The Establishment and Development of Rural Schools in Russia (19
th
-21
st
Centuries)
41
1. The idea of school management that involves parents and where
the interests of rural communities are taken to consideration;
2. The idea of extracurricular education for the cultural development
of the public;
3. The idea of rural schools as social and cultural institutions, rather
than existing exclusively for teaching;
4. The idea of taking national and regional characteristics into account
in the management of schools;
5. The idea (of S. S. Uvarov) of using national character (“Orthodoxy,
Autocracy, Nationality”) as the basis for nurturing “useful and effective
tools of government” upon which the government-run education system
can rest;
6. The idea (of G. N. Volkov) of education with a national character,
taking on specific local features of each ethnic education system;
7. The idea of education based on national traditions and the creation
of the field of ethnopedagogy (also by Volkov) and related technologies for
ethnocultural education.
These ideas can be seen in practice in the development of rural
schooling even today. For example, the Russian State program for
“Development of Education 2013-2020” states that Russian education
should assist the consolidation of Russian society through facilitating the
creation and implementation of new and entertaining educational programs.
In addition, the document states that most rural schools should serve
sociocultural functions as well as educational ones.
Today, rural schools are the same as city schools in many aspects:
teachers and students have access to computer technology, use the Internet,
participate in and win various educational and professional competitions,
and so on. But at the same time, the rural school has its own unique
characteristics determined by the nature of the rural society in which it is
situation, and first and foremost of these influences is existence of
traditional culture. There is great potential for rural schools to use this
factor in their educational processes.
Specific differences in rural schools include the smaller number of
staff, staffing instability, and a more significant potential for consolidation
compared to city schools; there are also issues of poor material and
technical resources, the remoteness of the school from cultural centres and
institutions. Specific social differences in rural school arise from poorly
developed social infrastructure, isolation and remoteness from other
populated areas or regional centres. The social and educational environment
of a rural school generally involves several villages, often separated from
each other, which creates difficulties with regards to transportation and
organisation of extracurricular activities. Rural schools are obliged to react
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro
V. J. Arestova
42
in a quick and timely manner to constantly emerging
social problems among
their children. Taken together, this creates the necessity for schools to
perform not only educational, but also social and cultural functions.
Sociocultural functions of rural schools should facilitate:
- The creation of conditions for self-realisation of not only students,
but their families (youth and adults) in various aspects of life, including
education, labour, culture, etc., thus facilitating the development of the
cultural and educational environment of the village;
- Interaction with the community, while continuing to play a leading
role in consolidating the efforts of social educational institutions (museums,
community centres, vocational colleges, etc.) and facilitating the
achievement of socially valuable results from activities;
- The revival of folk traditions and rural customs (art, aesthetic,
ecological, labour, etc.).
All of these are extremely important conditions for the successful
socialisation of children and the development of the micro-environment
and community that facilitates the well-being of individuals.
It is important to remember, in discussing the social function of the
rural school, that its presence plays a crucial role in the existence and well-
being of the village itself. The school acts as an organising body in the
village, protecting the healthy relationship between family and local
community.
The social and educational benefits of ethnocultural education for
rural children include:
- Assimilation of the cultural and intellectual traditions of their
community, including moral values and special cultural and historical forms
of interaction between people in that community;
- The possibility of choosing and creating a personal trajectory of self-
development and self-realisation, taking personal interests into
consideration;
- Realisation of the cultural uniqueness of other nations and
ethnicities, of the cultural diversity of the region, the mother country and
the world.
The educational and social benefits for teachers include:
- Professional development, social activity, cooperation with
colleagues;
- Implementation of new educational technologies at school and in
extracurricular activities.
The positive effects on the quality of educational processes include:
- The renewal of educational content, the development of new
academic and pedagogical techniques, and the creation of diversity
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro