Pedagogical activity of the educator of the late XIX – early XX century Gabdulla Tukai and the struggle for the renewal of education

Malikov Rustam Shaydullovich ORCID: 0000-0002-7938-593X Doctor of Pedagogy Professor, Z.T. Sharafutdinov Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical University 423806, Russia, respublika Tatarstane, g. Naberezhnye Chelny, ul. Nizamutdinova, 28, of. 1 rustiku@bk.ru Other publications by this author

Galiakberova Al'finur Azatovna ORCID: 0000-0002-3564-9737 PhD in Economics Associate Professor, Department of History and Methods of its Teaching, Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical University 423806, Russia, respublika Naberezhnye Chelny, g. Naberezhnye Chelny, ul. Nizametdinova, 28, of. 1 rustiku@bk.ru

Introduction.

In our scientific and pedagogical research, we repeatedly turned to the legacy of the great educator of his time, Gabdulla Tukai ^{[2; 3; 4; 5]}. Despite this, the biography and creativity of the educator require new research that reveals his pedagogical and educational views.

G. Tukai has invested a lot of work in educational activities among the Tatar people. He literally fought for the formation of Jadite (new) types of schools with updated teaching methods and new content. The educator is one of the pioneers in the development of Tatar pedagogical thought. Compiling textbooks and textbooks for children, he became a real methodologist, an expert in school education, educational work at school. G. Tukai wrote a special pedagogical work that reveals the goals, means and methods of teaching the younger generation. He reflected his thoughts about the education and upbringing of students of schools and madrassas in numerous journalism, as well as poems and poems ^[6].

The main part.

As well as L. Tolstoy, K.D. Ushinsky, etc. educators, G. Tukai advocated the principle of nationality in education and training. First of all, this is reflected in the acquisition of knowledge in the native language, reliance in education on national values, education of love for the native people and the motherland, which is extremely lacking in modern Russian schools.

G. Tukai sought to interest children in obtaining knowledge. In this regard, he strongly criticized the educational system of modern old-fashioned schools and madrassas, where children were humiliated, beaten, scholastic memorization of the studied material, not understanding the meaning. The result of such training was stupidity, loss of health, spiritual poverty of graduates, which the educator opposed in his poetic and journalistic works.

He wanted to see the graduates of schools and madrassas as fighters for enlightenment and the interests of their native people. Highly appreciating the educational activities of K. Nasyri, he noted the need to educate among the Tatar youth such figures as Pushkin, Count Leo Tolstoy and Lermontov ^[1].

According to the educator, education will be perfect if the graduate is able to understand the importance of unity of personal and public interests. G. Tukai also touched upon the problems of democratization of society, political consciousness, the formation of a correct worldview, serving the interests of his native people, various areas of education.

One of the means of education G. Tukai identified fiction, journalism, textbooks. In fiction, he saw a powerful force of education, so in his works he reflected various ideas of education and training.

Speaking about the pedagogical activity of the educator G. Tukai, it should be noted his direct work at school. Russian Russian classes after graduation, he gave Russian language lessons to madrasah students.  In 1903-1904 he worked as a teacher at the Uralsk school.

Being an educator who is not indifferent to the educational process, the content of education and the final result of training, G. Tukai directly worked on the publication of textbooks for children on literary reading. On November 23, 1909, the first textbook "Children's Souls" was published, and on April 12, 1910, the second manual "Funny Pages" was published. These textbooks have successfully passed censorship and appeared on the shelves of bookstores. The manuals mainly consist of the works of G. Tukai himself, which have not yet been published in the periodical press and written specifically for inclusion in these publications ^[7].

In 1909, another enlightener's manual was published under the title "New Reading", which included poems and prose works. In 1910, work was underway on the compilation of the following textbook entitled "Lessons of national literature at school", which contains, along with the work of the educator himself, successful and suitable for reading at school works by other poets and writers ^[8].

G. Tukai expressed his thoughts about modern education in his poems. One of them is called "What the Shakirds who came out of the madrasah tell" (1907) ^[13]. In the poem, the educator exposes the teaching in the old-fashioned madrassas to diverse criticism.

G. Tukai in the first lines notes that the terms of study in the madrasah are long. He designates this period with the word "lay", which corresponds to the inactivity of students, while obtaining knowledge requires internal activity. The poet compares such inaction with a lying stone, which nothing can move, even strong storms. The result of such inaction was the ignorance of graduates.

The shakirds hid behind a curtain from all the sun's rays. They strongly resisted any rays that carried something new and bright. This state of affairs means that in the old-fashioned madrasahs they shunned everything new, locked themselves in, were afraid to confront the old.

The Shakirds hid under blankets, slept an eternal sleep, nothing could wake them up. They didn't wake up even at dawn. They stopped thinking, despite the fact that their sun of happiness is at sunset. From these lines it is clear that the life of the students was limited only by the boundaries of the madrasah. Even the advent of the new age could not give them the opportunity to think freely, although they were well aware that their time was being wasted.

G. Tukai does not consider Shakirds incapable. He blames the established procedures in the madrasah for everything, which he calls stinking manure, where students simply rotted. The Shakirds turned into carefree, unashamed people, which sometimes led to their untimely death. Even an untimely death could not make them come to their senses and correct their situation.

G. Tukai compares the situation of shakirds with centipedes who received satisfaction from the stench of sewage. The life of the madrasah dried up the Shakirds, they lost weight beyond recognition; they even turned yellow, which means their painful condition.

The position of education is set in such a way that the Shakirds have forgotten what honor, conscience and morality are. They have deteriorated to such an extent that they have surpassed even Iblis himself.

The living conditions of the Shakirds were terrible: they were forced to live without food and water, firewood and candles, in narrow rooms, as a result of which they stank. On Muslim pre-holidays at night, the shakirds dreamed that they performed ablution while standing on ice. Such inhumane living conditions led to the fact that they were far from gaining knowledge. Life forced the Shakirds to sew sacks from sailboats and beg for food from the rich; wandering the streets, standing at the gate until the owner comes out and gives at least some food.

The Tatar nation of Shakirds then valued cheaper wood and stone, while Europe considered students more valuable than eyebrows over the eyes. It should be noted that the Tatar proverb-comparison "my eyebrows over my eyes" means the highest assessment of the importance of a person or something. Thus, the knowledge of school education and education gave G. Tukai the opportunity to compare the situation of the younger generation's education in Europe and Russia, which is currently called "comparative pedagogy".

The sale of conscience did not feed the Shakirds. From thinness, they were covered with lice, like obscene girls. The teaching of logic, in the likeness of chewing gum, turned the Shakirds into executioners, as a result of which neither flour nor dough turned out from them, but only a raw roll.

According to the irony of G. Tukai, if laziness is needed, then they have it in bulk; stupidity is needed – they have everything. The question arises: is there really not a single sensible one among all the Shakirds? Of course, there is, but a skilled, mature, capable shakird is a rare phenomenon – he is one in thousands.

Shakirds repent that they sacrificed their young years for ignorance. The idleness of shakirds G. Tukai conveys idioms "sugan satu" (literally "to sell onions"), "borchak atu" (literally "to throw peas") from Tatar folklore. All the benefits for the Shakirds, who turned into hairdressers, were from haircuts.

The Bai gave the shakirds their lame old daughters, to whom they served as slaves day and night incessantly with their "learning". If they met with old widows or women, the shakirds began to live at their home, although they did not sin, but such a life became the fire of hell for them.

What humiliations and insults the Shakirds did not survive from their nation. The poor guy pressed on them, not looking because of the sore eyes. The poet stipulates that his goal is not to humiliate the Tatar nation, and the nation cannot do anything since it is blind; there is no court for such. Practically, the poet has no claim to the blind Tatar nation.  He directs criticism at the "sighted" Hazrats, who do not call on the people to help the hungry and poor shakird a little. The Hazrats only cared about their bellies, which are bottomless, insatiable and deep.

Shakirds aspired to reforms, although they knew that it would not come, so they continued to sit in their corners for a long time bored. They waited a long time for holy deeds from the Khazrats, but they did not wait. And now it's time to say goodbye to the Hazrats, and with them to the madrasah.

The poet urges everyone to move forward with firm steps, until now they have been held and pulled back by ignorance.  The educator calls to serve the people, swim in the field of labor and endure various humiliations and hardships.

Thus, G. Tukai in 23 parts of the poem "What the Shakirds who came out of the madrasah tell" describes the difficult life of madrasah students, teachers distracted from this life, the nation's inattention to the younger generation receiving knowledge, the unwillingness to help them rich, concerned about hoarding. Nevertheless, the educator-optimist G. Tukai calls on the service of the nation for the sake of a bright future.

In the poem "Village Madrasah" (1912), G. Tukai strongly criticizes the old-fashioned madrasah, where shakirds could not get proper knowledge and left its walls ignorant ^[10]. The educator notes that the madrasah functions on various donations from people who do not know what purposes this money goes to. Inside the madrasah there are followers of ishan (religious figure) and crazy ishan.

Scholastic education in the Tukai madrasah is compared to the endless chewing of the same word and sentences, as a result, the young years of people pass uselessly. For the whole winter they repeat the same thing – they "chew" like camels, and in the spring they stop.

The educator also criticizes the Shakirds, whom he calls a "blockhead". It also gets to their fathers who do not understand where they gave their child. G. Tukai also calls them "dubina"mi. In front of the shakirds are the Koran and excerpts from it. Next to the students are their briefcases, which are filled with parents to overflowing with necessary supplies.

The educator calls the learning process "polluting the pages of books with your hands", "chewing a closed book around the edges", which means not understanding the essence of what has been studied.

The poet also describes the madrasa teacher, who is sitting in the hall on pillows, on whose head an old and dirty fez is crooked. Such a nondescript appearance leads to the fact that he looks like Iblis. In general, it seems that the established stench may be coming from him.

Such criticism of the state of affairs in many madrassas arises from the desire of the educator to change the system of education and preparation of young people for life. Criticism of scholasticism was a bold step for its time, and the reason for the attack on the poet himself by the Kadimists.

In the quatrain "Father and Child" (another name "At the Blackboard") (1908), G. Tukai reveals the full benefits of learning ^[11]. The poem was written to be printed on the cover of school notebooks, which proves its didactic essence.

The father encourages his dear child to write and paint a blackboard with chalk, which will lead to the enlightenment of black souls by a stroke of a white ray. Three ignoramuses cannot replace one literate person; a real person desires enlightenment and is never lazy.

The quatrain "Father and child" can replace the whole instruction about the need to learn and gain knowledge. It sounds especially relevant from the mouth of a father who is the most interested person in the world in the enlightenment of his child.

In the poem "Consolation" (1907), G. Tukai has high hopes for enlightenment ^[12]. The flow of life pushes people forward, like a riverbed. The grief that exists in the head of the people will gradually be washed away like water. Despite the course of life, there is a lot of time ahead that it will be useful for people to spend on teaching and enlightenment. The time will come and there will be a master, because the present situation of the people is a temporary phenomenon.

The educator calls on the people to seek and find enlightenment, which is within their power. In the path of enlightenment, you cannot cry, considering yourself prodigal, and soon enlightenment will leave its real mark. You should adhere to the order "Do not lose hope!", you should forget about sadness. If a cloud is visible in the sky, it means it will rain soon. So the poet compares enlightenment with a rain cloud, which is useful for all living things.

In the last two terms of the poem, the educator names the reason for the backwardness: the old people are pulling back, but they will soon walk towards the cemetery. The word "old people" here should be understood as opponents of progress, of everything new, including new-fangled education, the introduction of secular subjects in schools and madrasas, the study of the Russian language, etc.

Conclusion.

Thus, G. Tukai, as a caring educator, constantly pays attention to the state of education of society, searches for the causes of backwardness, suggests ways to correct mistakes that slow down scientific and technological progress, as a result of which he himself undergoes many insults, humiliations and insults.

Analyzing the works of the educator of the late XIX – early XX century, G. Tukai, came to the conclusion that the problem of education was relevant at all times. G. Tukai as an educator pays special attention to the education of children.

Thus, G. Tukai, being a great educator of his time, touches on many problems of education of the younger generation and adults, advocates updating the content and methods, goals and means of teaching, compiles reading textbooks for students, touches on different areas of education in his works. In the future, the pedagogical activity of G. Tukai and the educational aspects of his works should be investigated.