to methodical and didactic aspects of
mastering of Russian by the Kazakh children. He called the people for closer
relations, establishment of friendly relations: “… Any Russian who closely
dealt with Kirghiz possibly will testify that the Kirghiz people converge
willingly with the Russians and there are already many examples of sincerely
friendly relations between Kirghiz and local Russian inhabitants… to such
natural intimacy of Russian and Kirghiz common people promotes much seems to us
first of all conformity of their moral system” [2, 86].
It is interesting that
I.Altynsarin reveals similarity between two people: “Both of them are simple in
everyday life and have sensible, practical mind that has not been corrupted
with religious or national prejudices, kind heart and full tolerance to
religion …” [2, 92].
Since the second half of XIX
century when the European culture began to get into Kazakhstan the nomad began
to awaken to the pedagogical thought designing the model of the future person
of the Steppe. The difficult, responsible period of transition from belief to
knowledge has begun. Since the times of Abai Kunanbayev (1845-1904) the new
pedagogical ideal starts to be formed. According to the researcher of Abai’s philosophical
ideas Yessim G. «Abai takes a special place in a cultural history of the Kazakh
people. He having incorporated the saved up to him spiritual heritage has
created a new direction in the national culture» [4, 3].
Real embodiment of a multicultural complex became Abai himself who
showed the sample of universal values’ development for the good of the people.
“The person that has studied the culture and the language of another people, - he
wrote, - becomes equal in rights with him and will not live shamefully” [3,
53]. Today these words of Abai sound as the methodological precondition of realization
of the multicultural person education in the independent Kazakhstan.
Abai himself, thanks to
independent acquisition of East and European cultures, has received the profound
philosophical, political and aesthetic knowledge, not leaving his aul in
Semipalatinsk for anywhere. He independently directed his strong-willed and
informative efforts to self-improvement, to identification of his place in the
society, to creative, really creative activity. The main merit of Abai
Kunanbayev consisted in that he searched for ways of the person renovation; he tried
to lift his spirituality, to improve him. In Kazakh philosophical-pedagogical
thought he convincingly wrote that the time of the isolated life has passed and
spoke about the necessity of cultural contact and cooperation with other
people, and called for cooperation with them. Not casually in his «Words of
edification» Abai has given the deep analysis of the social cultural level of
the Kazakhs development and their ability to perceive the level of civilization
of that time. He carries out the comparative analysis of the Russians, Uzbeks,
Tatars lives [3, 42].
In huge heritage of Abai
the important place is occupied with “Words of Edification” - a fruit of his
long-term meditations - representing philosophical-moralistic, psychological-pedagogical
statements of the poet. The twenty fifth word: «Having studied the language and
the culture of another people, the person becomes equal among them», «It is
necessary to study Russian. Spiritual riches, knowledge, art and other infinite
secrets are stored in Russian. Russian will open our eyes to the world» [3,
24].
At the same time the new educational
paradigm obliges the scientists with the necessity of working out of the strong
modern methodological, world outlook base for transformation of many
traditional representations about the person, consciousness, spirituality,
mechanisms, creative activity, ways of formation of the person etc. Needless to
say if there is a functional specialization of various hemispheres of the brain
as it has been noted in the work, we should consciously approach to the selection
of special means, methods for development, it is some kind of
"training" for each of them. Probably, mastering of the content of
the humanities has much more direct relation to development of right cerebral
hemispherical synthetic mechanisms of thinking (and not just shattered left
cerebral hemispherical), than the natural and technical knowledge. Thus the
most direct way to the decision of this problem is the creative mastering,
"consumption" of the products of art activity: music, painting,
literature, theatre, cinema etc. Mothers and children’s healthcare,
preservation of a family from social and psychological trauma and
spiritual-moral hunger are a holy duty of the person before a society, and of
the society before a person. It is especially necessary to notice that in a
century of scientific and technical revolution natural speech gradually fades
into the background. However, without «an immortal word» (by Abai), without «a
signal of signals» (by I.P.Pavlov) to implement an effective development of the
person is impossible. On the basis of such judgments underlies I.P.Pavlov's
doctrine about a basic change of a way of existence and person’s ability to
live (transition to active, social forms) and huge expansion of knowledge means
on the basis of the second alarm system - language and human thinking. [5, 34].
As we see everyone at each
stage aspired to consider multiculturalism as a original model of the world on the
basis of which complete and harmonious development of the person is carried
out. In the history of pedagogy such model of the world often was accepted as
"microcosmos". We have shown above, how Abai Kunanbayev concerned his
microcosmos, independently joining to universal culture. The scientist is
convinced that such microcosmos is unique, individual and bears unique sometimes
non-comparable personal orientations.
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