Museum and ethno-cultural education in Kalmykia: to the problem of the formation of social identity

The article is devoted to the ethno-cultural education in the Republic of Kalmykia. The author deals with the problem of high school students’ social identity, methods of forming regional, civil or ethnic identity on the lessons of such academic subject as "Culture of the Native Land." The system of ethno-cultural education in the schools of the Republic is building through the process of organization of exhibition activity of the school Museum, the analysis of thematic expositions. As a positive experience in this direction, the museum-exhibition complex of the Center for the Education of Gifted Children "Elista Lyceum" is functioning. The study of regional and ethnic cultures of Russia in the context of the educational system has great potential in museology and in the expansion of its information field. In the process of globalization of society, an integrative aspect of cultural science acquires ever greater socio-cultural significance. This aspect meets the contemporary social demands in the synthesized methodology of museology.