სკოლის რეორგანიზაცია, როგორც ნაციონალური იდენტობის ფორმირების საფუძველი (1918-1921)

Abstract

The Paper is an attempt to understand reforms of education carried out in the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) from the perspective of nationalism and identity researches. The study of the history of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) has received a particular attention recently, including the study of government reforms in the the field of education. But this issue has non been analyzed against the background of formation of national identity. The tree-year legacy of Georgia’s independence does not lose its actuality even today. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly important and necessary to study and analyze the First Republic’s legacy properly to restore the historical memory that was the victim of the Soviet ideological regime. The political and intellectual elite of the First Republic, majority of which were also in the legislative bodies, had been discussing many ways to organize of education system, the need for proper planning and implementation of reforms. Studying and analyzing of Georgian press in this period as well as observations over archival materials reveals that the first goal of the Georgian reformers was to eliminate the process of Russification in the educational system and, in addition to nationalization and democratization of education, develop a national concept of education that means to nationalization school. Also, bringing the Georgian reality into conformity with the European education system was their main concern. The policy of nationalization of the Georgian educational and cultural institutions was a new, major state program aiming development of Georgian language. Teaaching of Georgian for those who did nt know this language became mandatory. But this fact underlined the issue of national minorities in educational and institutions. Number of provisions have been worked out at the legislative level, which expressed democratic approaches to the national minorities. A significant challenge of the educational policy of the Democratic Republic of Georgia was the ana xvedeliani situation in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. There were also the number of controversies. In both regions together with demand of cultural autonomy the issue of political autonomy was also highlighted. The chronological framework of the research allows us to bring up the following issue: Reorganization of school as a basis of formation on national identity 1918-1921. When political elites achieve their goal – independence of the country, so the following question arises: what is the nature of the post-independence nationalism, what are its characteristics. In this article we will try to answer this question with discussing about one of the directions of the educational policy of the independent republic of Georgia, - reorganization of school system. In particular, we analyze the report of the Deputy Minister of Education –Noe Thintsadze. We use the modern theory of nationalism as a theoretical framework for our research, whose representatives consistently emphasize the crucial and determinative role of education in the formation of national identity. The large cultural system - print media, distribution of literacy skills, education – are forms the basis for political goals and movements. The development of schools and universities is directly linked to the processes of self-determination of the nation. The theorists of nationalism agree that ruling elites are themselves putting cultural, educational and linguistic standards to agenda. They map the contours of national identity of citizens through a balanced policy. If we look through the educational policy of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, we will see that the educational policy of the Democratic Republic is aimed at establishing the cultural, educational and linguistic standards of the nation for formation of the national identity. In view of this, it becomes clear that the Georgian state is the only acceptable cultural and political form for the further development of the Georgian nation.