NEWS AND VIEWS: A new-style Kyiv school nurtures its students (04/28/02)

NEWS AND VIEWS: A new-style Kyiv school nurtures its students

by Fran Ponomarenko

After spending the month of July 2001 in Kyiv teaching English for Prosvita, I left my ancestral homeland with a heavy heart.

Unemployment due to closures of factories has left many families scrambling for ways to make money. Some families have been torn apart, as one parent goes abroad to the West to work leaving the other with all the responsibilities of child rearing and managing a household. And for those who are employed, low wages often make it close to impossible for people to make ends meet.

In the countryside also, conditions are troubling, as the transition from collective to private farming results in unimaginable confusion and severe hardship for many. Ukrainian women, who outnumber men in the countryside, shoulder the brunt of the backbreaking labor of producing food. Most are paid in foodstuffs that oblige the women to spend the little time they have left selling produce in the markets in order to obtain money for their families.

In addition to these serious economic hardships, I was also disturbed by the dominance of the Russian language in the elegant Ukrainian capital. Three hundred years of Russian domination and close to a century of Communist rule have certainly left their mark.

But truth be told, this somber picture does not do justice to the great efforts that so many individual Ukrainians are making in order to transform their society. I had the privilege of meeting several such extraordinary people, among them a charismatic woman who has embarked on a project that leaves me full of admiration and optimism.

A historian by training, with over a decade of experience teaching high school, as well as directing and coordinating the after-school center Budynok Tvorchosty, Olena Movchun is now the founder and director of a private school called "Pidhotovcha Shkola Plekalna." Here I might add that Prof. Viktoria Shpak must be credited for coming up with the name. The Ukrainian word "plekaty" means to foster, to nourish, to tend lovingly. And on the basis of my visit to the school and a look at the curriculum and after-school program, the Pidhotovcha Shkola Plekalna lives up to its name.

Founded in 1997, this alternative private school for children between the ages of 6 and 10 is a far cry from the old-style Soviet schools. The philosophy of the "Pidhotovcha" (preparatory) School is based on the idea that each child's potential and interests need to be addressed.

"Children may be the same age," said Ms. Movchun, "but they could be at different developmental levels. Therefore, we try hard to find ways to make the children feel positive about themselves at the same time as we try to increase their motivation." Thus, the children at this school work at their own levels regardless of the age group they fall into.

Teaching takes place in non-traditional ways, too. Children can sit on the floor or go outdoors - the aim is not to impose rigidity on them but to give them a chance to adapt to school and learning in their own ways. "The education takes place," noted Director Movchun, "it just takes place differently."

The curriculum is also structured in innovative ways to interest children. For instance, Ukrainian language and grammar are taught in a course called "The History of the Kazka or Fairy Tale." Instead of teaching the basics of language through rules and exercises, the children learn these by reading and studying fairy tales. These readings also raise issues of ethics and aesthetics, and these aspects are regularly addressed. Ethics and aesthetics are also taught in the regular public school system but these courses are usually given during in after-school hours.

All children here are introduced to three foreign languages: English, French and German. Children learn at least 150 words in each language by the time they have completed grade 3 and are ready to go into the regular school system. The language of instruction at the school is Ukrainian, and this is the language spoken during school hours, including recess.

As most of the parents were educated in the Russian language, they tend to speak Russian to their children at home. This has meant that the school has also had to teach the children their native language. Unfortunately, a shortage of Ukrainian-language teaching materials has meant that teachers are sometimes forced to use Russian-language texts.

In addition to academic subjects, the children are introduced to choreography, ballroom dancing, gymnastics, as well as theater, fine arts and computer studies. Every 6-year-old in the school can read, write and do elementary mathematics. He or she also knows some basic computer skills by that time.

In traditional Soviet-style schools, which are still prevalent throughout Ukraine, there is one homeroom teacher and she teaches the children all the subjects. In the Pidhotovcha School also there is a home-room teacher and she is present with the children all day, however, various specialists come in to teach, for instance, the language teacher, the art teacher and so on. This means, in effect, that there are always two instructors in the room. Classes consist of 12 to 15 pupils, and this means that the student-teacher ratio is very low and enormously beneficial for personalized teaching. Teachers in this kind of environment are able to gain excellent familiarity with the children and their particular strengths and weaknesses.

Before a child begins full-time attendance at the Pidhotovcha School, the psychiatrist on staff assesses the child and prepares a diagnostic card with notes. If the child's teacher needs to be notified about a particular difficulty, say with concentration or poor memory, the doctor does this so that the teacher can set about addressing the problem in order to overcome it. There are three doctors on staff, and each day there is a doctor present in the medical center of the school.

"In Kyiv," said Ms. Movchun, "there are practically no healthy children. They suffer from allergies or systemic problems. Therefore, we really need to follow the children closely. The primary reason for this is, of course, Chornobyl. Thus, we are conscious of the necessity of trying to build up the immune systems of the children through gym classes or self-defense courses for those who are interested in taking them. Our method is based on an individual approach to each child."

Although the school day is from eight in the morning until six in the evening, many children stay as late as 8 p.m., as their parents are working. "We replace the parents to a certain extent," said Ms. Movchun. Thus, the school places great importance on food and nutrition. Some children who attend this school cannot go to a regular school because they have problems that are medical or psychological, and meals are prepared to suit these children.

Everyone is served two breakfasts, one shortly after the children arrive, and a second one at 11 a.m. A three-course meal is served at lunch time, and a snack is offered at five in the afternoon. All the food is freshly prepared in the large well-equipped kitchen on the premises.

The facilities, particularly the renovated areas, are exceptional and compare with what I have seen in Canada. The homeroom classroom, or rather homeroom unit to be more exact, consists of a classroom, an adjoining play room, another separate sleeping room outfitted with cots, as well as a bathroom. There are four such self-contained units in the school. In addition, there are many other classrooms, for language courses, art programs and so on, as well as a large stage where plays are put on every year. In the 2000-2001 academic year there were 97 boys and girls registered in the school. There were two Grade 1 classes, one Grade 2 class, and one Grade 3 class - a total of 97 pupils.

When I visited the Pidhotovcha School at the end of July 2001, Ms. Movchun was in the throes of single-handedly overseeing more massive renovations to the building. I couldn't help asking: "What does your family think of this project of yours?"

"I have virtually ceased living at home," said the director. "I live at school. My husband has great respect for me and forgives me my absences. He has changed as a result of this. He avoids needless arguments and has to worry about our daughter who is 16 years old. He goes to the supermarkets now and has to cook supper. Initially, my daughter suffered a touch of jealousy because of my preoccupation with the school, but she has become understanding now."

Ms. Movchun was, of course, raised and educated in the Soviet command system, and I wondered what changes had taken place in her own character since she became both director and business manager of the school. "I need to solve many problems by myself now," she said to me. "For instance, I have to figure out how to retain the student population, how to improve things. Before, I was happy when others solved things for me, and I went along with that. Now I know that by September 1 I have to have things finished or else."

"I have to oversee builders and workers and manage to finance this endeavor, too. I have a staff of 50 people, which includes the teachers, kitchen staff, cleaners and grounds workers, as well as my two assistants. They all need to be paid a salary and I am responsible for making sure that their working conditions are normal. And I try to please them all," she explained.

"How else have you changed?" I asked. "I have become tougher," Ms. Movchun replied. "I always evaluate whether something is beneficial for the school. I compromise only if it is good for the school. In conversation, I listen very carefully to the parents and they do make requests. I try to honor them. Sometimes a parent makes a complaint about a teacher and I take this seriously. When there is a conflict, the parents, of course, see only their needs, but I have to try and resolve the issue to everyone's benefit, if possible."

"In a way you're running a business, aren't you, even though it's an educational establishment?" I said.

"Yes," she replied. " A director of a private school is involved with teaching, curriculum, as well as solving financial problems and finding ways to make the project carry on. From the tuition fees we receive we need to pay rent for the building, renovate, decorate, repair and also pay salaries. The children become clients of sorts. In the public system, they try to keep the parents, but we really have to please the parents to keep them."

Although the same problems about retaining students and pleasing parents prevail in private schools in the West, Director Movchun is confronted with many serious problems because Ukraine is still in the process of transition and many laws have not yet been altered to address new situations. For example, in Quebec (where I live) financial support and subsidies are normally given to all educational establishments. In Ukraine, private schools obtain no government assistance. "People higher up," said Ms. Movchun, "listen to me and my grievances but nothing can be solved for at the present moment the laws are such that they do not allow us to be seen as an educational institution because we are private and we are viewed as a commercial enterprise."

Even though private schools in Ukraine, including the Pidhotovcha School find themselves designated as businesses, thus disqualifying them from state funding and favorable taxation structures, Ms. Movchun told me that the government, in particular the Ministry of Education, has shown interest in trying to determine how private schools differ from public ones in the actual education that the child receives. There are presently about 20 private alternative schools. Several times officials of the ministry have visited Ms. Movchun's school in the course of preparing their study on these differences. My understanding is that some of the representatives from the Ministry of Education have admitted that a qualitative difference can be discerned between what a child receives in a private institution and what is available in the public stream.

The Pidhotovcha School has never had to advertise for students, and parents come because they have heard about it from others who are pleased with the results. Indeed enrollment has increased each year. "I am very happy with the children's achievements," said Ms. Movchun. "We have even established a financial award of 100 hryvni for stellar students." When I asked what sorts of parents bring their children to the school, Ms. Movchun stated that initially the parents tended to come from academic circles. After that it tended to be people from the business and trade sectors. Now the clientelle seems to be parents who work in various firms and have some money to allow them to pay for this school. They are not rich people, said the director, but middleclass.

I couldn't help comparing Ms. Movchun's Pidhotovcha Shkola Plekalna to the two private schools that my daughter attended in Montreal. The school has all the marks of a labor of love and idealism about what can be achieved through a humane and sensitive educational system that addresses the needs of the mind and body of young children. The private schools that I am familiar with in Montreal are impressive, and in academic areas I see no difference between them and the Pidhotovcha School.

However, in terms of the individual attention that children get from teachers and doctors, I would have to say that the Pidhotovcha School is way ahead of anything I have seen here in Montreal. As for nutrition, when I recall the canned soups that my daughter was served in her private school, I really have to say that the pupils at Ms. Movchun's Pidhotovcha Shkola Plekalna of Kyiv are considerably better fed.

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