I am studying for Ukraine. How the “Educational Soup” project inspires learning and teaching

[ad_1]

For the second year now, alarm sounds have been replacing bells at educational institutions from time to time. Someone can’t get to their school because it was destroyed by a missile. Someone – because the school is still in the war zone. And someone thousands of kilometers from their home is trying to combine education abroad and in Ukraine.

In most regions, learning in an offline format remains not an everyday opportunity, but a privilege, and the gaps in knowledge that Ukrainian children experience due to the war are becoming more and more significant.

However, they say that the light is best seen in the darkest times. And that is why, in our material, the team of the project to overcome educational losses in Ukraine “Educational Soup”, which is created by the public organization “Teaching for Ukraine”, shares the stories of brave people who, despite all the challenges and difficulties, inspire to teach and learn.

We teach for Ukraine. “Our greatest victory is not the numbers, but the stories behind them”

“Teaching for Ukraine” is a public organization that works to ensure that every child in Ukraine can realize their own potential, regardless of their place of birth or residence.

To achieve this, since 2016, the team has engaged graduates of higher education institutions and young specialists to teach for 2 years (during the war – 1 year) in small settlements of Ukraine, where they become role models, open new perspectives in the lives of children and contribute community development.

Educational losses became a new challenge in the work of the organization. Thus, in April 2022, “Educational Soup” appeared – the largest project to compensate for educational losses in Ukraine, which uses a tutoring approach in the education of schoolchildren.

In almost two years of work, he gathered around him a community of more than 600 teachers and more than 10,000 children.

“But our greatest victory is not the numbers, but the stories behind them,” shares Anastasia Donska, the head of the educational loss prevention department of the “Teaching for Ukraine” NGO.

— Stories about children who opened up and found new friends at the project. Stories about teacher-tutors who were inspired by the project to return to Ukraine and stay here despite everything. Stories about how we inspire change in education.

And we want to share these stories with you.”

Tutoring. “Every day I am more and more passionate about my profession, which [у час війни] became my inspiration”

When the full-scale war began, Oksana was at home, in Volnovas, where she worked as a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature for 20 years. Since the liberation of the city in September 2014, peaceful life reigned there.

But after February 24, Oksana lost both the house where she lived with her mother and the school where she taught. The war destroyed everything.

In March 2022, when they left the city, Volnovakha was under constant shelling, people were sitting in basements, and evacuation convoys were shot.

He and his mother managed to leave only thanks to one of the Ukrainian soldiers. This is how Oksana got to Lviv, and later ended up in the Ternopil region. There, she learned about “Educational Soup” and immediately decided to join.

“I love teaching. I read a lot since childhood, so I once dreamed of being a teacher of Russian language and literature.

But, fortunately, I got into the Department of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Donetsk — and still every day I am more and more passionate about my specialty, which [у час війни] became my inspiration.

Now that I’ve lost everything, I’m constantly trying to learn something new, to acquire skills I’ve never known before.”

One of these competencies was tutoring, which Oksana was afraid of at first, but found the strength to master. The tutoring approach to classes gave many effective tools for working with children: icebreakers, growth mindset, values ​​table, etc.

She began to pay more attention to the psychological state of children and better support them during the educational process.

“But the most important thing that “Educational Soup” gave me is the community. It’s the support and belief in you that you feel every day throughout your participation in the project. These are the friends I found during this time.”

Apprenticeship. “Hundreds of parents write to us not only that the students became more confident in the subjects, but also that the children liked to learn”

Ihor, who joined the September wave of the project with the support of the international humanitarian organization Save the Children, was not ready to study in the first months of the full-scale war.

He, his younger brother and mother met the beginning of hostilities at home, in Vovchansk, Kharkiv region — in the border zone.

Igor’s mother, Inna, a teacher at a local school, shares: “There was almost no communication during the occupation, it was difficult to leave because the convoys were being shot. But I understood that I had to be brave: my husband is a military man, so there was a risk that we could be captured.

Only thanks to the volunteer who took us out, we managed to leave the city. Now we are in Kharkiv.”

One day, Inna came across information about the “Educational Soup” on social networks — and invited her son to participate. He agreed.

“The tutors were very kind, and we learned a lot while playing games. I especially liked fillwords,” says Igor. !”

Diana Nazarenko, the project coordinator, shares: “The feedback from students, parents and tutors that we have collected since April 2022 gives me the right to say that the participants not only strengthen their knowledge of subjects, but also get inspired to study, gain faith in their strength to master any sciences.

Hundreds of parents write to us not only that the students have become more confident in the subjects, but also that they have come to love learning. It’s inspiring!”

Anastasia Donska believes that every child wants to learn and learn about the world from birth.

Anastasia Donska believes that every child wants to learn and learn about the world from birth. But in order for her to be able to do this, she needs conditions under which everything will succeed: adults who will support her; financial support and understanding why she needs education.

“Educational Soup” does not provide everything, but it provides children with a safe space among peers and tutors who show that learning is fun.

In the complex sociological study “Educational needs of schoolchildren in the front-line regions of Ukraine” it is said that more than 70% of children living in the villages of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk regions are unable to study every day due to the lack of Internet access.

And only 28% of respondents have their own gadget for studying, compared to 50% in cities. The study, conducted by the Vox Populi agency in 2023 on the order of “Teaching for Ukraine” with the support of the international humanitarian organization Save the Children, can be viewed at the link.

Team. “I’m proud of the people who make it”

“Now, looking back, I realize that we did a lot of things that a year ago we would have said, ‘It’s impossible,'” says Diana. “We didn’t even think about learning offline, but when we realized that there were children, those who really need it and for whom we can do it, then do not hesitate.

Thus, with the support of the international humanitarian organization Save the Children, 101 children in Kharkiv and Dnipro became participants in the first offline wave of the “Educational Soup”.

Anastasia also shares: “I’m proud of the team that creates it. Sometimes it’s difficult, but we support each other, tutors, children — and in this way we contribute to our country.”

The educational losses of Ukrainian schoolchildren concern each of us, because it is the children who will soon build the future of this country.

As the experience of “Educational Soup” shows, motivated teachers who inspire students to learn are one of the most powerful ways to overcome them.

Join a community of brave people to teach and learn – become part of the “Educational Soup”.

[ad_2]

Original Source Link