Specifics of life and pedagogical activity in the Far North (in terms of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District)

The Far North is a part of the territory of Russia, located mainly to the north of the Arctic Circle, characterized by the extremely harsh climate. 45% of the territory of the Russian Federation lies in the Arctic, including such large cities as Murmansk, Norilsk and Vorkuta. The cities and regions of 14 subjects of the Federation and all the islands of the Arctic Ocean and its seas are classified as the regions of the Far North, as well as the islands of the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk1. Some areas of 16 subjects of the Russian Federation are legally equivalent to the regions of the Far North. Besides Russia, the Arctic Circle runs through seven other countries: the USA (Alaska), Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

• 7.4% of the population of the global Earth community lived in eight subarctic states. Less than one percent of northerners (0.88%) permanently lives in the Arctic, [1, Lukin Yu.F., pp. 28– 29]. "The population of the internal Arctic provinces, states, regions, autonomous districts, municipalities of the eight subarctic countries was 4.6 million people in 2012, including 2.5 million people in 9 subjects of the Russian Arctic, and 2.1 million people in all the remaining 7 Arctic countries combined”.

The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District is a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, occupying one of the most important positions in the state economy. The region is characterized by a significant territory and a high concentration of natural resources: 70% of the national and 22% of the world's explored reserves of natural gas and 12% of oil are located in Yamal. With a population of 584 thousand people (according to data on 01.01.2015) the average age of a resident is 33 years. Children and youth make up more than a quarter of the population of the district, which makes YNAD one of the most youthful subjects in Russia. Adequate management, dynamic and sustainable development of Yamal requires modern and highly effective system of general and professional education as the basis for the formation of human resources, human capital.

The system of formation of the Autonomous District has specific characteristics. Features inherent in this region of the country are determined by the mono-profile of the economic development, severity of natural and climatic conditions, specificity of territorial settlement, high level of material incomes. Almost every tenth inhabitant of the area is a representative of the indigenous peoples of the Far North (Nenets, Khanty, Komi, Selkup). Most of them lead a traditional way of life.

The high demand of the population of the Autonomous District for quality education system services is determined by a number of factors. First of all, this is due to the relatively high per capita monetary income of the population. According to this indicator, the region has been consistently ranked first in the all-Russian rating for many years and is comparable with such subjects as Moscow, the Nenets and Chukotka autonomous regions.

According to official statistics, the average monthly salary level in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District is significantly higher than the average level in Russia. Thus, the average salary of pedagogical workers of educational institutions of general education in organizations

(state and municipal forms of ownership) for January–June 2016 amounted to 94,673.6 rubles, which is 3% higher than the same indicator in 2015.2

The all-Russian average salary is 2.5 times less, it amounted to 36,828 rubles in the first half of 20163. Secondly, this is due to the relatively high level of education of the population of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. At the age of 15 years and older, 273 people per thousand have higher education. In Russia, this indicator is higher only in the capital cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg). Thirdly, the specificity of the territorial distribution of the population has a high level of urbanization (84% — urban residents, 16% — rural residents). At the same time, northern urbanization has a specific character of the Arctic (circumpolar) civilization [2, Lozhnikova I.F.].

The population of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District is characterized by uneven settlement. In areas with severe natural and climatic conditions, 184 thousand people live north of the Arctic Circle, this is one third of the population, and two thirds — to the south of the Arctic Circle, where the natural and climatic conditions are milder. Here are all the large and medium cities of the Autonomous District.

The analysis of the statistics shows that the educational policy is aimed at the formation of modern educational infrastructure, increasing of coverage of high-quality general education services for children (preschoolers — 100%, schoolchildren — 100%), modernization of teaching conditions, raising the level of professional skills of teachers in Yamal. Particular attention is paid to the implementation of programs of ethno-cultural education. 14 nomadic schools and kindergartens conduct educational activities in the territory of YNAD. More than 4 thousand children from indigenous peoples of the North live all year round in boarding schools. In order to modernize the boarding schools, certain activities are being implemented, including the practice of traditional fisheries in agricultural enterprises, the purchase of plagues for boarding schools, the subjects of ethnocultural orientation, the approximation of the living conditions of children to family specifics, etc.

In a modern school, teachers are challenged by a constant review of the existing methods of the educational process, as well as their relationships with students, colleagues, parents, which raises the issue of adapting the teacher to new transforming conditions and requirements. The necessity of constant adaptation objectively increases the level of anxiety of pedagogical workers and their uncertainty about their capabilities. In these conditions, the important task is to improve the quality of the work life of the teachers, i.e. the level of satisfaction of the versatile needs of teaching through his professional activities. Teachers are not always and not entirely satisfied with the conditions of work and life, wages, relations in the teaching staff, their immediate supervisors, which affects the performance of individual workers and the effectiveness of the activities of educational institutions in general.

Advanced development allowed regional education to be ready to introduce new standards, competitive indicators, informatization and solving the problems of nomadic schools, etc. However, there are "pain points" in the development of the regional education system.

Characteristics of the general education system of YNAD

Number of educational institutions at the beginning of 2014/2015 academic year was 136 units, of which only two are non-state. The number of daytime public schools is 127. There is a decrease in number of general education institutions from 156 in 2006/2007 academic year up to 136 in 2014/2015 academic year 4. Reduction is noted for all categories of general education institutions (state and municipal, day and evening) without exception.

The ratio of schools located in urban and rural areas is maintained in the range of 62–65% of urban and 38–35% of rural schools. Despite this trend, there is a decrease in number of students. From 2006/2007 to 2014/2015 academic year in the schools of YNAD the number of students decreased by 10%: there was a reduction from 76.7 to 69.3 thousand people. There is also a decrease in number of teachers: there were 5,184 teachers in 2014/2015, and in 7% less in 2006/2007 academic year 5.

The proportion "teacher / pupil" was practically not affected by the reduction in the number of schools, teaching staff and the contingent of students and it varies in urban schools 1: 15-1: 16, and in rural schools 1:11. Reduction of the number of schools is much faster than reduction of the number of students, which increases the burden on educational institutions. On average, 497 pupils were trained in one public school in 2006/2007, and 514 students in 2014/2015. In day schools, the number of students increased from 509 to 535 people. In urban schools, the load on educational institutions has increased even more: from 619 pupils in daytime public schools in 2006/2007 academic year up to 666 people in 2014/2015 academic year.

Based on the official statistics data on general education institutions of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, we can conclude that the process of optimizing the general education system is realized, including the reduction of the number of schools and teaching staff.

A few works on pedagogy [3, Preobrazhenskaya G.A., Tikhonova D.L.], sociology [2, Lozhnikova I.F.] and physiology [4, Bagistova E.A.] are devoted to the study of pedagogical activity in the Far North. The aspects of life and work activity of teachers in Yakutia (Russia) [5, Danilov D.A.], [6, Tereshkina G.D.] and in Alaska (USA) [7, Williamson G.] are most widely disclosed.

The sociological analysis of the two aspects of the life of the school teacher (professionally pedagogical and social) in living conditions in the Far North was carried out in works [8; 9]. General analysis of the sociological portrait of a teacher is presented in works [10, Osinsky I.I.], [11, Sokolova E.A.] and [12, Zasypkin V.P.]. In these works, the following main features of the sociological portrait of the teacher are considered: socio-demographic indicators of teaching as a social and professional community; gender specificities of teaching; the way of life of the teaching of the district; social well-being and free time of teaching. The factors of satisfaction with the profession are determined; the factors that impede the productive activity of a teacher.

The results of sociological research

The team of the Tyumen Scientific and Educational Center of the Russian Academy of Education and the academic sociological laboratory of the Department of General and Economic Sociology of the Tyumen State University in 2016 conducted a sociological study of the social and professional portrait and the quality of life of the teaching of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District6. Consideration of the specifics of pedagogical activity in the Far North we begin with an analysis of the social portrait of teaching and the degree of influence of specific "northern" conditions on the work of teachers of general education.

Large-scale development of any region is accompanied by serious demographic shifts, powerful migration processes. The organization of everyday life is complicated by dozens of primary and less significant social tasks. One of the most important among them is the creation of a system of general and professional education. Together with the creation of the material base of educational institutions, it is necessary to form qualified pedagogical collectives. If in the organization of production in many cases it is possible to follow the way of using the shift method or redeployment of existing production teams, then in education, only a variant of long-term plans and unit selection of personnel is possible, it remains the only one after the cancellation of the state distribution of graduates of educational institutions.

The consequences of massive migratory shifts are traced when analyzing the periods of residence of the population in the Far North. Besides the indigenous population, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District is inhabited by a large number of migrants who have come for temporary or permanent residence. Thus, the entire sample can be divided into three categories. Among the teachers who participated in the study, one in seven (15%) represents the indigenous population. The largest group of respondents attributed themselves to newcomers living in Yamal constantly (78%). Every thirteenth teacher (8%) is also a visitor, but oriented only to temporary stay ("shift worker").

To determine the degree of social inculcation of teachers, it is important to pay attention to the question "How many generations of your family lived in the Far North?". More than half of the teachers are Yamal inhabitants of the first generation (56%). In every third case (30%) two generations live in the Far North (in addition to the respondent, before him lived / his parents lived in Yamal). The answers which are less common: "three generations" (7%) and "four generations and more" (8%). Respondents who identified themselves as indigenous people indicated that three or more generations of their family lived / lived in the Far North.

Assessing the level of "rootedness" of the population, it is important to analyze the answers to the question of a large-scale intergenerational pendulum migration: "Do the generations of your family repeat the cycle of "migration to the North — migration from the North". For 41% of the teachers surveyed, this migration scheme has become familiar (some members of the family practice such migration in a third (33%) of cases, and a similar work strategy is for 8% of respondents), 59% of respondents answered this question negatively.

The distribution as per length of stay in the Far North shows the new-settler population character. The duration of residence in the Far North regions of the majority of respondents is from 26 to 40 years (27%) and from 16 to 25 years (24%). Since there are quite a large number of visitors on the territory of Yamal, it is important to find out where they came from to the Far North. Among the main "donors" of teaching staff are Ukraine (10%), Kazakhstan (5%), Belarus (4%). Among the regions of Russia, the south of the Tyumen region is leading (12%), Bashkortostan (5%), Kurgan (4%), Omsk (3%), Moscow and Novosibirsk (2% each). Contrary to the widespread stereotype that the North is "replenished" at the expense of visitors from the south of the Tyumen region, in reality only 1 out of every 8 respondents came from there, and the least number of visitors came from the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District (only 2%).

The evaluation of the main factors determining the interest of migrants to work in the northern school is of special interest. For two-thirds of the teachers of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District who took part in the sociological survey, the main motivation for moving to the Far North was the "high earnings perspective" (35%) and "moving after the spouse" (35%). More than a third of respondents aged under 30 (more than 38%) came to "northern salaries". Interest in high earnings, which "promises" the Far North, was indicated as a main motive for the move for all categories of respondents (the average for the sample is 35%), with the exception of teachers over 60 (21%). For the older age categories, the most relevant is the move to YNAD following the spouse (42% among the respondents aged 50–59 and 29% among the teachers up to 30 years old).

Parents / relatives of every third respondent lived in the Far North, and they came here according to the "family tradition" (33%). 29% of teachers came to work in the Far North as a "test of themselves”. Such factors as "interest in extreme conditions of life and work" (11%) became less significant here, "interest in ethno-culture of the peoples of the Far North" (7%), "referral to work by educational authorities" (5%), "interest in training of children whose parents live in tundra" (4%).

Analyzing the received sociological information attention should be paid to the potential for the "reverse migration": the proportion of teachers who plan to reside on the Yamal Peninsula after retirement is significantly higher than those who currently consider themselves indigenous to Yamal. If currently 14% of the teachers referred themselves to this, then every fourth (!) respondent (24%) plans to reside in the district after retirement. This may indicate a significant increase in the positive trend of "rooting" the population of Yamal, which is an indicator of the successful socio-economic development of the Autonomous District.

Another notable trend is the increase in the attractiveness of the southern Tyumen region and the city of Tyumen among potential migrants. If 12% of respondents have come from this region by now, then after retirement, a quarter of respondents (27%) plan to move to the south of the Tyumen region (and, in particular, to the city of Tyumen). We believe that this is primarily due to large-scale housing construction programs in Tyumen for the northerners, a milder climate (adaptation to which for the elderly is easier compared to the southern regions).

A detailed description of the demographic and migration processes is due to the fact that they directly form many aspects of social life. Half of respondents (51%) state about the specifics, including every fifth respondent note the presence of significant features (20%). Let's consider the exact differences here.

• 1.    Pedagogical technologies (27%) (teachers of the Far North are keeping pace with modern achievements in pedagogical science, they make wide use of innovative pedagogical technologies, children are more prepared to enter higher education institutions, participate in all olympiads where advanced technologies are used, systematic innovation activity on approbation of new pedagogical technologies on the territory of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, the advanced pedagogical technologies are tested, which raises the requirements for the organization of the training process and qualifications of the teacher, health-saving educational technologies using northern national color are used).

• 2.    Technical equipment (35%) (high technological infrastructure of schools with modern computer equipment, in the North there is the best material and technical support of schools, so more opportunities, serious financing of innovation, low quality and speed of the Internet network does not allow using Internet resources in the required volume).

• 3.    Peculiarities of the indigenous peoples of the North, nomadic way of life (52%) (a feature of work with children living with their parents in tundra and a nomadic way of life; part of the parents lead a nomadic way of life, and so the children come and go from school for the holidays not on school schedule, therefore, it is necessary to have time to give and fix the school lesson material; adaptation of children coming from tundra where their parents work; children of the national structure, they need a special approach; there are students with insufficient knowledge of the Russian language; pedagogical technologies should take into account the traditional methods of life of the local population).

• 4.    Territorial remoteness (12%) (there are no higher educational institutions in the city and it is far to go to the nearest universities; the territories of the Far North are far from cultural and scientific centers, which limits the possibility of full-time participation in olympiads, contests, scientific and practical conferences; remoteness from social and cultural centers does not allow to use some pedagogical technologies, makes it difficult for the students to be socially adapted).

• 5.    Displacement of the training schedule (10%) (registration of migration activity of students and their families during the holidays).

• 6.    Grouping of studied topics (6%) (due to a large number of acted days, children often get sick, leave for rest; frosts, quarantine — a lot of material is given remotely and for independent study; distance education during unfavorable conditions, low temperatures; long polar night has an impact on health and work — teachers and children get tired quickly; it's impossible to explain to children the changeability of seasons, they do not understand what means “gardens are in full bloom"; short classes outside during physical culture lessons, the impossibility of conducting practical works outside).

• 7.    Complex transport scheme; poor quality of roads or their complete absence (5%) (half of the children should be transported, i.e, they live far from school, a complicated transport scheme: leaving the village is difficult, a bad winter road to the city, the lack of a regular road connection with the Big Earth).

To assess the extent and nature of the impact of living conditions and work in the Far

North, we will consider the following aspects: specific "northern" conditions and factors that complicate the work of urban (settlement) pedagogical teams and the personal life of teachers, the optimal solutions proposed by teachers to solve specific "northern" problems.

Among the main specific "northern" conditions and factors that complicate the work of pedagogical collectives are: climatic conditions (90%); territorial distance from other subjects of the Russian Federation and major educational centers (85%); Inaccessibility during off-season (65%); the shift in the schedule of the educational process (22%) (the departure of children during the year on vacation with parents outside the region); interethnic interaction (10%).

The teachers also mentioned problems of concern, which are not specifically "northern" and are spread throughout the country: the introduction of distance education; housing problems of teachers; large load of teachers to compile current, accounting and certification documentation ("paper work"); insufficient material and technical equipment; increase in the proportion of "correctional" children.

What kind of help / support / assistance would the education staff like to receive? Respondents' answers to the question about the desired measures of support, assistance is grouped by us into eight thematic blocks. Each respondent could independently offer one or several answers:

• 1.    Social benefits and guarantees (85%) (to resume payments for "sanitation" and sanatorium treatment for teachers, to restore health during the school year for several days outside the district, increase of the northern allowances, help in resettlement to the south of the region at retirement age; the development of a recovery program for people living in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District).

• 2.    The organization of the educational process (82%) (to ensure a high level of organization of work and rest for teachers, so that a person does not work from morning till late at night, changing the mode of work during the winter months, reviewing the curriculum and the possibility of a remote crediting system, working only on the first shift).

• 3.    Housing (75%) (allocation of departmental housing on terms of official hiring, provision of young teachers with housing for fixing them in the Far North, providing teachers with housing in capital execution, for those who had been working at one enterprise for more than 15 years).

• 4.    Financing (70%).

• 5.    To raise the level of wages, payment of bonuses (65%).

• 6.    Pension (48%) (preferential calculation of the length of work when granting pensions, benefits for working pensioners, increase of pensions for all categories of pedagogical workers).

• 7.    Teaching of the pedagogical staff (45%) (creating the opportunity for further training on the basis of cooperation with the scientific centers of the country; attracting specialists to the Far North for conducting practical-oriented courses, lectures, trainings; the possibility to improve the

• 8.    To develop the transport infrastructure (45%) (to eliminate the difficulty of leaving the district, to establish a year-round road connection with the "Big earth").

• 9.    To raise the quality of life (28%) (to strengthen the quality control of imported products, food, to improve the livelihood of all northerners, to build modern warm schools and housing).

• 10.    Culture and leisure (22%) (organization of theatrical performances from other cities, the development of recreational activities for young people; to build theaters, museums and other cultural institutions).

qualification in prestigious universities; master classes of lessons on new methods; assistance in developing practical training).

Among the respondents there was a group of "pessimists" (3%) who did not offer any measures and solutions to these specific problems. "Moving" as a way of solving problems, only 2% of teachers mentioned ("only relocation and living in more favorable climatic conditions" will save the situation).

In order to get the most complete idea of the quality of life, it is important to analyze the dynamics of the material situation in recent years. The financial position of the teaching staff has improved noticeably: more than half of the respondents noted that the financial situation of their family has improved substantially or slightly, a quarter of respondents mentioned that their families' financial situation remained unchanged, only 5% of the teachers mentioned about deterioration in their financial conditions. In the opinion of the majority of respondents, over the last five years the financial situation of their family has improved (56%), including every ninth teacher notes a significant improvement in financial situation (12%). Financial position has remained unchanged for every fourth respondent (24%). The worsening of financial situation is noted by 20% of respondents (5% mentioned significant deterioration).

Also, the study has made the attempt to make the assessment of the immediate prospects by the population. Realizing that the level of material interest, incomes, plays the main role in securing the population in the northern regions, the following question was asked in the questionnaire: "In your opinion, how will the material situation of your family be changed in five years?". The expectations of the respondents were divided as follows: one third of respondents believe that the financial situation will be improved slightly (30%), another third of respondents believe that "everything will remain without significant changes" (30%). The remaining respondents are inclined to polar opposite assessments: "a significant improvement" in the financial situation of their families (17%), 8% of the respondents expect substantial deterioration.

The majority of respondents assess the level of financial situation of their families as follows: "we have enough money only for food and clothing, but the purchase of durable goods is a problem" (37%) and "we have enough money to buy durable goods, but not a car or an apartment" (35 %).

“we have enough money for products and compulsory spending, but buying clothes causes serious difficulties" for 13% of respondents. 13% of respondents consider themselves to be prosperous (the difficulty can be caused by the purchase of very expensive things), while only 2 persons said that they "barely makes ends meet and do not have enough money for food" (a statistically insignificant number on the background of the entire sample) (see Table 1).

Table 1

Distribution of respondents' answers to the question: "Assess the level of the financial situation of your family?" ( % to the number of respondents)

Category	Possible answer	Frequency	%
Beggars	we barely make ends meet and do not have enough money for food	2	0.3
Poor	we have enough money for products and compulsory spending, but buying clothes causes serious difficulties	85	12.5
Low-income	we have enough money only for food and clothing, but the purchase of durable goods is a problem	240	35.3
Secured	we have enough money to buy durable goods, but not a car or an apartment	253	37.1
Prosperous	Family is prosperous, the difficulty can be caused by the purchase of very expensive things	90	13.2
No answer		10	1.5
Total		680	100.0

Let us consider the character of the housing of the teachers of the Far North. The majority of respondents live in a separate, well-maintained apartment (57%). 11% of respondents live in a rented apartment or house, and a similar proportion of respondents conducts the economy in a service house (12%). 6% of teachers has their own houses. 6% of respondents did not answer the question (see table 2).

Table 2

Breakdown of answers to the question: "Describe the nature of your housing" (% to the number of respondents)

Possible answer	Frequency	%
Separate apartment in property	384	56.5
Dormitory accommodation	54	8.0
Own house	42	6.1
Rented apartment/house	75	11.1
Service apartment/house	84	12.4
No answer	41	6.2
Total	680	100

More than three quarters of the teachers estimate with optimism (40%) or calmly their immediate future without any worries and illusions (39%), 18% note the alarmist motives, less than 1% of respondents consider their future "with fear and despair". The level of anxiety of women is significantly higher (22%) compared to men (14%).

Then we consider such important question for sociology: what social stratification group does a respondent belong to? There are many approaches to determining the criteria of the middle class. One of them is self-identification. Other approaches are based on a specific amount of sustainable income sufficient to meet a wide range of material and social needs, or on a set of criteria: the availability of higher education, the non-physical nature of labor, and so on. Two-thirds of teachers rank themselves as middle class (65%), and one in five identifies himself with the social layer "above average" (20%).

Conclusion

The materials of sociological research allow us to make the following main conclusions:

• 1)    Two significant trends have been revealed in the behavior of teachers. First, the potential for "reverse migration" (the proportion of teachers who plan to reside on the Yamal Peninsula after retirement) is significantly higher than those who currently consider themselves indigenous to Yamal. Secondly, the attractiveness of the southern Tyumen region and the city of Tyumen has been increased among potential migrants.

• 2)    The life and work activity of a teacher of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, belonging to the territory of the Far North, differs in a number of specific features: health-saving educational technologies and games using northern color are applied; peculiarities of the indigenous minorities of the North, a nomadic way of life; territorial distance from cultural and scientific centers; displacement of the training schedule; grouping of the studied topics in connection with a large number of acted days; complex transport scheme; poor quality of roads or their complete absence; interethnic interaction.

• 3)    To improve the social and professional status, the quality of life of teachers at Yamal and to optimize the work process, it is necessary to intensify / implement the following measures to support the employees of the education sector: regular and free (preferential) vouchers for sanitation; benefits for teachers during their stay in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, as well as for traveling around the country; guaranteed housing for the period of work and a competitive level of sale of an apartment at Yamal to purchase real estate in another region of the country; increase of wages; the introduction of additional payments and social guarantees for a teacher working / worked in the Far North; increased pension at the end of employment; compensation of teachers' expenses for cellular communication services; restoration of preparatory classes for children of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North for teaching Russian and

preparing for school; expansion of teaching of the native language of indigenous minorities of the North in the framework of the educational implemented program; providing psychological and methodological training for teachers to work with children of indigenous small peoples of the North.

• 4)    The important criterion determining the quality of the educational process is the professional, economic and social well-being of educators, teachers working in the education system. The formation of the education system is accompanied by significant and contradictory changes in the theory and practice of teaching and educational processes.

Teachers should apply new teaching technologies that are adequate to modern technological opportunities and assisting the child's entry into the information society and the modern community. There is a transformation of the role of the teacher, which is no longer the only source of information for the student. Increasingly important are the functions of a mentor. Most school teachers identify themselves with the middle class.