Interview 1. Education as a Weapon of the Future. Olha Hurska
Teacher from Poltava Olha Hurska tells why education needs more humanity and how creativity provides a resource to work in the circumstances of war.
During three months of the full-scale war with russia, Ukrainian teachers are holding up the educational front. They continue to work through the harsh conditions of war, accumulating unique pedagogical experiences, and rethinking the role of education and its value components. Because of this, Ukrainian teachers formulate their own lessons of war, which they can share not only with domestic but also with foreign colleagues.
Olha Hurska, deputy director of the Poltava Private Elementary School “DCU,” who is involved both in the educational process and in active assistance to the displaced and their school children, tells about her lessons of war.
Educational Crowdfunding
The main challenge for the Poltava region is helping internally displaced people. Our educational institutions have become temporary homes for many of them. Families of internally displaced persons live in most of the kindergartens and schools, and their children have participated in the educational process in these institutions. Teachers and instructors, used to the established team, are now working with the newcomers as well. These children need special attention because each of them has their own life story. Some of them have had tragic experiences that led them to leave their home. Helping these children to adapt is a challenge for our educators.
Our school has a small space, but we also accept internally displaced people who come from the east. We have about 30 people living with us at one time, some leave because they find another shelter and others arrive in their place. They have minimal belongings, so we bring them clothes, hygiene items, and even a stroller for the family with a very small child.
We are also raising funds to buy an ambulance for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front. It has already been found, we have made the first contribution. We organized an information campaign, told about this initiative on social networks and attract people to bring this car, as well as medicine from Germany. I hope the car will be delivered soon, the whole amount has already been collected.
Some of the Ukrainians have so strong spirit that from the first days of the war they managed to overcome the stress, unite and bring our victory closer. I feel myself a part of our great nation.
To Find a Resource
My family became my resource. In the first days after February 24, fear gripped me, it felt like the end of the world had come. No one was prepared for war. For a week I did not speak to friends or acquaintances at all, not even on the phone. I didn’t speak to them because I understood that I couldn’t pull my thoughts together. It is difficult to talk about it even now.
I was brought out of that state by my husband and children. I realized that life goes on. I have a meaning to life, a reason to live. I realized that my emotional state has a big impact on my family, and I need to balance it out so I can see the peaceful faces of my children.
Physical activity is restorative. We’ve developed a tradition – my kids and I do exercises every morning to find a resource, to have an extra boost of energy. It’s also a time for my kids to be with their mom, feeling safe.
I practice silence. When I come to the village, I go out into the yard. When the sky is clear and the weather is sunny, I lift my face up, listen to the silence and create an imaginary dome over the entire territory of Ukraine. I really want all Ukrainians to feel this silence. I didn’t pay attention to it before, but now I appreciate it very much, because nowadays silence is a luxury for all of us.
Educational Front
Russian aggression is doing great damage to Ukrainian education. In three months of the war, more than 1,500 schools have already been destroyed or damaged, and millions of Ukrainian schoolchildren need help with their studies. The educational process has changed – it is conducted in bomb shelters and the occupied territories of the country. Relatively safe regions, such as the Poltava region, are accepting internally displaced people. According to Poltava Regional Military Administration, there are more than 100 thousand internally displaced people in the region, up to 6 thousand of which live in educational institutions.
To help teachers in Ukraine continue teaching children during the war, the EdCamp Ukraine community has launched a crowdfunding campaign – raising funds for computer equipment and Internet access for teachers who have lost teaching equipment because of the war. It also plans to use the funds raised to provide psychological support to teachers and organize (not)conferences to share experiences of teaching during the war. Citizens from abroad can join the campaign on the GoFundMe platform as well as Ukrainians on the EdCamp Ukraine page by adding the comment “My War. The Lessons for Ukraine and Humanity” to the payment.
The main lesson of the war
Society needs a new kind of human. The war showed that there is a catastrophic lack of love, humanity, responsiveness, and kindness in the world. As a result, we have the new reality that emerged after February 24th. Therefore, it is necessary to restructure the entire system of educating children to put the values of humanity and humanism in first place.
The strongest weapon must be education because it shapes human consciousness. If we radically change certain elements of education that are underdeveloped, we can put the value of peace and humanism at the forefront through a new philosophy of education. If I were to organize an EdCamp for educators right now, I would choose the theme “Education – the main weapon of the future, changing priorities and values” and put the emphasis on humanism and humanity.
Any nation should value its language because a native language is a nation’s genetic code. It is the duty of every citizen of Ukraine to know and use Ukrainian. Today the language issue has activated a latent split in Ukrainian society and the war became its consequence. By focusing on the russian-speaking part of the population, russia easily manipulates the minds of these people and implements its invasive plans.
The strongest weapon must be education because it shapes a person’s consciousness.
How we teach
Like most schools, we have an educational process organized through distance learning technologies. We understand that it is now necessary to provide psychological support to children. That’s why we’ve changed the focus of the educational process a little bit and adapted the curriculum to the needs of the children so that they feel supported. I now teach first grade and pay a lot of attention to communication with the children to determine their emotional state. In class we do fine motor skills exercises (finger exercises), practice eye exercises, listen to music and dance. Our psychologist conducts additional classes with children.
They also attend art therapy sessions, where they can convey their inner state through drawing. Children’s works are handed over to the military so that they feel our support. Thanks to this, the pupils are aware of their contribution to the approaching victory.
The war has left a reflection in the minds of the children. This is evident in the discussion of topics that, at first glance, have little to do with the problem of war. For example, while talking about the largest Ukrainian cities, such as Kharkiv, the children immediately had an association that it is bombed. As they prepared drawings for the Ukrainian defenders, they drew ships firing missiles, fires and blood. At the same time, when I asked the children if they felt in danger, they answered that they did not. However, the drawings show another thing – the war touched their minds. I rejoice when pupils are happy and smiles are shining on their faces.
I see how the war has affected my own children as well. Their sleep has deteriorated, they often dream about the war – rockets, bombs, they wake up at night and call me. Observing my children, I’ve noticed that the older a child is, the more influence the war has on him or her.
War Lessons for the World
Before resuming teaching, as teachers, we talked a lot with each other to find a resource and then began the educational process. If I can’t support the children, it’s not worth starting the lesson. We set ourselves up to win, and we pass that optimism on to the kids.
Therefore, our teachers can share how to remain resilient in the face of war, including the organization of the educational process. It has several stages – first, you need to find resilience, and resistance in yourself. Only after gaining an inner resource, one must go to the children and teach them to find and retain inner support in the midst of military instability.
During the war I discovered new talents – I started to write poems, fairy tales, and materials for social networks. Stress has a certain positive potential. I began to focus on how I can be useful. We all volunteer, besides, I found myself in creativity. The things I can write can be useful to others.
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.
