Tokpulatov V. G. Mari Educational Mentality: Structure, Values and Transformations

Posted on 28.06.2026 by editor

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Original article

https://doi.org/10.15507/2076-2577.26182.271-284
https://elibrary.ru/ykvukm
УДК / UDC 39:008

Mari Educational Mentality: Structure, Values and Transformations

V. G. Tokpulatov
Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature and History named after V. M. Vasiliev, Yoshkar-Ola, Russian Federation

Abstract

Introduction. The article examines the problem of the educational mentality of the Mari people in the context of the transformation of traditional values and mechanisms of cultural and linguistic transmission. In conditions of the dominance of standardized educational models and the weakening of ethnocultural foundations of learning, there arises a need for a philosophical and cultural reflection on education as a form of ethnic determination. Despite the existence of research in the fields of ethnopedagogy and the sociology of education, the educational mentality of the Mari has not yet been analyzed as a value-semantic formation. The aim of the article is to identify the transformation of the value foundations of the Mari educational mentality.

Materials and Methods. The subject of the study is the educational mentality of the Mari ethnic group as a component of the overall mental structure of culture. The research material includes lexicographical sources, ethnographic as well as historical and pedagogical data. The study employs methods of philosophical and cultural analysis.

Results and Discussion. It has been determined that in traditional Mari mentality, education is primarily perceived as a process of nurturing the individual, aimed at fostering practical competence, moral resilience, and inner autonomy. It has been demonstrated that folk pedagogy is founded on the concept of a person as a being with a profound inner world, which should be gradually revealed. It has been identified that in contemporary conditions, ethnicity is undergoing transformation, accompanied by a weakening of the mental foundations of the formal educational process.

Conclusion. It is concluded that the Mari educational mentality functions as an active form of ethnic determination, ensuring the reproduction of cultural identity. The practical significance of the study lies in the potential application of the findings in the development of regional models of ethnocultural and multilingual education. The prospects for further research are associated with the continued analysis of the mental foundations of education in a comparative Finno-Ugric context.

Keywords: educational mentality, Mari ethnic group, ethnopedagogy, multilingual education, symbolic identity, social determination, existentiality

Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.

For citation: Tokpulatov V.G. Mari Educational Mentality: Structure, Values and Transformations. Finno–Ugric World. 2026;18(2):271‒284. https://doi.org/10.15507/2076-2577.26182.271-284

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Information about the author:

Vladimir G. Tokpulatov, Cand.Sci. (Philos.), Senior Researcher of the Scientific Field “Ethnology”, Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature and History named after V. M. Vasiliev (44 Krasnoarmeyskaya St., Yoshkar-Ola 424036, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0249-3242, SPIN-code: 4620-1789, vladimir.tokpulatov@ya.ru

The author has read and approved the final manuscript.

Submitted 26.01.2026; revised 02.04.2026; accepted 08.04.2026.

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