Keyword: «national finno-ugric self-identity»

The relevance of the study is due to the complex of modern challenges faced by the Russian education system: geopolitical changes, globalization and digitalization processes. In these conditions, the task of preserving and developing ethnocultural diversity, in particular, the culture and traditions of the Udmurt people, is of particular importance. A key role in solving this problem is given to the teacher, whose own developed national identity and the ability to use modern tools to educate schoolchildren are becoming especially important. The aim of the article is to determine the role and potential of media pedagogy in the development of the Finno-Ugric identity of student teachers in the Udmurt Republic. The work is experimental in nature and relies on a combination of methods: questioning and interviewing students of a pedagogical university, analyzing essays by schoolchildren and student teachers, as well as a method of expert assessments to identify key factors affecting the development of national identity. The study revealed a contradictory situation. On the one hand, student teachers have a fairly high level of personal Finno-Ugric identity. On the other hand, significant gaps were found in their preparation for the use of media technologies to develop this identity among schoolchildren. Analysis of the essays showed that students understand insufficient manifestation of the ethnocultural component in the work of a modern school and expect its strengthening in the "school of the future." At the same time, preservice teachers demonstrate limited awareness of specific media resources and weak readiness for their practical use for educational purposes. The results of the work emphasize the need to integrate media pedagogy into the teacher training system. At the theoretical level, the study justifies the importance of the teacher's media competence as a key condition for effective ethnocultural education. At the practical level, recommendations have been developed for the educational policy of the Udmurt Republic: the introduction of special courses in media pedagogy into the curricula of pedagogical universities, the creation of school media centers focused on the production of ethnocultural content, and the development of partnerships between educational organizations and national media.