Training educators to foster inclusion and resilience: lessons from Ukraine

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Training educators to foster inclusion and resilience: lessons from Ukraine

Sergiy Sydoriv

ABSTRACT

The implementation and development of inclusive education are one of the goals of Ukraine's educational reform, thus training and professional development of teachers involves building skills to teach students with special educational needs and disabilities in inclusive settings. Over the past five years, there has been a significant increase in the enrollment numbers of students with special educational needs, so the quality training of educators with the understanding and capacity to organize a safe and inclusive learning environment should be a priority of education policy. The paper analyses the consequences of the military invasion of the Russian Federation and the humanitarian crisis it caused that deteriorate and disrupt educational services for all categories of students, including those with disabilities. Still, notwithstanding air raids, targeting civilian infrastructure, war crimes, violations of basic human rights, and forced migration, the Ukrainian state and its educational system display signs of resilience. It is highlighted that being a result and a process of positive adaptation to adverse circumstances, resilience should be studied in the context of resistance and vitality of Ukrainian society during the war and post-war recovery. It is found that diverse reactions to stressful and traumatizing factors can be determined and caused by multiple dynamic interactions at the personal and systemic levels. Psychological resilience as the ability to resist a traumatic impact may vary individually; however, it can be effectively developed within the socio-ecological system framework. Its application involves understanding that the development is influenced by a combination of interactions at the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chrono-system levels. Thus, teacher training in universities and colleges, being conducted at the organizational system level, can build individual resilience and, consequently develop community, society, national and global resilience at the present and in the future.

It is emphasized that developed individual resilience can eliminate the appearance of behavioral and mental disorders (ADHD, PTSD, anxiety syndrome, deviant behavior) in children and social marginalization, aggression, and mental disorders in adults who were exposed to traumatic war events. Thus, it is important to analyze resilience at all levels during the acute phase of the conflict and to develop mechanisms for the development of individual and national resilience in the post¬war period. The paper presents the findings of the inclusion and resilience awareness survey among pre-service teachers. The hypothesis has been proposed that the application of inclusive practices contributes to building resilience and enforces national resistance to aggression. The author substantiates the introduction of narrative speech, art and performance techniques, inclusive community leadership, and building soft skills in the professional training of educators. The ideas and practices of including persons with disabilities, veterans and those affected by the war should be applied while developing models of assessment, monitoring, and building resilience. Thus, teacher training can provide invaluable resources for an inclusive and resilient society.

Keywords; teacher training, inclusive education, resilience, war, Ukraine.

Професійна підготовка педагогів: уроки інклюзії та резилентносгі

Сидорів Сергій

Упровадження та забезпечення інклюзивної освіти в українських навчальних закладах передбачене освітньою реформою в Україні, то ж обов'язковим компонентом професійної підготовки педагогів є розвиток інклюзивної компетенції. Впродовж останніх п'яти років відбувалося значне зростання кількості учнів з особливими освітніми потребами. Тому якісна та кількісна підготовка вчителів і вихователів до організації безпечного інклюзивного освітнього простору повинна бути пріоритетом державної політики. У статті констатовано, що можливості для надання та отримання освітніх послуг значно погіршилися на тлі збройного вторгнення Російської Федерації та викликаною ним гуманітарною кризою. Все ж, повітряні тривоги, руйнації цивільної інфраструктури, військові злочини, порушення базових прав людини і вимушена міграція не скорили українську державу, а її освітня система вперто показує ознаки резилентносгі та стійкості. Автором акцентовано, що, будучи результатом і процесом позитивної адаптації до загрозливих обставин, резилентність потрібно досліджувати в контексті стійкості та життєвості українського суспільства в критичних умовах війни та післявоєнного відновлення.

З'ясовано, що різні типи реакції українців на стресові та травматизуючі фактори можуть визначатися і спричинятися множинними динамічними взаємодіями на особистісному та системному рівнях. Індивідуальна резилентність і здатність протистояти травматичному впливу може бути різною у конкретних осіб, втім її можливо ефективно розвивати, використовуючи модифіковані моделі соціально-екологічного системного підходу. Його застосування передбачає розуміння розвитку під впливом комбінації взаємодій на мікро-, мезо-, екзо-, макро- та хроно-системних рівнях. Таким чином, заклади професійної підготовки педагогів, перебуваючи на організаційному рівні системи, можуть підвищувати резилентність індивідів і, відповідно, громади, соціуму, нації та людської спільноти тут і зараз та в майбутній перспективі. Доведено, що недостатня резилентність загрожує появою поведінкових і психічних розладів (РДУГ, ПТРС, синдром тривожності, девіантна поведінка) у дітей та соціальної маргіналізації, агресії і розладів психіки у дорослих внаслідок перебування під впливом травми війни. Таким чином, важливо аналізувати резилентність на всіх рівнях під час війни та розробляти механізми розвитку індивідуальної та національної резилентності в пост-воєнний час. Досліджено усвідомлення майбутніми вчителями взаємозв'зку інклюзивності та резилентності на особистісному, організаційному, громадському та національному рівнях. Перевірена гіпотеза, що застосування практик інклюзії осіб з особливими освітніми потребами та інвалідністю сприяє формуванню суспільного досвіду розуміння та захисту базових прав і свобод людини, створивши передумови для формування суспільної стійкості та опору агресії. Обгрунтовано необхідність використання технік розвитку м'яких навичок та суспільної справедливості у професійній підготовці педагогів у закладах вищої та фахової передвищої освіти. Впроваджуючи ідеї та практики інклюзії, запропоновано практичні аспекти щодо імплементації існуючих моделей визначення, моніторингу та розвитку резилентності у професійну підготовку педагогів для формування інклюзивного та резилентного суспільства.

Ключові слова: професійна освіта, підготовка педагогів, інклюзія, резилентність, війна, Україна.

INTRODUCTION

training educators inclusion

The demand for international legislation and policy to define, uphold and protect human rights arose after World War II - the war that proved to be a major catastrophe for humankind when millions died and billions suffered. The United Nations Organization began to secure human lives and rights as the supreme value in the "never again" world of peaceful coexistence, voluntary cooperation, and dignified partnership. The atrocities of the war remained a lifelong trauma for generations. Survival during the conflict and consequent post-war revival can be connected to many factors; resilience, equity, and inclusion are among them.

The capacity to manage and resolve conflicts is not only a function of official institutions or organizations. It also is a function of the wider society and its ability to absorb stresses that might damage other systems. In other words, it is a function o f that society's resilience (All & Crocker, 2019, p. 69). After the Second World War, the UN members jointly produced and agreed on important decisions concerning international cooperation and security. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed the right to education as one of the fundamental rights. 58 years later the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) defined the prerequisites and instruments to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities. On December 13, 2006, the document that has influenced the life, education, employment, and well-being of persons with disabilities, their families, communities, and educators in the world was adopted. 82 participants signed the Convention making it the highest number of signatories in history to a UN Convention on its opening day. As of 2023, there have been 185 ratifications/accessions and 164 signatories to the Convention, and 100 ratifications/accessions and 94 signatories to the Optional Protocol (UN Office of Legal Affairs, n.d.).

Article 24 of the Convention proclaims the equal right to education without discrimination as one of the fundamental human rights. According to it, the countries must develop and sustain an inclusive education system and lifelong learning aimed at the full realization of human potential, a sense of dignity, and ensuring respect for human diversity, rights, and freedoms. In order to enable participation in society, education must help persons with disabilities develop their personalities, talents, and intellectual and physical abilities to the fullest.

Since the ratification of the CRPD by the country's Parliament in 2009, there has been a documented increase in the number of Ukrainians with disabilities against the backdrop of a decrease of the total population. In 2021, 162,214 children under the age of 18 had disabilities, compared to 156,099 children in 2016, which is about 2.0% of the total children's population of the country (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2020). Before the full-scale invasion by Russia, there were 2,725,826 persons with disabilities (6.64% of the total population) and 107,084 veterans with war-inflicted disabilities (State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2022, pp. 44, 59).

The war and the humanitarian crisis directly affected millions of Ukrainians, bringing ripples across the neighboring European countries and all over the world. Wars cause extensive protection and psychosocial dangers for children's development and well-being. In war zones, children typically comprise half the population, and they face a multitude of interacting risks such as an attack, abduction, recruitment into the armed forces, landmines, trafficking, sexual exploitation, HIV and AIDS, and dangerous labor, among others. Some of the greatest risks to children are psychosocial: children are often separated from their caretakers, suffer the death of family members and friends, have their homes destroyed, and are forced to flee to new areas. Many children descend into poverty as their families lose sources of work and income, while others suffer from harassment, discrimination, and exclusion. Education for children abruptly stops when schools are destroyed, teachers are dispersed, and travel to school becomes too dangerous (Kostelny & Wessells, 2013).

The military aggression by the Russian Federation has dramatically increased the number of those with disabilities and war veterans. Wars bring suffering and destruction, yet the world needs to learn the lasting lessons of resilience from the disaster. In 2015, the Third UN World Conference in Japan adopted the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction that defined resilience as "the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions". The Framework calls for a more people-centered preventive approach and inclusive and accessible disaster risk reduction practices. The document recommends governments include persons with disabilities, children and youth, women, older and socially vulnerable persons, migrants, volunteers, and the community of practitioners in the design and implementation of policies, plans, and standards. The framework invites educators and researchers to collaborate in order to address existing and prepare for future challenges by investing in the economic, social, health, cultural, and educational resilience of persons, communities, and countries through technology and research (UNISDR, 2015).

Being a country with a history of oppression, segregation, resistance, and unyielding will to protect its diversity and identity, Ukraine can set an example of resilience, proving that human rights and dignity including those with disabilities are the highest value. Teacher training should involve building skills of resilience and inclusion on individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, national, and global levels in order to secure a safe and equitable future for all.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The education reform in Ukraine has envisaged an invariable component of inclusive education in teacher training and professional development of educators since 2017. During the 5 years period, the number of students with disabilities in Ukrainian schools quadrupled from 7,179 in 2017/18 to 32,686 students in 2021/22, thus raising the demand for teachers with the understanding and capability to foster inclusive practices.

Because of the war with the Russian Federation educational services were severely disrupted, many children and youth perished or were forcedly displaced, and school buildings were destroyed, air-raid sirens and electricity blackouts made it impossible to conduct lessons even in the areas not directly affected by military actions - still, Ukraine has not collapsed. The country's educational system shows resilience, therefore it is vital to monitor and analyze it on all levels during the war and develop mechanisms to build individual and national resilience in the post¬war times.

There are broad definitions of resilience as well as much research done on individual ability to cope with the potential negative effects of stressors in times of crisis, disaster, and milita ry conflicts. Coined in the 1970s by psychologist Emmy E. Werner, the concept has evolved significantly over decades gaining various interpretations. American psychological association (n.d.) defines resilience as the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands. It is established that the resources and skills associated with greater resilience can be learned and practiced. Among the factors that contribute to a person's functioning and adaptation to adversities are the availability and quality of social resources, the ways in which individual views and engages with the world, and specific coping strategies.

The dissertation by Michell Lynette Temple (2021) provides findings on resilience, perceived stress, and psychological well-being in adults with and without children in Ukraine. The study explores the predictors of individual resilience, stress, and well-being within a general populace sample, emphasizing adults in parental roles. Responses of Ukrainians to trauma and significant stressors are determined by multiple, dynamic interactions at the individual and system levels. The study implies that by incorporating best practices in the field of counseling, multidisciplinary professionals can have the opportunity to use the findings to aid civilian and military-connected adults in Ukraine to bounce back from the stress of war-related trauma. We should take into account both culturally-based risk factors and universal protective factors while building resilience in Ukraine.

Currently, the concept of resilience has dominated foreign policy narratives and practices in international organizations as well as the NATO countries against a backdrop of increasing bullying rhetoric of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine. Koa et al. (2023) discuss the evolution of the common views on state-centered and societal approaches to resilience in Ukraine as compared to the West before and during the full-scale war with the Russian Federation. Transitioning from the top-down generated intention to join the European Union on the part of Ukraine's leadership and E.U.'s views on stability and pacifying Russia at the cost of Ukraine's fate, the war caused shifts in this paradigm, forcing the states' leadership to adapt their societies in a rapidly changing world and possibly towards reformulating the concept as such. Thus, it is sensible to conduct more studies into resilience to make the post-war society sustain peace, cooperation, mutual understanding, and respect. We can explain this abrupt shifting by the previously insufficient role of the civic society in the times of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequent years with its gradual empowerment culminating in the Maidans, the last being the Revolution of Dignity in 2013, that has been pushing the government for changes. Thus, the fierce national resistance to the aggression of Russia may come from the combination of state-centered or formal and societal or national resilience, when, instead of saluting the evaders with flowers, Ukrainians were determined to stop their tanks with bare hands and rebuild everything as soon as the Russian forces are repelled from the territory of Ukraine.

The concept of "resilience national social contract" proposed by Goodwin et al. (2023) that focuses on social cohesion and relations between the state and society, individual and community can be examined in relation to Ukraine's resistance while focusing on interpersonal trust as an indicator of building community resilience. Horizontal mutual trust between individuals can be positively associated with national resilience. We also should be aware that while trust is an important outcome of mass stressors and a means of expressing national resilience, it can be strained over an extended period, particularly when resources are limited. Therefore, it is important to assess the contribution of this trust to resilience during a time of strained environmental conditions. The study also proved that national resilience is positively associated with younger age, residence in a Ukrainian-speaking environment, and confidence in the ability to cope with hardships during the war. Sustained resilience is likely to be vital for ensuring national security and economic recovery in Ukraine. Thus, developing continued national resilience is also likely to necessitate the full integration of civic service participation into broader national state authorities, taking into account the cultural and linguistic diversity of Ukrainian society.

The study performed by Kimhi and Eshel (2009) focusing on the distinction between individual and public resilience and their effects on long-term war outcomes showed that gender, age, economic situation, and exposure to traumatic events significantly predict recovery. Being a young male in a satisfactory economic situation is associated with a higher level of resilience. In addition, it was found that individual and public resilience serves as mediators between economic situation and exposure, and the war outcomes.

Wessells (2018) examines the utility of the Differential Impact Theory when applied to war- affected children. The theory focuses efforts to strengthen children's resilience by improving children's social ecologies at different levels. The research shows how the theory provides a differentiated view of war-affected children and stimulates multiple interventions at different ecological levels. The central emphasis of the Differential Impact Theory lies in the importance of children's social ecologies and the interactions that occur within and between multiple levels over time. This emphasis offers significant conceptual and practical advantages relative to other approaches that focus on processes internal to war-affected children. The study highlights the importance of macro-level risks as well as risks to children that originate at other levels. While in humanitarian settings, the focus of most agencies is on micro-level factors that occur close to the child, particularly at the individual, family, household, and peer levels. The proposed approach serves as a critical lens for viewing current work on child protection in humanitarian settings and for developing more comprehensive support for children's resilience.

Aslam Saja et al. (2018) exploring tools to measure social resilience to disasters present social resilience framework consisting of five sub-dimensions of social resilience, namely, social structure, social capital, social mechanisms, social equity, and social belief, a set of 16 characteristics, and corresponding 46 indicators. They elaborated the framework after the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction to measure social resilience to disasters that can assist in raising awareness among communities exposed to disaster risks by characterizing the basic elements of systems at risk and prioritizing community needs and goals through participatory assessment. The modified tools are applied to measure social resilience to war and help to introduce resilience-building approaches into teacher training.

We believe that psychological resilience can be referred to as a socio-ecological concept with interrelated levels of interpretation. Thus a proposed by Shevell and Denov (2021) a multidimensional model of resilience integrating the macro- and micro-level to include resilience-enabling systems at the family, community, national, global, and intergenerational levels can be applied to illustrate examples of resilience-enabling systems at various levels. Modifying the model by adding an organizational level to it, we include training teachers in universities and pedagogical colleges as an important system factor in building resilience in the inclusive learning environment. As the layers are interrelated and mutually reinforced, we can say that training teachers to induce resilience in their students' personal and professional lives involves many actions on individual, micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-system levels.

Three principles emerge from the study by Ungar et al. (2012) that inform a bio-social- ecological interpretation of resilience: equifinality, differential impact, and contextual and cultural moderation. Thus, the development of Bronfenbrenner's bio-social-ecological systems model of human development parallels advances made to the theory of resilience that progressively moved from a more individual (micro) focus on traits to a multisystem understanding of person - environment reciprocal processes. Using this theory of resilience can add to a deeper understanding of the processes that contribute to positive development under stress. In addition, the practitioners and policymakers can gain a broader perspective on principles for the design and implementation of effective interventions.

Vindevogel (2017) discusses the potential implications of resistance against the backdrop of the interrelated notions of self-determination, self-responsibility, and self-help. In response to critical analysis, a relational approach to the resilience of war-affected children is advanced that comprises individual, collective, institutional, and political spheres of influence and emphasizes the importance of the relational dynamics that facilitate transactions within and across these spheres.

One of the objectives of the New Ukrainian school educational reform is to embrace the philosophy and practices of inclusive education and make the learning environment of kindergartens and schools as barrier-free as possible for students with special educational needs. To achieve this task, the system of teacher training should contain an inclusive component. The research by Gavari-Starkie et al. (2021) concludes that education should be involved in building a sustainable world, and in this framework, the development of resilient skills is important. However, society needs education policies that foster individual and social resilience through sustainable development. Goal 4 of education in the 2030 Global Action Plan envisages the promotion of sustainable development, including through education for sustainable lifestyles. Although sustainability aspires to persistent and equitable long-term well-being that is summarized in the scope of resilience, educators must respond to the challenges of teaching current and future generations to make decisions that mitigate the negative effects of various disasters and crises. Therefore, learning about sustainability and resilience is imperative to guarantee resilience in the face of new challenges and to adapt to new circumstances. The authors suggest educational institutions should promote activities included in the curriculum and extracurricular activities with the aim of linking formal, informal, and non-formal education and combining technology and learning for sustainability and resilience. Mutual learning opportunities between society and the school community are particularly valuable as they provide an opportunity to foster sustainability and resilience and an opportunity to train students as proactive citizens for a globalized world with multiple potential risks. The new approach, in which education plays a fundamental role at all its levels, entails fostering emotional control, communication skills, a culture of effort, commitment, creativity, and advanced cognitive skills such as critical thinking or problem-solving. The education system assumes new functions such as containment and establishing links between formal and non-formal education for preparing resilient students and communities.

The necessity of taking measures to act promptly and introduce resilience building in teacher training curriculum arrives from the study performed by Halevi and colleagues (2016), which produced troubling results that war-exposed children show significantly higher rates of psychopathology. The findings prove that exposed children display more posttraumatic stress disorders, anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, and conduct/oppositional defiant disorders. War-exposed children have more comorbid psychopathologies and the number of comorbidities increased with age. Notably, war exposure increased the prevalence of chronic pathology by 24-fold.

Vitalaki et al. (2018) bring the results of the program designed to build resilience in primary school students with and without SEN in inclusive settings using narrative speech, role-play, and creative writing. The program aimed at helping students develop a range of fundamental psychosocial skills, such as a positive sense of inner self and the ability to cooperate and relate to others by familiarizing with them in recognizing and expressing the basic emotions of joy, sadness, fear, and anger. The concept was designed by using an action-based research approach to involve the maximum of the schoolteachers in establishing a community of practice, collaboration, sharing learning, and action. The participating students demonstrated socio-emotional skills, including those necessary for self-awareness, and the teachers built positive relations with their students and other educators.

We found the analysis of the psychological resilience of people living along the contact line of government-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts by Dryga and Cheryba (2022) useful for understanding and improving the psychosocial adaptation of people suffering from war, but not directly involved in hostilities. Based on social cohesion, resilience, and reconciliation index data collected in 2021, the results suggest that the drivers of psychological resilience are feelings of civic duty, social tolerance to others, including underrepresented groups, and the development of personal life skills that help cope with stress and provide an inner resource for purposeful executive functioning. Programs to build resilience according to the authors should include developing life skills that help focus on the goal, adapt quickly, restrain impulses, and find the strength to move on and enhance a sense of civic duty and tolerant attitudes towards others.

3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE, METHODOLOGY, AND DATA

Discussing the current outcomes of Russia's military aggression on the background of Ukraine's efforts to sustain an inclusive and equitable society, our research aims at looking for models of measuring and building resilience on various levels and applying evidence-based practices to teacher training.

The methodology adopted to address this research is based, firstly, on the selection of primary sources published by international and national organizations in which human rights, inclusive education, and resilience are addressed. The reports are selected from international databases and available official statistics from Ukraine. In this framework, an analysis of the research papers on the subject study is carried out through various bibliographic databases and searches of the tables of contents of relevant high-impact international journals.

The paper looks into the origin and development of inclusive policies and practices in the realms of the post-colonial segregated education system of Ukraine. The advances and implementation hindrances for inclusive education as well as traumatic barriers and dangers for fundamental human rights from Russia's aggression are presented in the light of the resilience conception. The data obtained from surveying pre-service elementary school teachers are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The proposed measures to develop resilience and equity in teacher training are compared with existing initiatives and practices.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The research reveals that resilience should be analyzed using a comprehensive socio-ecological system model where all levels are interrelated, thus employing strategies and practices of building resilience in training teachers we can build resilience on personal, interpersonal, community, organizational, national, global levels as well plant seeds of resilience and equity into future generations.

Interpersonal trust, social acceptance, support and cooperation, specialized practices, and nurtured social skills are characteristics of inclusive education as well as building resilience. Atrocities of the war and humanitarian crisis constructed barriers for all Ukrainians, hence education should seek and apply holistic approaches and intervene immediately to prevent the crisis, heal the trauma and empower society to withstand the difficulties.

Inclusion as a process helps persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups to be seen and heard as valuable members of society with all their unique needs, aspirations, abilities, and strengths. Starting from inclusive education, society can move to inclusive participation, which can add much to resilience. Ukrainian resistance can be an example of building resilience - individual, community, organizational, national, and international for humankind and a vector towards new global diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Reforming education and training teachers to organize safe and inclusive learning environments

A country that gained independence from the USSR in 1991, Ukraine has passed through the collapse of the repressive Soviet system to the status of a developing country, which, having strong ties with and being influenced by the Russian Federation, nevertheless, moves in the direction of the civilizational values of human rights and freedoms. The road is not easy, considering that human rights and freethinking were oppressed in the Soviet Union. Education, culture, and social and economic spheres were saturated with the communist ideology, so instead of a diverse community of equal and valued individuals, it bred segregated and oppressed regime builders. In the USSR, persons with disabilities were considered objects to be cared for and controlled, not active agents or stakeholders. Even grassroots self-help initiatives that likely would have benefited the state economically and administratively usually were curtailed by the communist party and government. The state defined what "social contributions" citizens with disabilities would be allowed to make, set the parameters of education and work possibilities, and closely regulated the development of disability consciousness. People with disabilities were kept unaware of developments of human rights struggles worldwide (Phillips, 2009).

Pedagogical institutes trained so-called defectologists and correction teachers, whose task was either to correct disabilities up to normality (which is not mostly possible) or to hide such "defected" children for the whole of their lives inside the institutions. Notwithstanding the fact that Ukrainian authentic and progressive culture, science, and education were subdued, even canceled by the soviet-russian oppressive machine and the "central line" of the communist party was intolerant and hostile to the diversity and freedom of thought, there were Ukrainian educators who strove to develop a scientific and experimental base how to teach effectively students with disabilities. Their efforts at creating the long-term experience of teaching and socialization of children with special needs made the implementation of inclusive education in Ukraine possible (Dichek, 2021).

Since regaining its independence, Ukraine, aspiring to get rid of its colonial past and re-embrace ideas and practices of democracy, has made big leaps towards the prize. The country received considerable financial and technical assistance that helped it to advance toward integration with the West in many areas. The increasing interaction of Ukraine with democratic countries and gradual openness to the world had a critical impact on inclusive education by directly influencing the philosophical basis of the education system (Petryshyn et al., 2020, p. 78). Integration in the global humanistic space and international cooperation contribute to developing inclusive and resilience-building practices by educators that will sustain the progress of the Ukrainian nation and world community.

Before the educational reform, Ukrainian children with disabilities had limited options to obtain a quality education. The new law "On education" (2017) marked the beginning of the New Ukrainian School reform and the laws "On professional higher education" (2019), "On complete general secondary education" (2020) as well as a number of revised existing laws aimed at a systematic regulation of teaching students with disabilities, introduced inclusion in national legislation and regulatory documents.

Ukraine's educational reform is to achieve the following:

* establishment of a nurturing inclusive environment free from violence and discrimination;

* quality psychological and pedagogical support for students;

* development of accessible services;

* accessibility of extracurricular learning based on students' needs;

* vocational guidance for students on the basis of their interests and capabilities.

The reform strategy envisaged introducing inclusion on the national level in stages, starting in primary school with the gradual closure of 80% of special schools. In 2015-2020 the number of students with special educational needs studying in inclusive classes of secondary schools increased by 7.1 times. The number of inclusive classes increased by five times and the number of schools with such classes grew by 3.7 over in 2016-2020. In the academic year of 2019-2020, 35% of all general secondary schools provided special needs services to their students. In order to support school and preschool teachers, students, and their parents, 610 inclusive resource centers (IRC) were established throughout Ukraine, 699 sets of methodologies to assess child development were purchased and 869 specialists were trained. Based on assessments IRCs can recommend parents consider inclusive education and special needs services for their children. IRCs also supply inclusive schools with education professionals or provide special services on their premises (Information service of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, 2020).

The law requires that each school class or kindergarten group where at least one child with disabilities studies have a teacher's assistant. This educational professional is an important member of a support team who helps a general education teacher to plan and conduct lessons, provides extra support to struggling students, and serves as a valuable link with parents of such students. A teacher's assistant must hold a university degree in pedagogics. Thus, the quality education of teacher's assistants depends on a well-developed training curriculum and effective strategies to enable them to support students with disabilities. Many parents, wishing their children with disabilities to be included, choose to obtain a second pedagogical education if they already have a university diploma and thus seek employment as assistants in the schools where their children study. These parents are also highly motivated to explore the opportunities of informal education, participate in workshops and seminars, seek and implement progressive and experimental teaching methods and advocate for effective inclusive education. In rural and remote areas, parents of children with disabilities would accept any position in school just to be with their children, supervise and support them (Budnyk et al., 2022, p. 7).

The transition from repressive to inclusive education is a complex process that demands a system approach. The rapid implementation of the educational reform was not easy for educators who had limited resources to apply this new approach; therefore, Ukrainian universities needed a thorough and comprehensive curriculum for training educators with the capacity to organize such a learning environment that is beneficial for developing individual and national resilience in these challenging times. Many teachers and parents even now have not much understanding and view inclusion as adapting and correcting all students to fit into a class, thus the system of teacher training needs constant development to be able to equip teachers with the necessary skills and capacities to organize a safe, barrier-free environment in which every student develops.

Meaningful inclusion requires trained professionals at all levels. Teacher training should incorporate disability awareness and the use of appropriate augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, educational techniques, and resources to support persons with SEND. In 2017, a team of Ukrainian educators launched an ambitious project called Without Borders: Sustaining and Supporting Inclusive Education Learning Community. The project was designed to reach two goals: (a) creation and support a dynamic community of university students, diverse educational professionals, and disability rights activists to work with students with disabilities and their parents across Ukraine and (b) developing a coordinated training program focused on the high fidelity implementation of promising and evidenced-based inclusive education practices (Institute on Community Integration, 2020).

The project was designed to reach regions beyond large cities to assure that teachers and parents of children with disabilities living in more remote areas are part of the inclusive education reform in Ukraine. In order to reach the project's objectiv es eight partner universities started the Ukrainian National Inclusive Education Consortium committed to the implementation of education policy and practices. The results of the project have been quite impressive, yet even more promising in the long-term perspective. Several thousand students and educators have participated in focus groups, training sessions, seminars, conferences, and other educational events, thus contributing to the resource base for the development of the curriculum for teacher training. Since 2019, Ivano-Frankivsk college, Precarpathian national university, and other members of the consortium have been training preschool and elementary school teachers using an implementation manual and inclusive education curriculum for prospective and practicing teachers, specialists, and parents, developed and published by the project participants (Sydoriv, 2020).

Military aggression and crimes against persons with special needs and disabilities

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, annexing the Crimea and territories in the Donbas area. The war cut many Ukrainians with disabilities off the assistance and connection with their country, many services for persons with disabilities were seriously disrupted in the areas affected by military actions, those of the population who could, fled to mainland Ukraine, but for many it was impossible. The war brought a demand for the development of mechanisms to provide support to war invalids and veterans, displaced persons, survivors with post-traumatic stress disorders, and other war-related factors. The international support enabled Ukraine to start reforms in education, health, and social services, which facilitated their humanization and increased the inclusion of persons with disabilities. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine that affected severely persons with disabilities. International human rights organizations have documented multiple crimes against Ukrainian civilians. Among them:

* violations of the right to life, including arbitrary killings and enforced disappearances, as well as violations of the right to property, including massive destruction of civilian infrastructure;

* violations of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, in particular, gender-based violence and war-related sexual violence; and

* violations of the right to liberty and security, including abductions and detention.

The estimated number of persons with disabilities affected by the war is 2.7 million. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (2022) reports that many persons with disabilities are trapped or abandoned in their homes or care institutions with no access to medication, food, water, sanitation, and basic necessities, many are separated from their support networks or lost the help of care workers. Persons with disabilities also have difficulties accessing shelters or evacuation trains. Children with severe disabilities, committed to caring institutions are left without proper care. In some cases, children are restrained and lack adequate medical care.

The circumstances of the evacuation or transfer of many Ukrainian citizens (including those living in special institutions) to Russian-controlled territory or the territory of the Russian Federation, in particular the coercive environment in which it occurs and the use of deliberate strategies to lead many Ukrainian people to move there, carry characteristics of the international crime of forcible transfer of population. The Commissioner reiterates that all hum anitarian evacuations should be voluntary, safe, and informed, which entails the evacuees' prior knowledge and agreement on the destination of the evacuation (Commissioner for Human Rights, 2022).

The UN Refugee Agency (2022) informs that since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022, a total of 12,660,508 persons crossed the border from Ukraine, 5,755,970 persons crossed the border to Ukraine and 4,040,108 refugees from Ukraine have been registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe. Over 143.600 Ukrainians with disabilities were displaced as a result of the war, many of them seeking refuge in third countries are segregated in residential institutions.

The Riga Declaration adopted in July by the disability organizations supporting relief efforts in Ukraine calls for a peaceful and inclusive future in Ukraine and urges the global community, national governments, and humanitarian community to support the reconstruction of an inclusive and resilient society. Among the proposed necessary measures are:

* Building disability-inclusive resilience in line with the Sendai Framework and the UNDRR Roadmap for Europe and Central Asia 2021-2030;

* Meaningful participation of organizations of persons with disabilities in all decision-making processes by considering the expertise provided by these organizations and by supporting them with the necessary resources and building their capacity. The efforts should include the engagement of wider civil society;

* Inclusion of those most at risk (children, women, persons with disabilities, persons with high support needs) as well as those who do not fall under the scope of the EU Temporary Protection Directive;

* Funding of accessibility and reasonable accommodation;

* Implementation of already-existing frameworks and guidelines, in particular, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action;

* Prioritization, identification, and using relevant architectural, infrastructural, and information accessibility as key components of the reconstruction process in Ukraine;

* Continuing deinstitutionalization and applying best practices of community living in Ukraine and other countries (European Disability Forum, 2022).

Fighting the largest war in Europe since World War II, it is time Ukrainian society got rid of remnants of the Soviet past and embraced the values of equity and inclusion. Hence, the task of integrating veterans, persons with disabilities, and all affected by the war is vital. Research shows that veterans experience social exclusion and marginalization that may trigger mental health issues, anti-social behavior, and uncontrolled aggression (Guest et al., 2022, p. 23). Inclusion of all its members into society and education, and participation in harmonious personal and socioeconomic relations can contribute to building individual and national resilience. One of the steps can be the analysis of employment opportunities and policies existing and being developed in Ukraine. For instance, society needs to see data on employment rates for veterans with disabilities in order to advocate for increased employment opportunities as we see in the example from the USA (ADA National Network, n.d.). We strongly believe that each Ukrainian with and without disabilities has a unique and invaluable experience of surviving and resisting and must be included in order to build national and global resilience and well-being. Education should facilitate and guide this process by organizing an inclusive environment and opening its doors not only for students with SEN but also for teachers with special needs.

Assessing resilience and inclusion awareness of pre-service teachers

The preliminary results of the online survey performed among pre-service kindergarten and elementary school teachers in Ivano-Frankivsk Professional College, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University indicate the need to study and develop resilience and equity awareness while training teachers. The age range of the respondents is 16-18 years. The prevailing gender is female as a profession of kindergarten and elementary school teacher in Ukraine is predominated by women. The respondents have not received any academically endorsed training in inclusive education and resilience building. They were asked to select single-option answers from the multiple-choice questions as well as to elaborate on open questions. The survey was performed during the 11th month since Russia's full-scale aggression and the questions related to the period since the invasion.

Fig. 1. Survey of inclusion and resilience awareness among Ukrainian pre-service educators

5.38% of the respondents admit that their resilience and adaptation to adversities decreased, 26.15% observe no changes, while the majority (68.46%) indicate the increase. The qualitative analysis of their comments and explanations of their selection reveals that after initial panic and despair, now they have taken an effort to stay calm and collected in order to set an example for the less stable members of their families, communities, and schools. Among the factors that nurture their resilience, the respondents also state "realistic positive attitudes to the things that they can control, understanding that every little step should bring the victory, cherishing their values, peace of mind, helping the others, self-control, ditching the Russian language media products, art techniques and self-control over the trifle things, volunteering and donating to the Army, being active and show leadership in their communities".

The next question about current "understanding and support of equity and inclusion, in particular, the right of persons with disabilities to inclusive education" presents 52,31% positive answers, less than 46.92% of respondents indicate that nothing has changed, 0.77% believe that their support of inclusive education has declined because of more important things in the face of the war. Few respondents indicated the growth of war-related disorders and disabilities that demand the immediate attention of educators.

The question "Do you agree that the inclusive society is more sustainable and resilient in difficult or critical circumstances?" receives 11.54% negative responses, which raises a problem of widespread paternalistic attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Many respondents consider disability to be a weakness, therefore for the country resisting the second-largest army in the world being inclusive in times of war means being prone to defeats and failures. 42.31% of the respondents support the idea that an inclusive society is more resilient and 46.15% indicate that it is difficult for them to decide. The data from these diagrams will be compared with the surveys we plan to conduct in the next stage of our research.