“It became easier to teach online lessons,” says Olena Lyzhneva, a 29-year-old teacher who was forced to leave her village in Donetsk and move to the city of Dnipro where she teaches English at a school.
I received the Chromebook, and together with an online whiteboard, a stylus and different programmes, I can make lessons much more interesting.
Olena is one of the more than 50,000 teachers in Ukraine who have received Chromebooks to ensure the continuity of learning. In response to the urgent call for support by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, UNESCO partnered with Google to facilitate the delivery of over 50,000 Chromebook to teachers in need across Ukraine, including those internally displaced. The delivery of the devices took place between October 2022 and January 2023. UNESCO also aims to provide training to 50,000 teachers on digital pedagogy to help them acquire the competencies they need in distance teaching.
Devices to ensure learning never stops
Natalia Dereglazova was born in Kharkiv and has remained in her city despite the war. She teaches physics at Kharkiv Special School No.12 for students with visual impairments. Natalia received a Chromebook from the Kharkiv regional administration in January 2023.
I use it for online teaching with my students. It opens endless possibilities both for students and teachers, as it is possible to zoom in on the screen, which is very important for visually impaired students.
Teachers are also using the devices creatively. Chikisheva Yana is a computer science teacher at Nikopol Lyceum No.4 in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Besides teaching, she has a special love for designing mechanical Lego robots with her students in the NikoBots robotics group.
I use this smart device to prepare and conduct online lessons, while also preparing children for various competitions such as the Olympiads as well as in robotics circle classes.
Two of her students won first place in the City Olympiad in Informatics, and Ms. Chikisheva was preparing them to participate in the Third Regional Competition of the All-Ukrainian Subject Olympiad in Informatics.
Maintaining contact and providing psychosocial support
Mental health and psychosocial support have been identified as urgent needs. Students and teachers alike are in need of support to cope with the traumatic consequences of the war. Even at a distance and through a computer, teachers can maintain a connection with their students, but also provide them with moral and psychosocial support.
“Once, the lights went off at school. I was having a lesson with the 1st grade and the children screamed out. They grabbed my hands and held up to me, while someone shouted: ‘The rockets are flying!’" shared Tetiana Morshchak, an English teacher at Chernihiv Specialized School #2. "The most horrifying moment was when we received the lists of the children who had lost their homes or parents. I was reading those lists praying not to see any names of the pupils from my class.”
Lilia Simbirska has been working for 12 years at the Kharkiv Scientific Lyceum Giftedness as a geography teacher.
When we resumed distance learning in April 2022, my first challenge was the place of teaching - from a phone on the go, to the kitchen of a friend's apartment, and with a dog that constantly looks at the laptop screen!
After settling down, she is particularly worried about the emotional and psychological state of students. “Where are they now? Are their parents and relatives under occupation? Which settlement do they live in? Is there even a place for them to return to?” she kept asking herself these questions.
‘My favorite job saved me’
UNESCO continues to work with partners to equip Ukrainian teachers with the necessary devices and skills to deliver education for their learners. They have gone through tremendous challenges but have shown great resilience. Many teachers shared that the love they have for the teaching profession has been their greatest source of power.
“My favorite job saved me,” said Medvedeva Iryna, a chemistry teacher at the Regional Scientific Medical Lyceum “Dnipro”.
I remember my first lesson after the start of the full-scale war with the 11th grade. Almost the entire class joined the online lesson, and I talked about the properties of Carbon. My voice trembled. The children asked questions, I answered. Towards the end of the lesson, I realized that I had forgotten about war and danger.
Zoia Honcharova, a math teacher at Chernihiv institution of comprehensive secondary education #3, said that the lack of electricity and Internet has become a challenge for her, but said that the most difficult thing was “to look at children's eyes for the first time and … not to shed tears.” Her colleague, Larysa Pavliuk, an English teacher at Nizhyn Regional Pedagogical Lyceum shared:
Some of my learners survived occupation, became refugees, or have tragedies in families. It was a challenge for me to help them return to studying motivated for education, socialize with peers and believe in their bright future.
Thanks to a new 10 million USD project funded by Japan, which will benefit to all sectors of the Organization, UNESCO will train 20,000 teachers, parents and caregivers to provide psychological interventions in 2023. Direct psychosocial support will also be provided to 160,000 vulnerable learners in severely affected areas. With this effort, UNESCO contributes to the building of a healthy and resilient education community in Ukraine.
