I'm settling into my site, getting a feel for my school and slowly teaching those closest to me that drinking water (instead of compote or tea) is indeed not the end of the world. However, the whole argument that the body needs fat, especially butter, for the "organism" to process the food through the stomach, has yet to be refuted. One thing at a time.
I'm utterly amazed by the warmth and hospitality of my community. Everyone that I've spoken with has shown sincere interest in me and has taken steps to make me feel welcome and a part of the community. The teachers at my school are awesome. It is also a "women's collective," in that I think there are two men in the physical education department and that is it. The teachers and I have started to joke too, which I consider a strong sign of friendship and trust. I'm really thankful for this environment.
Friday, as the rest of the world knows, was Christmas for the non-Orthodox. The Orthodox Christmas is the 6th/7th of January. However, Ukrainians in a way celebrate 4 Christmases: Saint Nicholas's Day, New Years, Christmas, Old Christmas (Julian Calendar).
My family and school did an amazing job at making sure I didn't feel lonely or sad on Christmas day. When I woke up in the morning, there were presents around my bed from all the members of my family that my landlady had preciously put there in the night. Let me tell you, the presents were the most beautifully wrapped I've ever seen. The women in my family beat the mall ladies any day. When I got to school, my staff told me I didn't have to work for the day, which kind of annoyed me because I couldn't think of anything else to do. In the end, I did observe all the classes I could. I got to observe the young learners too, who were about seven years old. They were adorable. The women's collective got me a beautiful gift too, very Hummelesque. The director of the school, who is a dreamy instructor of Russian language and literature, gave me a book (in Ukrainian) about holy sites in Ukraine.
When I came home from school, my landlady had started prepping for a feast. All afternoon we made vareneky, while I sometimes played with her grandson. He's really funny. He's currently obsessed with geography and has a dvd that he likes to watch about the solar-system. I bought a ball that looks like a globe during training for my lessons. I brought it out for us to play with. He was so excited to put it up against a lamp and show me how half of the world was day and the other half is night (he's four) and then continued to point at different continents. He's really smart. I pointed to a map earlier in the week and told him about my friends who live in different countries. He showed me where they were on my ball.
I'm typing in my room right now. I'm distracted by my window. There is a funeral procession going on. Not that I really want to attend a funeral, but the ceremony looks beautiful. About eighty or so people walked by. The priest was in the front singing, carrying a large cross. The family was carrying the open casket, a lot of lace. In the back of the procession was a band; a base drum two or three trumpets and a trombone. I've seen this band before, they're in some pictures of my landlady's daughter's wedding from the early nineties. I'm going to try to befriend them.
Aight, I'll post this sometime today. My landlady has arranged for the landline to be turned back on (she uses her cellphone). I should have internet in my bedroom sometime after the new year! It's hard to imagine how accessible Skype dates and the New York Times are going to be pretty soon.
This week will be raucous. New Years is a very big deal in the Ukraine. Because of the quarantine, schools are in session until the 31st. However, I think the majority of people are so uninspired by having classes this week that it might turn out to be a series of field days. I shall see.
I’m in a village in the Odeska Oblast, not far from the Moldovan border. From what I’ve gathered, it’s a pretty old village that was possibly settled by a prince or duke. There used to be a large Jewish community; now the town is mainly a mixture of Ukrainian, Russian, and Moldovan speakers, though I was told today (my first day at school!/written on Monday) that there are some Bulgarian and German families too.
I’m in a home-stay, which is less common than it used to be for Peace Corps volunteers. I’m living with a great woman who is retired and has 3 grandchildren that live nearby. The home-stay definitely raises a lot of issues as far as privacy and how much I want to sacrifice how I define myself as an individual and an independent one. But, I think these struggles are greatly outweighed by the benefits of the experience, including being part of a family and the constant exposure to language. With time, I’m sure I can win some of the battles as our cultural differences surface and I have a chance to express why my way of going about things is indeed with reason. I should note that all things that I find bothersome are done out of love and genuine interest for my well-being. I translate it as overbearing and accepting of heart disease.
As I’ve been here for three full days, I went to school on Monday with my counterpart. I was immediately impressed with the upkeep of the school and the strength of the students in their studies. The segregation between cities and villages as far as access to educational resources and opportunities is a problem for Ukraine, which is one reason why Peace Corps agreed to place volunteers in more rural areas. I can make so many tangents from this statement, but will chose to wait awhile and see. I look forward to feeling comfortable in the school. I think it’s going to be a very interesting and enriching experience for all involved, however obvious of a statement this might seem.
No, I can handle the cold. In fact, there is snow in the United States too. I’m sorry if my coat isn’t balky enough or my hat furry enough, REI keeps on selling me on this “smart wool” technology. I know it’s very difficult to believe, but some thin fabrics can be warm.
2. Your mother let you go?
Yes, as long as she keeps the right to visit me. She didn’t abandon me, either.
3. Are you of Irish blood?
I guess the freckles gave me away, heh?
4. So, you aren’t married yet?
Um, no. I’d say I’m not qualified, but that really can’t be translated.
5. What’s up with you and Slavic languages?
Coincidence. I’ll be ready to move on eventually.
6. Why do you look so sad/tired?
Sorry, it’s the “Wenger face.” We always look this way; don’t take it personally. Also, if you were placed into a different society without anyone to lean on, you’d get exhausted too.
7. What do you normally eat?
You don’t really want to know. If I explained to you in detail my diet, and that I was a quasi-vegan this time last year, you’d probably de-friend me.
8. Why aren’t you eating more?
Hunger is not my greatest fear; there are worse things than feeling hungry. Plus, I just ate about 6 days worth of calories in that dinner we just had.
9. What’s your patronymic?
Sadly, I don’t have one. I’ve got a middle name, but if it makes you more comfortable I can go by Sara Alanovna.
10. So, you’re a Libra, right?
I guess so, does that explain my appearance? What does the Orthodox calendar say about me for 2010?
I'm at site. Email me at saraelainewenger@gmail.com for my address and phone number (or just check facebook). I'm overwhelmed by the fact that my neighbors have wifi and I'm invited to use it whenever. I don't know how to use the internet anymore without lists of things I must accomplish/find out in 15 minute increments. At least the 5 year old boy at the house is very good at distracting me from typing.
I just have to share the beauty of this tea cosy. As a token of appreciation, one of the counterparts gave one to Rachel that she had made, along with the sweetest knitted slippers I've ever seen. I really want to start an etsy account for her, but apparently the teacher doesn't seem interested in that.
It's hard to believe that next week is our last week at our training sites. Someday, I hope to better understand how time moves so slowly in the beginning and then weeks seem like mere hours towards the end. I have a friend who wrote an interesting essay about this subject. He came up with a formula as to how a year seems so much longer when you're younger. Maybe I'll consult him.
This week we wrapped up our school work, teaching our last classes and conducting our last English Club. I can't stress how valuable the in-class training has been. Today after my last class, I got to speak for a few minutes with my counterpart (the teacher I've been working with). I thanked him for his valuable insight and critique. In return, he said that he had learned a lot from me, as a native speaker, and that he would like to use some of my approaches in his lessons. It was the greatest complement I could've received.
Next week trainees will be taking a few tests and saying goodbyes. On the 14th, we'll all meet in Kyiv. On that day, we'll also get our site placements. It's hard to wait all these weeks for this announcement. Any time anyone starts a sentence with, "I know where" or "I have information," my heart jumps. It's a cruel process. At the end of that week, around the 18th, I'll be moving to my site. I will try to establish communication as soon as I can about where my site is, possibly a new phone number depending on the available services, and an address. I might not have running water or heat, but I'm determined to get an internet provider for Christmas.
There's a lot I'd like to share, but alas I'm too lazy at the moment and think it's best to review how I should express some of my daily frustrations and revelations. I hope that soon I'll start having some time in the day for reflection.
Being part of Peace Corps, politics is definitely a no-go area. However, it's really hard to avoid not talking about it at all when the Ukrainian presidential elections coming up in January are everywhere. I've been able to eavesdrop onto some good conversations and delicately ask for some opinions about the candidates. I recommend that you look at sites such as Radio Free Europe and Kyiv Post to get a feel; a lot of interesting debates are occuring.
This week, two candidates (on separate nights) held free concerts in town. Luckily, or sort of unfortunately, the concerts were held outside the Palace of Culture which is right next to my apartment. So, I've been able to listen to a lot of Ukrainain pop for free from my window. On Sunday, I dropped by a concert sponsored by Yulia's camp. I hope this doesn't get me in trouble with Peace Corps, since we're supposed to avoid any large gatherings. In my defense, it was right outside of my window, I had to walk by it to get to the grocery store, and it was a free concert (not a rally). No one knows there was an American participant, well until now.
So, last Friday I finally got to have shuba (шуба). It's a salad comprised of beets, potatoes, carrots, onion, herring, and mayonaise. For American Russian-language learners, when studying food, shuba is always one of the main items included in textbooks. So, in some odd way, it was gratifying to finally have what I've been forced to memorize in the classroom. My cousin made it, I think out of boredom. It is typically only served at celebrations.
my cousin, her close friend, me, little sister
Sorry this photo isn't more impressive, I felt really out of place taking this. I guess food photography isn't my calling.
Yes, I agree it's quite dumb to travel when there's a nationwide quarantine, but PC asks us to complete certain "tasks" that more often than not require us to go to Kyiv. Last Firday, after completing our task, our cluster went to the National Museum of the Great History of the Patriotic War, which was thankfully open. The museum is next to the Lavra, taking up a large part of the hillside along the Dnieper. The greatest thing about the museum, for me of course, is the massive Rodina Mat (national mother) that can be seen from all over the city. I swear, she looks almost as big as the Statue of Liberty from certain angles.
Team America:
In other news, I have my site placement interview tomorrow (Tuesday). It doesn't greatly affect where I'll be placed, but at least I get to voice some preference. The more I think about the interview, the more difficult it is becoming for me to describe and therefore articulate what I want out of my time here in Ukraine. I think I'll find some sort of happiness anywhere and in any community. It's really difficult to determine what elements I have control over, and what is simply circumstantial. I just need to continually ask myself, in the next few hours and over the next two years, what it is it that I want out of my service. What do I want to give? What do I want to gain?It's really difficult to determine what elements I have control over, and what is simply circumstantial.
If I were to name one element that has defined my life since the beginning of the quarantine, it would be vishivating (embroidering). Before coming to Ukraine, I gathered up some embroidering supplies and patterns from an Austin-based company. I was hoping it would become my cure-all. Very Pushkinesque; sitting at a candlelit kitchen table on a cold wintery night in my Ukrainian village, all alone, embroidering some saint or hedgehog.
True, I did bust out the collection once and a while my first few weeks, but the quarantine has greatly changed the dynamic. Peace Corps requires us to do a "Self-Directed Learning" project. Our group decided to learn how to cross-stitch, in part because it si so popular and that we're all in love with the draperies found everywhere. I'd never cross-stitched before, only embroidered. We bought our supplies right before the quarantine began and started to practice our flower patterns whenever we had any free time together. I had no idea how addictive it would be. I've found myself sitting in class moving my fingers in a cross pattern lately. Sadly, I think most of us are finished with our first patterns. I'm really hesitant about getting another one. Too little self-control.
Sunday, my fellow trainee Sam and I went to Kyiv-Pechersk National Historical and Cultural Preserve, which is an enormous compound with structures from the 14th to the 19th centuries. People visit any number of churches on the grounds in part to see and pray towards icons. THere are also a number of caves below that contain the remains of I'd say dozens, if not hundreds fo saints and important church figures from several centuries ago. Sam and I agreed that the visit provoked an awesome feeling, but will probably prove more meaningful in time as we better understand the role of faith.
Rocking the scarf outside the caves. The Patriotic War Memorial is in the background.
Memorial to the Famine
Change of Subject:
Link Visits
Our cluster (6 trainees in our town) is linked with a neighboring cluster for some of training sessions. We visit each other often and discuss the differences of our experiences. From what I can tell, us trainees in the town are quite jealous fo our link, who live in a village, because of the little absurdities that come about in a small community. I took some pictures last Saturday of some of the main attractions.
Okay, I'm still trying to get over what I'd like to consider writer's block but most likely is nothing more than laziness. Or, I also like the excuse that it's hard for me to write in English now. I was hoping for the more "commentary on culture" type of tone for this, but whenever I stare at the screen my writing becomes quite serious and less entertaining.
This past week has greatly enhanced the "this is surreal" aspect of my time so far in Ukraine because of the flu. The country has declared an epidemic because of the number of cases and related deaths. On the one hand, the intensity of the flu is heightened because I've lost so much contact with what is going on in the rest of the world. Apparently, a number of places are suffering, including home. For us trainees in town, it caught us a little off-guard.
As with everything so far, this has been an extremely valuable learning experience for me in understanding individual and a culture's beliefs towards medicine, how illness spreads, and what sources of information are considered valuable. The flu has also created some interesting dialogue, where some consider it the plague (chooma) and others call it a tragedy by which politicians are gaining camera time during the election season.
The government placed a quarantine on large gatherings, meaning schools are closed, all events cancelled, and some transportation isn't working. Last Friday, it was announced that schools would be closed for three weeks. However, us trainees have been told that our school will have a meeting this Friday to discuss whether or not we'll be in session this upcoming Monday. I sincerely doubt it, in part because of the general fear expressed. Though Iunderstand the importance of the schools being closed, it does seem rather extreme. For one, there still are no cases in our town. If our town were to be hit by the flu, it would probably come later this week or early next week. Therefore not having school this week and last week (fall break) feels like a great loss. I've really enjoyed the in-class training that I've had. It's too bad such a large portion of my training won't take place now. With that, because the country is preoccupied, there are rumors that our placements are less certain or at least not as concrete as they would be (because schools are in effect not working for a month). Good thing Peace Corps is all about flexibility and opportunity.
Other areas of my life worth discussing? I'm truly happy with my host family, the food, and the general hospitality I've experienced. I'm so thankful for this opportunity. Lately my only frustrations are directly related to the feeling of a lack of control over my life during training. This feeling is to be expected, and will soon pass.
I'm totally rocking the varenyky. I recently acquired the movie "Twilight." I don't get it. Wouldn't vampires be really dehydrated if they only ate/drank blood? Why can they move at such extreme speeds and lift heavy things? It doesn't seem anatomical. With that, why would a vampire be attracted to a female? Can they procreate? I'm afraid I'm going to have to read the series, or ask Kasey and Amanda for their expertise.
Schools are out in an effort to control spreading the flu. I have a lot of more free time because of this, so I'll try to have something substantial to share soon. It's kind of hard to write in a cafe full of young teenage boys playing World of Warcraft, but thankfully I found out that wordtext does work on these computers so I can write my emails at home, thus saving time. Hmm. The only knews is that I'm truly addicted to cross-stitching. I recommend never starting it.
I live in a flat on the left-hand side behind the House of Culture.
Random field that I didn't know about for over a month. Forest right next to my flat Cooking Day ie what our futures hold for us as domesticated females Vasilia Our link cluster
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
I've been here for only a little over two weeks now, but staging feels like ages ago. I'm having difficulty phrasing this post in part because so much has happened that I now consider routine, and because my ability to express myself in English has in many ways returned to a rudimentary level.
Starting I guess at the beginning, I'm living in a rather large town not far from Kyiv. I'm in a cluster (of five women) that is learning Russian (instead of Ukrainian); therefore we'll most likely end up in the eastern part of the country after training. I'm living with an ethnically Russian family composed of four generations of women. I'm still trying to figure out their story because there areso many layers. Prababushka (great-grandma) was born outside of Moscow and eventually moved out to Siberia. When my host-mom was 13 or so, they moved to Ukraine for health reasons. Sorry if this is overexposure, I find it really intriguing. The youngest woman is Paulina, who is ten. We're having a great time together, though I think she's rather frustrated that I can't sit still through Russian family sitcoms. I'm getting better though, I live in a flat with all of the modern amenities, including unlimited hot water. Don't worry, Peace Corps will give me something much more hardcore for my placement. It's quite incredible the difference between cities/towns and the countryside here. Some clusters from my training group are living in such conditions. To tell the truth, I'm quite jealous.
As far as Russian language, I'm very thankful that I have built up a vocabulary in school. The past two weeks I've been digging out words from god knows where in my head, and am starting to learn how to arrange them into grammatically correct phrases more quickly. I get a lot of practice with my family, my counterparts at the school, and at my daily language lessons. I think I hit a major milestone over the weekend when in the middle of the night I realized I was dreaming in Russian.
So, Peace Corps training is composed of a lot of elements including language, cross-cultural and technical. The requirements from each sector are rather manageable, but when put together it's quite overwhelming. My group has learned to live life day by day, achieving as much as possible, and to not assume anything is permanent. Peace Corps is all about flexibility. I won't know about my placement until mid-December.
My school is amazing. It's a primary and secondary school that specializes in languages with over a thousand students. The building is rather new and has a lot of supplies. Currently, I'm assessing the needs of the school with my group and observin/co-teaching my counterpart's class. We're starting an afer-school club this week and are drafting a community project as well. One fun fact is that it's kind of odd that all public institutions are conducted in Ukrainian. However, I'm supposed to only be speaking Russian. I'll see how that tunrs out. Apparently in the east, certain regions are allowed to conduct all their business in Russian. Otherwise, I'm going to e one of those funny ones that speaks surzhyk, a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian.
This is the day that I hope I'll have regular internet access. I'm lucky enough to be living in a town that has an internet cafe, but my ability to get to it has been nonexistent basically up until now due to training and my host family's expectations.
Otherwise, I'm having a great time! I'm living with a wonderful family of four generations of women. They've been extremely patient with me during the past week. I'm really impressed with the Peace Corps as well, it is by far the most accessable and well-managed organization I've ever dealt with.
Well, hopefully I can write something more substantial soon!
I'm down to my last week at home. I've been keeping myself busy, doing small tasks in hope of making the upcoming transition as smooth as possible. I have so much to look forward to and just as many questions surrounding me.
One area that provides a lot of mystery is the field of education and more broadly pedagogy. Though I've spent the last seventeen or so years in school, it's quite hard for me to comprehend the complexity of the learning process in the classroom setting. I've taken the time to question what I've experienced, weighing what I've found most positive, challenging, and so forth. Education is so powerful because it ultimately defines self-determination. I have an awesome responsibility as an educator to influence my peers on how they perceive their individual worlds.
I've been reading some Dewey and Friere. Friere is brilliant, I hope to better understand, communicate, and incorporate some of his ideas into my everyday life. Some of his points include: building community and mutual respect, shared decision-making, democratic participation, social responsibility, appreciation for diversity, affirmation and acceptance, effective communication, emotional literacy, collaborative problem-solving, and managing and resolving conflict. By approaching education in such a way, the learning process is not only transforming but creates a collective meaning I'm struggling to identify in part because it is so idealistic. In an interview in 1996, Friere said: We need to stimulate and construct solidarity. The absence of solidarity, or indeed the opposite of solidarity, is a powerful force, which derives from the neoliberal discourse. The neoliberal discourse is spreading through out the world, not only in Brazil and the U.S., but also all over the worldtoday. It isdiscourse that contains and reveals a political and ideological power that is, perhaps, stronger than the economic dimension of the discourse itself. It is a profoundly fatalistic discourse in that it relates to the interests of the popular masses, but not fatalistic at all when the interests at stake are those of the dominant minorities.
What I see as part of the Peace Corps is a narrative to counteract this neoliberal discourse, one of affirmation and change. But where do I fit into this narrative? I hope to discover the answer in the next six months or so. The education reform debate in Ukraine is quite heated as national standards are constantly altered. The Kiev Post has lately included several articles on major changes occurring to the public system. In one article, a new project is being funded by international corporations to better prepare university students for the business environment. The article notes that students lack presentation skills, team-work, self-organization, and so forth. These are all tasks that I'm willing to incorporate into my classroom as well. Here is an insightful article about teacher training:
What kind of teacher do we need today?
Starting November 2009, the Ministry of Education will use new approaches in teacher training
By Inna FILIPENKO, The Day
Photo by Maya KRUCHENKOVA / Taken from LORI.RU
WHEN EVERY LESSON IS A JOY OF DISCOVERY
New times put forward new challenges for educators. Teachers say that children come to school with the moulded sense of their own dignity, they are often overly emotional and sensitive and burst with desire to try their hand at something new. Kids are also a lot better at learning the new information technologies. That is why they are called the net-educated generation. Their teachers have to take all this into account and consequently, they have to change themselves alongside with changing the methods of teaching. This is actually what the Ministry for Education and Science of Ukraine is currently preoccupied with. In late August, at the meeting of the Ministry Board dedicated to the results of the development of comprehensive, secondary, pre-school and out-of-school education, and the tasks for academic year 2009-10, Minister Ivan Vakarchuk said that this year Ukraine is going to launch a new system of teacher training. First, specialists in math, chemistry, history and other disciplines will be trained in colleges or universities. Then, on getting a degree, graduates can be recommended by their university to continue their studies at a teacher training school, and only after that they can work as teachers. “This is just the model we are going to suggest to try at several universities. We are well aware of the fact that the results of such innovations will not be visible until eight to ten years later. But it is high time to start on the changes”, the Minister believes.
The Day has interviewed a couple of experts to find out their opinions of the new system of teacher training.
COMMENTARY
Ivan VAKARCHUK, Ukraine’s Minister for Education and Science:
“In Ukraine there is a well-developed network of teacher training schools of higher education: 49 universities, two academies and four institutes, as well as forty-seven junior colleges and nine technical schools. Meanwhile, a great many graduates can’t find a job in their field. One of the reasons for this is an imperfect system of selection and vocational training, students’ low motivation in the choice of their future occupation, as well as the low percentage of applicants who enroll with a special-purpose assignment. In order to solve these problems, the Ministry of Education and Science is now developing a plan on the reform of the teacher training and further teacher education for the years 2009-12. According to it, the Ministry and administrations of teacher training institutions are supposed, prior to 1st December, to arrange for a set of steps aimed at the improvement of application rules and conditions for students’ practical training.
Photo by Andrii NESTERENKO
“The Ministry also intends to develop a Regulation for teaching staff certification with a set of criteria to assess the quality of the work of school principals, faculty, instructors of study groups, hobby groups and clubs. It is necessary to change the current practice of all teacher training universities, especially what concerns organization of studies and practical training. It might prove appropriate to assign the departments, dealing with teaching methods, directly to schools. The prospective teachers and their professors will be able to have wider contacts with students at schools, work with academic programs and school textbooks. They can learn, in particular, how to fill out class registers and other related documents. Each teacher working in a specialized educational institution has to undergo a comprehensive training in his subject. Prior to 1st December, regional data banks will be created, which will enable the Ministry to know each school’s needs in what concerns the faculty vacancies. The banks will comprise information on each school’s open vacancies, as well as the data on new graduates.”
Myroslav POPOVYCH, Director, Hryhorii Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences:
“Teachers are supposed to do the same thing they were supposed to do yesterday, or thirty, or one hundred years ago: love children. The signs of new times, that have recently sprung to attention, are that kids have become more erudite. They are also quite advanced in what concerns information technology, which gives them an advantage before the older generation. Secondly, kids experience a certain inequality in material terms: for instance, they tend to show off just because they’ve got a new cell, and this certainly is a problem. Though there exists a more serious challenge: teaching the teachers to love children and not get annoyed by their job at the same time.
“What concerns school curricula – they have to be reorganized in such a way as to make them relevant to the modern stage of science development. They also have to be coherent, that is, physics, chemistry, biology and math should be taught in such a way as to make these subjects closely connected to each other. We have to simplify the structure of the curriculum in order to make it a reflection of the relationship between man and nature, instead of just reflecting the history of science. Today I can’t see this unity in the school curriculum for natural history, for example. It is still a concoction of physics, chemistry and other disciplines, whereas it should be an integrated theory. This is what concerns not only teacher training. The whole system of teaching has to be given a thorough reconsideration. The American way of dealing with this problem virtually gave me a shock. If the level of teaching in private schools is more or less adequately high, state-owned schools provide a very low level of knowledge. At least this was what I saw several years ago, when I was in the U.S. The curriculum in natural history provides the most elementary information about the flora and fauna, that is, it is aimed at the most basic background knowledge. Students should instead get an insight into the comprehensive structure of the world, and this has to be done in a simple and clear way. We do not have the books of this sort, that is why we should start with creating good, understandable textbooks and curricula. For this, popular science literature is absolutely necessary. Today you will find nothing on the general relativity theory, the theory of elementary particles, etc. If there existed a state program for support of popular science literature, it would be a step towards training the type of teachers, familiar with the gains of modern science, teachers, who would be able to pass this knowledge on to their students.
“Another problem for the school, especially in big cities, is to find a young teacher. But a lot of problems are caused not so much by our school system, or the Ministry for Education, as by our society on the whole. I mean the prestige of this profession, as teachers, together with doctors, are considered to be the basis of an intellectual society.
“This job will never become prestigious, not with thirty or forty students in one classroom. The best option is to have twenty students on a class. Better still is to have ten, as they have done in Finland. We can’t make a teacher’s job prestigious again unless we do that.”
Maria LESHCHENKO, Head of Department of Pedagogy, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University:
“The question of teachers’ further education is of utter importance now. The Ministry for Education and Science is making a correct emphasis on the importance of the first, basic education in a certain subject (chemistry, biology or history) prior to getting a degree in pedagogy. This is a common practice in many countries. In Ukraine, it can provide invaluable opportunities for prospective teachers on condition that it is a special training course involving one or two years of profound course in pedagogy and psychology.
“International research proves that the children of today are different: they have a sense of their own dignity, their own ‘ego’, they are very creative and innovative even in traditional or everyday activities; they are characterized by a higher degree of empathy and emotional sensitivity. The mankind is undergoing a slow qualitative change, so the teacher in a modern classroom (as well as a university lecturer) has to take this into account, too. There is no way for him to work after the authoritarian patterns of communication and pedagogical interaction. The present-day children and young people will not accept rigid disciplinary rules. They refute role relationships. When a schoolkid or a college student hears, ‘I’m a teacher, I’m a professor’, it means that they have to respect this person’s professional and social status. But students will respect (and cooperate with) only those individuals who can enrich their personal and professional experience in practice. If we want to encourage young people to become teachers, we have to raise the teacher to the status of civil servant, because the teacher actually works for the state and for the entire human civilization.
“The present-day teacher has to be tolerant in order to accept various manifestations of a child’s nature. They also have to be authentic, behave in a natural way and be able to create a reality, in which the students might feel comfortable and interested, so that a student can learn and blossom both as a personality and a professional.
“With a correct school reform we can make a considerable progress. It is important that, while gradually giving up traditional approaches, we aren’t left without any good substitute. Classical universities provide profound training for specialists in various fields. But a teacher-to-be will get a lot more from training sessions and classes in teaching skills. It very often happens that a well-trained specialist in a certain discipline does not have the command of teaching methods and techniques which would enable him to pass his knowledge on to his students. It is in the course of competent training that a person acquires all those ‘teacher’ features.
“A great many of university graduates take up postgraduate courses or start working in research institutes, later becoming university teachers. But one cannot be a competent scholar without being a competent teacher. Anyone who conscientiously chooses a teaching career, can be trained in pedagogical skills. Young teachers are not conservative, their thinking is not yet hardened by years of routine, and they are more capable of a live dialog with students. But they have grown up under such complicated socio-economic conditions that very few of them are capable of sacrifice. Teaching involves a lot of out-of-class activities, it is a responsible spiritual mission. In order to find out if the students are capable of this, some teacher training universities practice student interviews with psychologists or experienced educators. Such interviews seem quite appropriate, but an individual should have a right to free choice. Those young people, who have both abilities and adequate education, should be given an opportunity to study free of charge. The others, who would like to gain this knowledge just for themselves, might pay for their tuition. There is no crime in it, this is just the manifestation of a democratic system of education.
Mykhailo BIHUN, Principal, Public School No. 4, Zhmerynka:
“I remember my own experience as a new graduate of the Chernivtsi University, when I first came to teach a class and really lacked practical teaching skills. Sure enough, we had had a course in pedagogy and practical teaching sessions, but it is only gradually that you get adapted and used to a certain kind of job.
“Nowadays, institutions of higher education work along their own curricula which lack a practical bias: they should include more seminars, training sessions, courses in psychology, etc. Now the practical section on the curriculum takes up a lot less time than it did ten or fifteen years ago. It comprises about two or three weeks, while in my time students used to work at school up to six months, and in summer many of them worked at children summer camps, so that students had an opportunity to learn to communicate with kids and develop a rapport with them.
“This year we have taken on two new teachers. I know that there are a lot of graduates with university degrees in pedagogy who are anxious to get a job, but do they really want to work at school? And even if they do get a vacancy, there is another problem, lack of experience. You show the new teacher the ropes, and for some it takes a year to become skilled in teaching, for others it takes longer, it’s very individual. But there are really good professionals who follow their calling and come to teach. You have to talk to this young person to find out if they are pursuing their lifelong dream, or if it was a last-minute decision. On the other hand, the system of three-year obligatory working term for tuition-free students isn’t working properly now. This could have become the time for a new graduate to realize if they are capable of working with children. If not, they should give up teaching in order not to waste themselves and their students. Studying is one thing, while practical work is something quite different. The state should raise teachers’ salaries and pay extras to encourage the young to take up teaching professionally, as well as provide housing, at least for the first couple of years, and maybe, help arrange their leisure, that is, ensure decent living conditions.”
My extended family!
