Ethno-Cultural Education as the Basis of Forming Schoolchildren’s Ecological Competence

Abstract

The article is devoted to the vital problem of the formation students’ ecological competence. Ethno-cultural education based on the use of people’s traditions is necessary nowadays in order to overcome consumer attitude towards the nature, moral and bioethical education of the younger generation. The article gives the theoretical basis of environmental competence and ethno-cultural education, various approaches to the concept of "ethno-cultural awareness." The selected and worked out research methods gave an opportunity to determine the level of development of students’ environmental competence and ethno-cultural awareness. The majority of the students of middle and senior grades according to most parameters of environmental awareness and ethno-cultural competence belong to the low level group and only a small number belong to the medium-level group. The results of the diagnostics of environmental awareness and ethno-cultural competence contributed to the development of the fields of work aimed at the the formation and development of students’ environmental competence on the basis of ethno-cultural education, which presupposes the teacher’s use of the ethnic and cultural heritage of the local people of the Mari El Republic - the Mari. Specially organized purposeful educational activities contribute to successful development of students’ environmental awareness and ethno-cultural competence. Ethno-cultural education helps to develop respect for the local ethnic group, to the study of the customs and traditions of the people of the Republic of Mari El.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s7p397