The policy of imperial acculturation of the northern Kazakh steppes population (mid XVIII–XIX centuries): phenomenon of the Orenburg Kyrgyz school

This paper covers the main issues of the educational policy of the Russian Empire in the XVIII–XIX centuries in relation to the northern Kazakh steppes population. Examples of peaceful interaction of Russian settlers with the local Kazakh population are considered through the prism of cultural and educational influence, which was expressed at the basis of a number of educational institutions for the «foreigners» of the northern Kazakh steppes. The significance of the educational and cultural integration of the local population into the Russian society is revealed. The main aspects of the educational policy of the Russian Empire are investigated on the factual material of Russian-foreign schools. The problems of acculturation of the local population and ways to solve them in the works of contemporaries and direct participants in these events are given. Archival materials telling about the history of the educational institution – the Orenburg Kyrgyz School are introduced into scientific circulation. The work of the Orenburg Kyrgyz School is considered, which implied cultural and educational acculturation of the Kazakh population in the middle of the XIX century. The author also reveals the reasons for changing the educational and cultural orientations of the school at different periods of its existence, the results of its work and its role in the process of non-Russian peoples integration into the unified sociocultural space of the Russian Empire.