Interview 13. Working on Motivation. Iryna Matkovska
Nowadays, many Ukrainian teachers can see how the war has forced our children to grow up too quickly, stealing the best years of their childhood. Iryna Matkovska, a teacher of history, jurisprudence, civic education, and deputy director of the Municipal Institution Vinnytsia Lyceum No.18 talks about her experience. However, there is also an advantage to growing up quickly. According to Iryna, children are much more interested in their country’s events and try to analyze and understand them better. However, Ukrainian teachers still have a lot of work ahead, particularly in rethinking such relevant disciplines as history and civic education and motivating our children to learn.
We are united
I am proud that Ukraine is united and fighting. We have not been brought to our knees, and never will be. This will never happen. Today, there is no division into western and eastern, northern and southern Ukraine. We have all joined together. From a historian’s perspective, I could compare the beginning weeks of the war in 2014 and the current invasion. Eight years ago, people spoke about eastern and southern Ukraine, but now such a divide does not exist. For many internally displaced persons, it has completely disappeared. To be honest, we have never divided people in Vinnytsia.
We immediately started using the experience we had gained in 2014-2015. On the second day of the war, volunteer headquarters were already set up in the city. We were asked how we managed to do it so quickly, because the war seemed so far from our city. But, eight years ago (and we continued our work every day since), we began communicating not only amongst ourselves but also with European organizations, and when the need arose, we sent ready lists to our partners on the second day.
Getting our wings back
I really like the fairy-tale movie Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie. I remembered it even before the actress came to Lviv. The film’s main character, a fairy, grew up in a country where tolerant, balanced and joyful people lived. Some nasty boys and girls arrived, and the country turned into a sad and black land. The main thing is that Maleficent was deprived of her wings. But, she did her best, walked a long moral path, and removed the curse with her strength and love. I really hope that we too will retrieve our wings through our love, and remove the spell cast by the enemy.
Everyone contributes
The soldiers on the front lines allow us to work and organize humanitarian aid. In fact, the whole of Vinnytsia is now a vast humanitarian hub. All the schools are actively involved. Five facilities take in internally displaced families; some of them stay for two or three weeks to recover, rest and decide what to do next. Volunteers also weave camouflage nets and cook food, which will be delivered to hospitals or reception centers for IDPs. Some schools have been turned into warehouses – goods arrive, are sorted, packed, and sent on. Every day, we send aid by train to Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, to all the hot spots in Ukraine.
Not a single restaurateur from Vinnytsia has refused to help the Armed Forces, the military hospital, and other hospitals where many of our boys are treated. One of the restaurateurs, a doctor by profession, has a network of establishments in Vinnytsia; he is currently on the front line. He could have stayed at home. But, back in 2014, he fought in the ATO zone, and now he is a doctor on the front lines, while his restaurants work to feed the hospitals. Not much is written about it, but everyone in Vinnytsia knows it.
I am proud that Ukraine is united and fighting. We have not been brought to our knees, and never will be. This will never happen.
Providing comfortable shelters
Vinnytsia’s biggest challenge is to shelter people, many of whom arrived here against their will, and to make everyone feel comfortable in our wonderful city.
Before the war, my friend made a decent living; she had her own fitness club. She could have re-opened her club, but she says that people need to find shelter somewhere, and despite everything, she accepts IDPs regularly. Once day, a large family arrived, a couple with 14 foster children. They were traveling from Zaporizhzhia Region to Austria, but the bus broke down in Vinnytsia. While it was being repaired, the parents and their children settled in comfortably in her club and were provided with everything they needed.
Educational Front
Vinnytsia educational institutions are preparing for the new school year, particularly arranging shelters for the safety of the children and teachers. According to a survey by the local online portal 20 Minutes, parents’ opinions are divided – some agree with face-to-face learning under safe conditions; others are wary of letting their children expose themselves to danger.
In order to help Ukrainian educators to continue teaching children during the war, the EdCamp Ukraine community launched a crowdfunding campaign — collecting funds for computer equipment and Internet access for teachers who lost their pedagogical equipment in the war. The funds will be used for psychological support for teachers and to organize conferences where they can share their pedagogical experiences during the war. Both foreign colleagues – on the GoFundMe platform, and Ukrainians – on the EdCamp Ukraine page, can join the campaign by adding the comment My War. Lessons to the payment.
Positivity is a priority
After resuming the educational process, we organized online lessons because, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the children’s safety. If there are air raid alerts during the day, we have nowhere to hide the children. We have 1,600 children studying in one shift, and our bomb shelter is designed for 500. In fact, all our teachers work from home, because the school Internet is not strong enough to support such a large number of online lessons. Four of our colleagues are currently abroad, but are able to conduct online classes and check homework. The teachers try to ensure at least 60-70% of lessons and children have the opportunity to communicate.
Covid stole two years from our children; today, their best years are being stolen by war. To motivate them, we try to play and talk more; psychologists help us a lot. They conduct classes on motivation, building a good mood and art therapy. My colleagues and I agreed that they should talk with the children about all the positive moments that they have experienced. The kids can talk about negative moments individually with the psychologists. Our junior online classes are almost full; this is very gratifying. Unfortunately, there is a problem with motivation among the grade 8-10 children. They miss communicating with their peers and participating in extracurricular activities. If the schools open from September 1, we will all have to try to very hard to motivate this generation of students.
Learning to love history lessons
I have always supported a creative approach to teaching so that children learn to love their work. When we talked about historical monuments, I asked my students to describe some family heirlooms. I was amazed when one child showed and told me about a Soviet passport issued in the late 1950s, one of the first given to a peasant. Someone talked about his grandmother’s scarves; someone considered his parents’ wedding photo a family heirloom, and someone showed his own photo from kindergarten. These examples clearly show family values. Children also enjoyed creating their own stories and learning to distinguish between scientific and artistic styles. They composed a text in both styles about the princes of Rus, and they made up some events. In the fifth grade, I will not be teaching history, but I will teach the kids to love history lessons so that we can continue to systematically study the subject.
Covid stole two years from our children; today, their best years are being stolen by war. We will all have to try very hard to motivate this generation of students.
The main lesson
Unfortunately, our children have had to grow up very quickly. They understand everything that is happening. Those who are not in Ukraine are very sad. Today, there are fewer smiles, and children’s moods are entirely different. Of course, the mood depends on the environment and how the family perceives events — whether they think everything is lost or believe in the Armed Forces and Air Defense Forces of Ukraine.
There are children who say that they need to study so as not to be as stupid as russians. High school students began to search for and analyze information. Previously, they were not at all interested in the news… only when someone on TikTok posted a video about some hot event. Today, they hear things in their family circle, read the media, watch TV and look for information online. Everyone is interested in what is happening.
Unfortunately, they will not be like other children unless we help them. We may need to change our approach to teaching history, the defense of Ukraine, and civic education. Civic education must follow a defined line in the new programs. Maybe we did not do our work well enough; something went wrong. But, one learns from one’s mistakes and lessons.
Experiencing different educational fronts
We have little experience in organizing lessons and communication with children during war. All our institutions and the psychological community use foreign expertise, but it is often based on the mentality of other countries, which is very different from ours.
However, our experience of working during martial law, which should be analyzed and shared, is just as valuable. In addition, different strategies are used, because teaching has its own specifics in hot spots in the occupied territories. I am sure that teachers in Mykolayiv and Zaporizhzhia Regions are working hard and have rallied their classes together, even if they are not physically present. It is a different story in relatively calm areas where many children from different regions are accepted. For example, we have two children who survived the bombing of Saltivka in Kharkiv; there is a family that left Mariupol. Life is complicated for these families, so we help them adapt to a new team and new conditions.
Recovering our sources of strength
If I were to hold an EdCamp (un)conference, I would choose the topic of restoring strength and energy to our teachers. Not only should we speak out and conduct training sessions, but we should also draw strength from large events in our stadium and assembly halls – for example, hold a karaoke contest. I think such a topic would interest everyone.
After our victory, I will go to Chornobayivka! I have never been there and want to see what kind of place it is. Besides, we have IDPs from Chornobayivka here in Vinnytsia. I would help restore Kharkiv. I would go to Chernihiv. I want to go to Ukrainian Melitopol in the summer – to eat cherries!
Text — Halyna Kovalchuk.
The interview series My War. The Lessons was prepared with financial support from the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation – a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of EdCamp Ukraine and the Foundation.
