GEOGRAPHY, MULTICULTURALISM, CITY: MODERN ASPECTS

Abstract

Education is an inseparable part of current global processes which is shaping and at the same reflecting the basic changes in economic, social and ecological spheres. One of the most significant current global trends is the high level of mobility of people - from tourism to growing working migration. Relocation of people, mixture of ethnic groups and nationalities have taken place in all epochs of the history of humanity but it has never been so grand-scale, that is including absolutely all continents. The development of transport, information technologies have simplified people’s relocation, including with educational purposes. Such state of things has identified multiculturalism as a separate branch of pedagogical theory and practice. Russia is a multicultural state that has formed a corresponding system of education as the foundation of national culture, outlook, based on variety of cultures, languages, traditions. Modern challenges of social development formulate a sophisticated task of up-bringing in the spirit of deep respect to all nations, the ability to communicate and cooperate with people of various nationalities, social groups, religions. Among the multitude of tasks of multicultural education, connected with designing of its contents, the most important from our point of view is the up-bringing of a multiculturally orientated personality. Multiculturally orientated personality possesses civic self-actualization, means of creative self-organization and self- realization in the multicultural world. It must possess key general competences, including the knowledge of basics and objective laws of the development of multicultural world, the ability to orientate in the cultural multi-variety of the world. The major role in solution of the task is given to studying geography, shaping geographic culture. Geoculturalistic agenda, various aspects of studying geography has very deep roots. Geography is tensely connected with the idea of culture. Culture is territorial, that is it experiences full-scaled influence of geographic factor, it is differentiated in space, and is organized in a very special way, developing and functioning in specific, immanent territorial forms. Besides, teaching geography at school does not correspond to the current demands to full extent. In secondary school, especially in city, geography is taught only in specialized classes which obviously diminish the opportunities of developing multiculturual environment to full scale. These and many other aspects of shaping geographic culture of students are realized on bachelor degree course and master course in institutions of higher education. Thus, the development of geographic culture, advance of geographic education should become the important part in solution the problems of multicultural education and multicultural preparation of specialists.