Canadian educators change the teaching of history in Ukraine (04/18/04)

Canadian educators change the teaching of history in Ukraine

by Oksana Zakydalsky

TORONTO - In 1992 a group of Canadian educators embarked on what is one of the longest running continuous cooperative projects between Canadian and Ukrainian partners. The focus and aim of the project was the introduction of contemporary education philosophy and practices into the post-Soviet Ukrainian school through the professional development of teachers in Ukraine.

The project was initiated by educators in Toronto who set up the Institute for the Professional Development of Teachers under the auspices of the Education Council of the Ukrainian World Congress.

Elementary school principal Nadia Luciw has headed the institute from the beginning. In the past 11 years the institute, with various Ukrainian partners, has organized summertime professional development sessions for teachers.

Valentina Kuryliw, who has taught secondary school history in Toronto for over 30 years, has been one of the Canadian team members from the beginning of the project and last year published "Metodyka Vykladannia Istorii" (Methods of Teaching History), a 248-page book in Ukrainian on history teaching methodology. The book began as lecture notes for her course in teaching history, which were continuously edited over 11 years by Ms. Kuryliw with input from the teachers who attended her courses - a total of over 400 persons from all across Ukraine.

Introduction by Toronto professor

"Metodyka Vykladannia Istorii" received an endorsement from York University history professor Orest Subtelny, who writes in the introduction that "the book sets out to make the study of history a process that not only provides the pupil with useful factual information but, perhaps more importantly, teaches him or her to think about the past (and by extension, the present) analytically and objectively."

The book is divided into 10 chapters - a theoretical base is introduced with an explanation of psychological approaches to the study of history, followed by practical advice on how to help the student develop the skills necessary for the study of history. Because the philosophy of involving the student in the process of teaching that is followed in the book is not well known in Ukraine, in the preface Ms. Kuryliw cautions those using the book that it is not meant to be a textbook for teachers as such, but should be used in connection with courses that can provide an adequate explanation of the philosophy.

During a visit to Lviv last fall, I contacted several educators in order to get their input on Ms. Kuryliw's book and discuss its reception in Ukraine. I met with Natalia Pastushenko, deputy director, Institute of Education and Science, Lviv; Roman Pastushenko, senior lecturer in history and political science, Lviv Commercial Academy; and Volodymyr Poluliakh, vice-principal of the Halytskyi law lycee who since 1997 has been a joint lecturer with Ms Kuryliw in the courses for teachers of history.

The educators agreed that the most important thing about the book is its systematization of the methodology and the process of teaching history. In Ukraine, the presentation of methodology usually includes only explanations on how to present the material to the student. A general approach, grounded in a philosophy of teaching, has not existed, they noted.

I asked the educators what, for them, was new about the methodology as explained in the book. Mr. Poluliakh answered that the courses had been the participants' first encounter with interactive teaching and interactive learning. For the first time, teachers were not only a passive audience but had the opportunity to play the role of the student and to see how the student approaches historical questions.

To present and explain the methodology of interactive teaching and interactive learning, the book makes use of examples from the history of Ukraine.

For example, to demonstrate to students how history is written, they are asked to compare the periodization of history as used by the Soviets, Mykhailo Hrushevsky and current historians. To understand how to evaluate various explanations of historical events, the students are presented with three explanations for the Famine-Genocide (Holodomor), asked to choose the one they think is true and explain their choice.

Using cooperative learning

To show teachers how to use cooperative learning, the book suggests using group analysis of the Decalogue of the Ukrainian Nationalist. The use of group work in order to understand complex historical documents is explained using the Four Universals of 1917-1918: the class is divided into four groups, each group is given one universal to deconstruct into five subheadings and develop a summary table of comparisons.

The book has received unanimous praise from teachers of history in Ukraine, but when I asked to what extent its methodology can be implemented in Ukraine, some problems were explained to me. There is no doubt, Ms. Pastushenko said, that the teacher wants to know how to work effectively, how to reach the student so that he becomes an active learner, but the existing circumstances do not as yet permit this. The program for each school subject - the material to be covered - is centrally developed and very intensive. The actual job of the teacher is to help the student learn the material and little time is available to think about it.

Ms. Pastushenko explained, "The teachers currently do not have much choice. The program is set, and the teacher has to find methods and forms which will enable the student to learn a lot of material. For thinking, you need time. We use methods that allow for the retention of the greatest amount of material: make the student read a lot and then regurgitate the maximum. Furthermore, higher education entrance exams are geared towards information retention. There is no time for thinking and, hence, these active methods, as set out by Ms. Kuryliw, can't be fitted into our system. We need to change the curriculum, we need different textbooks."

Ms. Pastushenko added, however, that it is useful for teachers can become familiar with the methodology and know that such methods are possible. They won't have many opportunities to use them in their teaching, although, they might have occasion to implement some elements of the method. A systematic approach, a total change to the methodology outlined in the book, is not yet possible. "But the book at least allows us to take one more step towards the implementation of change. We will have to change the content of the curriculum in order to implement this methodology," Ms. Pastushenko explained.

Curricula now being restructured

This is a good time to think about such questions, as curricula are being restructured with the introduction of the 12-year school (next year the Ukrainian school system shifts from the current 11-year to a new 12-year schooling). New curricula are being developed for all subjects. "This book shows how new programs can be made different from the old ones, how their quality can be improved, so that new textbooks focus on new methods instead of just copying the old system," Ms. Pastushenko said.

She added, "It's true that many people say that our education system is fine or even first-class, that we don't need to change it. But, speaking in general (of course, there are always exceptions on the individual level) our students know - some know a little, others know a lot. Our schools are geared to acquiring knowledge. Valentina Kuryliw supports a school where students think. In her view, a teacher should create the circumstances for the student to be able to develop communication skills, to learn how to work together, to analyze data and facts, to compare, to draw conclusions, to evaluate, to present information in a form other than that through which he received it. Our students acquire a lot of information in school but they don't learn what to do with it. They do not develop skills to use information."

Having such material as Ms. Kuryliw's book available can aid the process of change. By promoting the methodology, Ms. Kuryliw and her Ukrainian colleagues hope to influence the re-evaluation of the teaching of history. Ministry of Education personnel, scholars working on education theory and all institutes of post-diploma studies (which provide courses in professional development for teachers) in all oblasts have been sent the book.

In the past 11 years, Ms. Pastushenko said Ms. Kuryliw has done a lot for Ukraine. Her courses and her book may stimulate change, directly in the teaching of history but also, by outlining and explaining new methodology and publishing it in book form, she will stimulate changes in education in general.

Mr. Poluliakh added that, unfortunately, Ms. Kuryliw had to overcome a lot of barriers in Ukraine and in Lviv to get the book published. "Her single-mindedness and determination to get the book out were, to me, astounding. People were always ready to say that this or that just couldn't be done. But she has produced a book that is valuable in content, interesting, readable and visually attractive."

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