Descendants of Avvakum: From Ethno-Historical Roots to Contemporary Education Technologies

Contemporary humanities research emphasizes the importance of preserving Russia’s cultural diversity and the role of education in this process. The culture of the Semeiskie (Transbaikal Old Believers) is recognized as a unique phenomenon and has been inscribed by UNESCO as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity. In the education system, leveraging the potential of the Semeiskie’s ethnic culture is of exceptional importance for fostering civic identity, patriotism, and a sys-tem of spiritual and moral values among the younger generation. Among the priority areas of state policy in the Republic of Buryatia are the development of the Semeiskie’s ethno-cultural identity, the enhancement of youth’s national and cultural self-determination, the harmonization of ethno-cultural and social processes, and the strengthening of interethnic and interfaith relations. At the same time, there is a noted lack of research and systematic development of specific pedagogical technologies for integrating this culture into modern educational processes. The purpose of the article is to theoretically justify and characterize a set of pedagogical technologies aimed at realizing the educational and developmental potential of the Semeiskie’s ethnic culture, and to present practical experiences from researchers and school educators. One of these approaches includes scientific and pedagogical support for ethno-cultural education, as well as methodological assistance for teachers, including the preparation, publication, and piloting of the series of teaching aids Descendants of Avvakum. The article attempts to identify and systematize the key components of the Se-meiskie’s ethnic cultural potential — values-based, health-preserving, artistic-aesthetic, and communicative — determine the selection criteria and principles for designing pedagogical technologies to work with ethno-cultural material, and de-scribe and classify specific pedagogical technologies for implementing this potential across different educational levels and types of institutions.