Training educators to foster inclusion and resilience: lessons from Ukraine

We asked the students to come up with ideas on how to improve teacher training in these trying times. The opinions for the question "How should universities and colleges improve their curriculum for the effective training of teachers capable to organize a safe and inclusive environment? " indicate the need for "more practice; problem -based tasks; art and drama skills development; close cooperation with and feedback from disability and human rights organizations, parents and community members; more time for individual and guided reflections; extended real-time communication and interaction with children and families; renewal of international workshops and seminars halted since the 2019 lockdown; insights into special psychology; much more time on training and mastering skills; field practice; develop UDL and inclusion in universities for a start; more resources and capacity building for pre-service teachers".

The question "How can universities and colleges improve their curriculum to incr ease psychological resilience of future teachers and their students?" received the following responses: "professional communication with experts and specialists; use the experience of other countries; develop relevant workshops; morale and psychological preparation is very much needed; training to maintain psychological stability; develop activities and didactic games; encourage and empower students, monitor students resilience; teach the understanding of the situations and emotional state of children in school; lessen the burden of extra tasks and assignments that increased since the beginning of the war; more time on psychological activities, classes in concentration and meditation; case-studies, modelling and practicing skills; increased time for practice; use all possible means to improve national and patriotic education; more international experience and good practices; more professional freedom to teachers; those who teach need support to protect themselves from the burnout; provide resources and time for emotional renewal and meaningful socialization; develop monitoring tools; differentiation and individual approach; cooperation with resilient persons and those whose profession requires emotional stability; empowerment and interaction with veterans, volunteers, persons with SEND; cooperate with specialists and teachers from abroad".

The findings of the study add to the existing research on resilience, inclusion, and teacher training. The data obtained are being analyzed in order to implement the combination of resilience-building techniques and inclusive education practices into pre-service training of kindergarten and elementary school teachers in Ivano-Frankivsk Professional College, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University. It is worth mentioning that teacher training even in the western part of Ukraine, where there are no direct military actions, is not easy. Every student and teacher has relatives and friends drafted into the military, or wounded, or worse, declared martial law with curfews and other limitations imposed on all territory, the civil infrastructure is underfinanced and disrupted, electricity blackouts, air raid sirens, unheated houses, classrooms, and bomb shelters. For instance, February 10, the day of the final collection of the survey data is marked by four volleys of over 100 Russian missiles causing explosions, causalities, and electricity cuts - but the country resists. Ukrainian educators need to learn and act promptly and do not want to waste any chance or effort that adds to the protection of identity, dignity, diversity, equity, and resilience.

Developing a positive school environment through a school ethos valuing diversity has a positive effect on students' relationships within the school. Incorporating this kind of scho ol ethos influences those within the developing child's ecological systems (Wilson et al., 2002). We believe that training teachers to organize a safe environment by fostering inclusion and resilience will contribute to the national and global security and protection of international diversity. Educators experiment with narrative speech, storytelling, art and performance techniques, inclusive leadership, community service, and building soft skills. This help to establish connection and cooperation between educators, students, parents, and communities. The COVID-19 pandemic social distancing, self-isolation followed by the unspeakable war atrocities and humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian Federation have made classroom cooperation and interaction difficult or even impossible. Internally displaced persons, refugees, survivors of the war as well as persons with disabilities represent a large and diverse population of people with different forms of impairments and care support requirements, who face significant barriers that expanded their exclusion from education, especially during the crisis (Agnoletto & Queiroz, 2020). The consequent poor communication and lack of flexibility prevent students from gaining interpersonal or so- called soft skills. For learners, soft skills are correlated with the technical and cognitive skills necessary to achieve higher academic results and are critical to helping success, and are determinants of academic behaviors.

The transition programs from school into adulthood aiming at preparing students with disabilities for independent living, employment, further study, intimate relations, and leisure, are underdeveloped on the national level. Ukrainian teachers may consider the following soft skills for students with special needs to be worth adopting and mastering: effective communication, adaptability, leadership, positive attitude, conflict management, reliability, motivation, initiative, critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving, professional attitude, time management and attention to detail. Hence, emotional intelligence and empathy can be considered universal values for all to be effective in the diverse world (Gardenswartz et al., 2010).

The Inclusive Education Lab established in the Ivano-Frankivsk region makes advances in the field of inclusive art, music, and performing training pre-service educators for teaching children with special educational needs and disabilities as well as their healthy peers. Since 2020, the Lab participants have launched and led many events aimed at training teachers to organize safe inclusive learning environments and build resilience:

* A set of formal and informal music and art classes for deaf students and internally displaced children. Being unable to hear, children create and learn music that makes them a part of the music-appreciating community;

* Shadow play performances for orphans and neglected children, many of whom have disabilities. After watching and discussing performance, the spectators then are invited behind the curtains to actually recreate the play they have just seen developing and adding their own ideas;

* Interactive bubble shows for children with disabilities and internally displaced persons in collaboration with a local troupe of actors;

* Forum theatre. Young actors and members of the audience discuss, collaborate, explore and perform searching for solutions to various social issues: disability, gender, domestic violence, social justice, human rights;

* Interactive storytelling project involving tasks and activities in the English and Ukrainian languages;

* In collaboration with a child with disabilities and her parent, a volume of students authored stories and fairytales about diversity, equity, inclusion, and resilience.

The mentioned activities require more research and consequent development, but the preliminary results show that students benefit from the activities, mastering interpersonal skills, making academic and behavioral progress, and keeping resilient in crisis (Sydoriv & Sydoriv, 2022).

Building resilience means equipping school students with life skills to help them maintain independent living, have healthy personal and social relations, and find and keep employment or continue further education after they leave school. The first students with SEND to study within the New Ukrainian School reform entered classes in 2018, meaning that they are due to complete their basic education in 2027-29. There are various mostly non-governmental initiatives, but generally, Ukraine lacks evidence-based strategies on how to ensure the transition of youth with disabilities to adulthood. Ukraine can learn from countries with a policy, funding, and services infrastructure for secondary transition for youth with disabilities that are mandated by law. When there is an emphasis on self-determination, community inclusion, and employment, then during unpredictable or critical situations communities step up and use the infrastructure, policies, and disaster funding in their state to heal and rebuild. If such a basis of support is not in place in a country when a disaster occurs, individuals and families cannot rely on any external help, thus, those with the most significant disabilities are left behind. Often, this prevents them to reach adulthood with dignity, or at all (Ticha & Dockter, 2022).

The inclusive education teacher training curriculum that was developed within the Without Borders: Developing and Sustaining Inclusive Education Learning Community project serves as a guide for the just graduate teachers to implement inclusive practices within their communities. It is especially useful to facilitate the adaptation and transition of youth with disabilities and internally displaced persons towards independent living and self-realization (Sydoriv et al., 2022).

Another challenge that Ukrainian education and society faces is ensuring more students with disabilities choose to be trained as educators. This means eliminating barriers and creating a safe inclusive environment in teacher training universities and colleges as well as in schools and kindergartens. Keller et al. (1998) argue that besides adding a unique perspective of diversity to school education personnel and parents, teachers with disabilities can be successful professionals, advocates, and role-models in class; they can contribute greatly to solutions to important issues, for instance, shortages of trained special education specialists and general education teachers. Teachers with disabilities have a better understanding of how to remove barriers in school. They can facilitate professional realization and employment in high education by former students with disabilities (pp. 8-9).

Inclusion is a process with ever-emerging challenges; it is a tool to educate society that its diverse members must not be segregated. They add value and sense to life and well-being for all. Resilience can and must be learned and cultivated, it is a process and people with disabilities are great teachers. The war piles new barriers, humanity should take them down. The story of Daniil Melnyk, a war veteran who lost his limbs, but did not lose the spirit is a lesson from Ukraine. Daniil is already a teacher of resilience, even though without a formal diploma; he will make a great psychologist when qualifies (Burridge et al, 2022).

To be successful in organizing an inclusive environment and teaching students with SEND, Ukrainian educators can employ a social-ecological approach based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory (1977) in which different models of development of an individual are connected in one comprehensive system. The systems in which a person is embedded include microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Starting from the personal qualities and characteristics including dis/abilities of an individual, the model explores the interconnection of all elements that influence a person and areas in which he or she develops - interpersonal (family, school, peers), organizational, community, public policy including defined laws, regulations, and rules as well as informal attitudes, customs, values, and beliefs (Ticha et al., 2020, p. 114).

Including representatives of diverse groups in the areas where they are underrepresented, for instance in education, will contribute to the equity and resilience of Ukrainian society by recognizing and addressing the distinct challenges and experiences communities and individuals face; implementing plans to help educators and agencies collaborate; establishing pipelines for youth and adults to enter employment; and introducing strategies to revitalize education system (Tkhir & Sydoriv, 2022, p. 43).

We agree with Al-Hendawi, Keller and Khair (2023) that most nations have outcomes that are not yet achieved, and the identification and implementation of evidence-based practices with a fidelity that are sustained across the education system are ongoing goals. Special education systems face the need to improve continuously as the field advances through new ideas and research findings. Educators can enhance their knowledge and skills through continuing professional development on evidence-based practices that will improve the quality of special education services they provide. Universities can identify gaps in their countries' personnel preparation systems and develop programs to fill them (p. 7). Post-war Ukraine's educators must be resilient in order to provide relevant and quality services.

CONCLUSIONS

Wars are disasters that can eliminate the future. Education is a soft, yet powerful tool that humanity can use to overcome adversities. Times of distress must initiate positive changes, it is vitally important to think and act urgently and on many levels, while considering the application of non-conventional means to reach long-term goals of global peace, security, prosperity, and wellbeing. Times of distress can signify that the traditional mechanisms of the past are not sufficient and need to be replaced by the tools of the new era. Ukraine has ratified all global human rights conventions, thus declaring the will of its society to embrace the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The process is long and painstaking (bear in mind the country's post-colonial status and war atrocities), but the recent changes in attitudes, policies, and practices of teaching persons with special educational needs and disabilities are quite impressive.

The new legislative and normative documents have defined the status of persons with SEND and mechanisms to include them effectively. The New Ukrainian school reform, albeit existing and emerging hindrances and barriers have opened the doors of local kindergartens and schools for thousands of children with SEND, provided specialized funding for purchasing equipment and employed special education professionals.

Over six hundred inclusive resource centers have been established to provide specialized professional assistance and support to schools and parents of children with disabilities. They also do assessments and advise parents on inclusive possibilities for their children.

In order to equip schools with teachers, who are proficient in inclusive education, pedagogical universities, and colleges have introduced relevant courses in their syllabi. An obligatory inclusive education component has been included in the professional development and in-service training of teachers. Many education workshops and seminars have been conducted with extensive initial and ongoing support from international organizations.

All Ukrainian National Inclusive Education Consortium has been established with the goal of coordinated implementation of inclusive education policies and practices in the curriculum, training educators with an understanding of and ability to organize inclusive learning environments and providing resource and information support of inclusion in preschool, school, vocational and university education.

The textbook for practicing teachers, specialists, and parents as well as teachers-in-training "Stairs to Inclusion" has been authored to use in the Consortium universities. It contains chapters on universal design for learning, cooperation within multidisciplinary teams, transition programs for youth with disabilities, inclusive leadership, capacity building of pre-service teachers, positive behavior management, cooperation with parents, and supporting students with disabilities. The inclusive education teacher-training curriculum has been developed for use at collaborating universities and in-service training. Consisting of four university-level courses, coursework is practical in nature, geared toward both special and general education staff, and focuses on promising and evidenced-based inclusive education practices.

The military and humanitarian crisis of 2022-onward brought serious challenges to education reforms, still, Ukraine's fight for its territorial and national integrity is closely connected with the quest for equity and inclusion on global and national levels.

In view of Russia's military aggression against the background of Ukraine's efforts to sustain an inclusive and equitable society, education needs to look for and apply models of measuring and building resilience on various levels.

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.

Fostering disability-inclusive resilience in line with the UNDRR Roadmap 2021-2030 and introducing in teacher training curriculum should be made priorities.

The data obtained from the inclusion and resilience awareness survey is analyzed in order to implement the combination of resilience-building techniques and inclusive education practices into pre-service training of kindergarten and elementary school teachers in Ivano-Frankivsk college. Ukrainian educators applied art, music, and performing techniques that help to master soft skills, and inclusive leadership and build the capacity to organize an inclusive learning environment. In order to build resilience and equity in Ukrainian society, the education system should include teachers with disabilities, war veterans, and survivors in order not to segregate and to benefit from their experience.

Liberating its citizens on the occupied territories and rebuilding its infrastructure, Ukraine should develop policies and practices, guaranteeing first of all quality education with the necessary support for all in a safe inclusive learning environment on an equal basis as well as dignity and well-being for all persons with disabilities. The identification and implementation of such evidence-based practices that are sustained across the education system are ongoing goals.

REFERENCES

[1] All, P., & Crocker, C. A. (2019). Building resilience and social cohesion in conflict. Glob Policy, 10(S2), 68¬75. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12681

[2] ADA National Network. (n.d.). Employment Data for Veterans with Disabilities. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://adata.org/factsheet/employment-data-veterans-disabilities

[3] Agnoletto, R., & Queiroz, V. (2020). COVID-19 and the challenges in Education. The Centro de Estudos Sociedade e Tecnologia (CEST), 5(2). 1-2.

[4] Al-Hendawi, M., Keller, C., & Khair, M. S. (2023). Special education in the Arab Gulf countries: An analysis of ideals and realities. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 4, 100217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2022.100217

[5] American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Resilience. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://dictionary.apa.org/resilience

[6] Aslam Saja, A. M., Teo, M., Goonetilleke, A., & Ziyath, A. M. (2018). An inclusive and adaptive framework for measuring social resilience to disasters. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 28, 862-873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.004

[7] Beauchamp-Pryor, K. (2012). Visual impairment and disability: A dual approach towards equality and inclusion in UK policy and provision. In N. Watson, A. Roulstone & C. Thomos (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies (pp. 178-192). Routledge.

[8] Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 513-531. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from http://surl.li/gikwv

[9] Budnyk, O., Sydoriv, S., Serman, L., Lushchynska, O., Tsehelnyk, T., & Matsuk, L. (2022). Inclusive education in rural schools of Ukraine or how to ensure quality inclusive education in rural schools in Ukraine?. Revista Brasileira De Educagao Do Campo, 7, e13940. https://doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e13940

[10] Burridge, T. S., Guenfoud, I., Kushnir, N., & Kaminski, K. (2022, July 15). Demand for artificial limbs surges in Ukraine. ABCNew. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from http://surl.li/gikwk

[11] Commissioner for Human Rights. (2022). Memorandum on the human rights consequences of the war in Ukraine. The Council of Europe. http://surl.li/gikwc

[12] Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (2022). CRPD/C/27/3: Guidelines on deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies. UN Treaty Body Database. http://surl.li/gikys

[13] Committee on the Rights of the Child. (2020). Combined 5th and 6th reports submitted by Ukraine under article 44 of the Convention, due in 2018: Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3963822?ln=en

[14] Dichek, N. (2021). Origins of inclusive education of students in Ukraine. SHS Web of Conferences, 104, 01002. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110401002

[15] Dryga, A., & Cheryba, N. (2022, April). Psychological resilience amidst war. Centre for sustainable peace and democratic development. http://surl.li/gilcb

[16] European Disability Forum. (2022, August 11). Riga Declaration on a Peaceful and Disability-Inclusive Ukraine. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from http://surl.li/gilcg

[17] Felix, A. (2022, June 20). Ukraine - information for Ukrainians with disabilities and their families. European Disability Forum. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from http://surl.li/gilcn

[18] Gardenswartz, L., Cherbosque, J., & Rowe, A. (2010). Emotional intelligence for managing results in a diverse world: The hard truth about soft skills in the workplace. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

[19] Gavari-Starkie, E., Pastrana-Huguet, J., Navarro-Gonzalez, I., & Espinosa-Gutierrez, P.-T. (2021). The inclusion of resilience as an element of the sustainable dimension in the LOMLOE Curriculum in a European framework. Sustainability, 13(24), 13714. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413714

[20] Goodwin, R., Hamama-Raz, Y., Leshem, E., & Ben-Ezra, M. (2023). National resilience in Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 85, 103487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103487

[21] Guest, A., Panayiotou, O., Pissarides, C., & Cheryba, N. (2022). Reintegrating ATO & JFO veterans. The Centre for Sustainable Peace and Democratic Development. https://api.scoreforpeace.org/storage/pdfs/SeeD_ATO-JFO-Veterans_ENG_FINAL.pdf

[22] Halevi, G., Djalovski, A., Vengrober, A., & Feldman, R. (2016). Risk and resilience trajectories in war- exposed children across the first decade of life. J Child Psychol Psychiatr, 57, 1183-1193. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12622

[23] Information service of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. (2020, January). Education and Science Reform. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from http://surl.li/bhugw

[24] Institute on Community Integration. (2020, June 16). A Grand challenge for Ukraine: Building an inclusive community. University of Minnesota. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from http://surl.li/gildw

[25] Keller, C., Anderson, R., & Karp, J. (1998). Introduction. In R. J. Anderson, C. E. Keller, & J. M. Karp (Eds.), Enhancing diversity: educators with disabilities. (pp. 3-13). Washington, D.C. : Gallaudet University Press.

[26] Kimhi, S., & Eshel, Y. (2009). Individual and public resilience and coping with long-term outcomes of war. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 14, 70-89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9861.2009.00041.x

[27] Koa, K., Gladysh, M. & Krayevska, O. (2023). Do the EU and Ukraine speak the same language? The various notions of resilience before the military intervention. Journal of Contemporary European Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2022.2163991

[28] Kostelny, K., & Wessells, M. (2013). Child friendly spaces: Promoting children's resiliency amidst war. In C. Fernando., & M. Ferrari (Eds.). Handbook of Resilience in Children of War. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6375-7_9

[29] Petryshyn, R., Lutsenko, I., & Orlov, O. (2020). The impact of geopolitical and military parameters on inclusive education reform in Ukraine and Crimea. In O. Bilash (Ed.). The research initiative on democratic reforms in Ukraine (pp. 74-91). University of Alberta.

[30] Phillips, S. (2009). There are no invalids in the USSR!': A missing Soviet chapter in the new disability history. Disability Studies Quarterly, 29(3). http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/936/1111

[31] Shevell, M. C., & Denov, M. S. (2021). A multidimensional model of resilience: Family, community, national, global and intergenerational resilience. Child Abuse & Neglect, 119, Part 2,105035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105035

[32] State Statistics Service of Ukraine. (2022). Social security of Ukraine population. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from http://surl.li/gilgv

[33] Sydoriv, L., & Sydoriv, S. (2022). Training teachers for implementing inclusive learning environment: Soft skills and creative abilities development. Actual problems of the teacher's creative person forming in the context of continuity of preschool and primary education: Collection of the International Scientific Internet

Conference, Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, 675(11). 626-630. Vinnytsia: Mercury- Podillia.

[34] Sydoriv, S. (Ed.). (2020). Navchalnyi kurykulum z inkliuzyvnoi osvity [Inclusive Education Teacher Training Curriculum]. Ivano-Frankivsk: Kushnir publishing. (in Ukr.)

[35] Sydoriv, S., Melnyk, Kh., Sydoriv, L., & Sydoriv, M. (2022, October 3-5). Inclusive education teacher training for community development. Virtual World Community Development Conference 2022. Inclusion as a Global Challenge for Community Development [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://youtu.be/9DabL4g_9lc

[36] Temple, M. L. (2021). Resilience, Stress, and Well-being: Adults in Parenting Roles in Ukraine. (Publication No. 28496496). [Doctoral dissertation, Regent University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

[37] The UN Refugee Agency. (2022). Refugee situation. The Operational Data Portal. Retrieved August 5, 2022, from https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine

[38] Ticha, R, Telna, O, Siska, J, Klapko, D, & Kincade L. (2020). Choices, preferences, and disability: A view from Central and Eastern Europe. In R. Stancliffe, M. Wehmeyer, K. Shogren & B. Abery (Eds.), Choice, preference, and disability, pp. 111-132. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35683-5_6

[39] Ticha, R., & Dockter, S. (2022). Transition in times of crisis. Impact. Feature Issue on Transition in a Global Context for People with Intellectual, Developmental, and Other Disabilities, 35(2). Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from http://surl.li/giliq

[40] Tkhir, M., & Sydoriv, S. (2022). Being optimistic about inclusion: Biden's rhetorical strategy of positive self-presentation reflected in teacher training policy. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 11(3), 38-46. https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v11n3p38

[41] Ungar, M., Ghazinour, M., & Richter, J. (2012). Annual research review: What is resilience within the social ecology of human development? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(4), 348-366. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12025

[42] UNISDR. (2015, March 14-18). Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015-2030. In un World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai, Japan. Geneva: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from http://surl.li/giljv

[43] UN Office of Legal Affairs. (n.d.). 15. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Treaty Series, 2515, 3. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from http://surl.li/gilkf

[44] Vindevogel, S. (2017). Resilience in the context of war: A critical analysis of contemporary conceptions and interventions to promote resilience among war-affected children and their surroundings. Peace & Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23, 76-84. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000214

[45] Vitalaki, E., Kourkoutas, E., & Hart, A. (2018). Building inclusion and resilience in students with and without SEN through the implementation of narrative speech, role play and creative writing in the mainstream classroom of primary education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22(12), 1306-1319. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1427150

[46] Wessells, M. G. (2018). Supporting resilience in war-affected children: How differential impact theory is

useful in humanitarian practice. Child Abuse & Neglect, 78, 13-18.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.12.010.

[47] Wilson, P., Atkinson, M., Hornby, G., Thompson, M., Cooper, M., Hooper, C. M., & Southall, A. (2002). Young minds in our schools-a guide for teachers and others working in schools. Year: YoungMinds.

Размещено на Allbest.ru