All-Russian schoolchildren's Olympiad as a cultural practice in contemporary Russia

This paper focuses on the All-Russian Schoolchildren’s Olympiad as a cultural practice and is considered in the context of contemporary Russia. The Olympiad was analyzed a lot from the point of view of its mechanisms, structure and history, but researches did not consider the functioning and influence of the Olympiad as a cultural practice. Therefore, the main purpose of my work is to identify the functions of the All-Russian Schoolchildren’s Olympiad. The study examines the question of how the Olympiads affect the education system, the social and cultural life. The theoretical part of the question is based on the analysis of works on the social space, cultural capital, social mobility, the theory of the "Other." The work is based on the analysis of official documents, cases and media context. The results of the work can be used in cultural studies, educational and sociological sciences. The study also contributes to educational theory as a tool for understanding and developing the mechanisms and procedures of the All-Russian Schoolchildren’s Olympiad and the education system as a whole. In the course of the study, six functions were identified: newsbreak, dehumanization, competitive environment, social mobility, a tool for the formation of cultural capital and the social space. The structure of the work is logically connected with the tasks of the study. The first chapter of the work is devoted to the history of the Olympiad movement. The second chapter consists of an analysis of the policy regarding the Olympics and official documents with the application of theory which makes it possible to reveal the functions of the All-Russian Schoolchildren’s Olympiad.