Humanities: quality of Education meets all challenges
Priority super task of the educational community
in wartime, it's about taking responsibility
for finding ways to solve systemic socio-cultural problems,
socio-economic problems
first of all, by mobilizing human resources,
improving the quality of human potential,
which is tempered by the university school.
Stanislav Nikolaenko
On occasion of the 125th anniversary of NULES of Ukraine at the faculty of humanities and pedagogy a breakout session "Quality of education and humanities in the context of war and global challenges" was held. The event was held within the framework of conducting the international scientific and practical conference "Food and environmental security in the conditions of war and post-war reconstruction: challenges for Ukraine and the world". Representatives of the honorary presidium at the section were Doctor of political sciences, professor, Chairman of the supervisory board of the university Mykola Tomenko and vice-rector for scientific and pedagogical work Vasyl Shynkaruk, dean of the faculty of humanities and pedagoy of NULES of Ukraine Inna Savytska, dean of the faculty of philosophy of T. Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Anatoliy Konversky, first vice-rector of the O. Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University Maryna Khrolenko, chief of the department of psychology, pedagogy and socio-economic disciplinesof Bohdan Khmelnytsky National Academy of state border service of Ukraine Valentyna Miroshnichenko.
Topics of the breakout session of the conference "Quality of education and humanities in the context of war and global challenges" interested scientists in 9 countries of the world, in particular Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Poland, Germany, China, United States of America, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan; representatives of 24 cities of Ukraine ‒ Mykolaiv, Rivne, Sumy, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Hlukhiv, Berehovo, Pereyaslav, Kryvyi Rih, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv and others. In view of the full-scale war, the breakout session was held in a mixed format.
As the dean of the faculty of humanities and pedagogy Inna Savytska, noted in her speech, over the years of its existence NULES of Ukraine and, directly, the faculty of humanities and pedagogy, prepared tens of thousands of specialists working in various sectors of the country: “The pride of the faculty is the rector of NULES, academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences Stanislav Nikolaenko. Among those we are proud of is a corresponding member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine Olha Shcherbak, academician Olexandr Ivashchenko, professors Andriy Holovchuk (rector of Uman National University of horticulture (2008-2012)), professor Svitlana Kalenska (head of the department of crop production of NULES of Ukraine), Ivan Kosenko (Director of the National arboretum park “Sofiivka" of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1980-2022), associate professor Vasyl Lukach (director of "Nizhynskyi agrotechnical institute"), associate professor Vasyl Dmytryshyn (director of Stryi state agrarian College), associate professor Yaroslav Rudyk (head of the educational department of NULES of Ukraine).
"The mission of the section is ideological," said one of the moderators of the event Mykola Tomenko. According to him, in the conditions of war, the University shows an example of the true status of the University of life. "I said that the journalists who came to the celebration were surprised that there are such a large number of lecturers and students who work and study here, unlike some educational institutions that did not pass the test. We involve them in our experience, because during a war, the nation that has demonstrated a high degree of unity, consolidation and faith in victory can win. And the University demonstrates with its daily activities that it does not just believe in victory, but brings it closer. As for the topic of our breakout session, I would say this: this is the strategy and task of ideological victory in the war. We are well aware that without a ideological victory, we will not win this war. The majority of citizens consider Ukraine their native country for which they are ready to fight, defend a country in which there is an official language Ukrainian, there is a Ukrainian church, Ukrainian values, where there are no different columns: 5th, 6th, 7th, then we are not afraid of anything... Therefore, I think we have a ideological mission that our section should carry out during the International conference."
Vice-rector for research of the University Vasyl Shynkaruk reminded the audience about the beginning of the war with a series of slides. They, among other things, talked about the first days of russia's invasion of Ukraine, about such milestones in history as the destruction of the Zaporizhzhya Sich in 1775, when Baturyn was wiped off the face of the Earth and during one night 12 to 15 thousand Ukrainians were slaughtered, about the second Holodomor (1930s) when 10 million of Ukrainians were starved to death by the soviet government. The vice-rector also recalled the shootings of representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and their expulsion to Siberia "Ukrainian-russian relations have a long and terrible history, which goes back hundreds of years. Its main content is russia's desire to exclude the formation and prosperity of an independent Ukrainian state." According to the vice-rector, perhaps the most important task of our state is to neutralize the enemy in the information war that the Putin regime is waging against Ukraine and Ukrainians in several directions ‒ domestic and global. To solve the problem, Ukraine needs to develop and adopt a capable and effective concept of information security that can integrate into the global information space, modernize information training in the educational field, improve the training of international specialists and change the priorities of the diplomatic service. "At the educational front, our task is to train specialists for the restoration of our state and conduct an effective information policy in relation to the aggressor state in the media."
Vasyl Shynkaruk emphasized the role of strategic communications as a methodology for asymmetric responses to russian information and psychological aggression. "Like any new paradigm, strategic communications have not yet received a systematic conceptual understanding among either the Ukrainian or Western expert community," the speaker states.
Focusing on the models of interaction between the systems of politics and the media, the vice-rector noted that it is the socially responsible model that proceeds from the ideals of socially active public life, the key element of which is an open civil society that supports the communication process and turns one-sided messages into a dialogue in society. The implementation of this model does not mean control over the media, but regulation and coordination of the activities of the media and government agencies. "The Ukrainian public will be proud of such actions of journalists who in no way deny freedom of speech, but always remember the social responsibility for their reports."
The slides shown by the vice-rector discussed, among other things, crimes committed by the soviet government against Ukrainian culture, in particular the destruction of old printed books-about 600 thousand volumes of valuable works, rare publications of the pre-revolutionary period and unique archives.
In his speech Anatoliy Konverskyi doctor of philosophy, professor, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, dean of the faculty of philosophy of T. Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, focused on modern dimensions of humanitarian education, in particular logic and critical thinking.
Doctor of philosophy, head of the department of logic and methodology of science at the H. Skovoroda Institute of philosophy of NAS of Ukraine Tetiana Hardashuk in her speech, reflected on a comprehensive rethinking of the role and functions of many socio-economic sectors and institutions, including the education system, on overcoming the shortcomings of traditional educational models based on the change of place and status of education in society in order to optimize the education system and its individual segments and directions, on the challenges caused by the war, post-war reconstruction and European integration aspirations of Ukraine.
Tetyana Vasylivna stressed that "taking into account, on the one hand, the scientific and educational traditions of NULES of Ukraine, the scientific schools it started and their significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian and world science, on the other – the profile and specialization of this higher education institution, we can hope that NULES will become one of the driving forces for the development of the latest models of education, eco-education and education for sustainable development, strategies for restoring and preserving nature that meet the requirements of the time, ecologically balanced socio-economic development."
Ukrainian diplomat, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, director of the Diplomatic Academy under the Ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine Hennadiy Nadolenko in his speech highlighted the role of international cooperation in ensuring food security at the stage of economic recovery in Ukraine
Researchers from foreign educational institutions joined the conference: Siril Aslanov, Sarah Kardi, Oksana Chaika.
Siril Aslanov, University professor in Aix-Marseille (France), noted in his speech, that Ukraine's integration into the European Union could grant Ukrainian the status of one of the official languages of the EU. This could increase the prestige of this language, which has become an effective tool in Ukraine's quest to get rid of the soviet legacy.
The British-Ukrainian twinning initiative discussed the prospects for long-term cooperation Sarah Kardi, doctor of philosophy (PhD), associate professor, director of the Higher Institute for international development, agriculture and economics (GIIDAE), director of the program The School of agriculture, policy and development of the Reading University from the UK.
In particular, Dr. Sarah Kardi presented the Reading University (Great Britain), which became a twin University in the framework of the project Twinning in 2022. Together with the state enterprise, an application was submitted for the implementation of the joint project “Capacity building of Ukrainian researchers for sustainable livelihoods: social-economic development”.
The project is implemented within the framework of a memorandum of cooperation between the two universities and with the financial support of the Twinning program and the Association of Universities of UK.
The main focus of the project is as follows:
creation of a virtual research support center with the participation of graduate students, researchers at the beginning of their career, research leaders with a focus on research in the social sciences, agricultural economics and rural development to conduct joint seminars, exchange information, and form proposals for joint research projects;
conducting two full-time 5-day seminars for researchers on research methods, writing scientific articles, and developing international research projects in Poland in June and July 2023;
conducting online trainings for scientific and managerial employees of NULES of Ukraine;
development of proposals for two projects based on the mutual interests of NULES scientists for submission for external funding after the project is completed.
According to Oksana Chaika, associate professor and guest researcher in The Luxembourg center for educational testing, traditional methods of teaching English at universities, such as grammar exercises, vocabulary lists and language exercises, although still relevant, may not be sufficient to develop language skills and therefore to meet the diverse needs of students. This has led to a significant increase in the need to introduce innovative teaching methods that could improve students' multicultural experience in learning a language and improve their level of proficiency.
The conference participants listened to the report of Valentyna Miroshnichenko, doctor of pedagogical sciences, professor, chief of the department of psychology, pedagogy and socio-economic disciplines of the B. Khmelnytskyi National Academy of the state border service of Ukraine with great interest. Valentyna Ivanivna focused on military education, in particular its importance and need during the period of risks and threats.
In her speech, the candidate of pedagogical sciences, the head of the department of the state service for the quality of education in Kyiv Svitlana Babinets reflected on the importance of institutional audit for the development of the system of ensuring the quality of education in Ukraine, because institutional audit is a new procedure for Ukraine to study the educational activities of an educational institution, in particular a school, which replaced the state certification of schools. The speaker noted that the institutional audit is an external assessment of the school's work, during which independent experts assess educational and managerial processes and compliance of the educational institution with the requirements of the legislation, and based on the results of which they provide recommendations to educational institutions regarding the organization and functioning of the internal quality assurance system of education,
"More than ever, now society and education in particular need to be revised, special attention is paid to the environmental competence of applicants for higher education," doctor of pedagogical sciences, associate professor, first vice-rector of the O. Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University Maryna Khrolenko noted in her report.
Vira Dodonova, doctor of philosophy, professor of the department of philosophy and international communication of NULES focused on the problems of academic freedom in her report. "In the humanities, academic freedom has its own peculiarity, since it is caused by ideological influence and pressure on social sciences," the speaker emphasizes. “We can trace this dependence: in peacetime, there is a lot of freedom in a democratic society, both political and academic, but in wartime and times of crisis, this freedom is well restricted. In post-war times, there may be an ambivalent situation, or the oppression of academic freedom persists, or there is a return to peaceful life with a democratic foundation. This situation depends on the academic community, which has either come to terms with totalitarianism in science, or, realizing that this is a forced measure, returns to a peaceful life in science.” "During the war," says Professor Dodonova, "there are different methods of managing science, especially humanities, which are conditioned by the need to protect their information space, their values and ideals, and consolidate societies against the enemy. This inevitably leads to temporary restrictions on citizens' rights, including freedom in the academic sphere. But the process of anti-democratization in science, ‒ concludes Dodonova, ‒ could be delayed and have fatal consequences for the democratic system. That is why in the post-war period, the scientific community should make efforts to return to a democratic life both in science and in society."
It has already become a good tradition at the faculty of humanities and pedagogy to complete the scientific and practical conference with an artistic composition that reflects and reinforces the main goal of the conference. The musical composition "Ukraine is my amulet", which was performed by participants of the academic, pop and jazz singing studio under the guidance of the prefessor of the department of cultural studies Vladyslava Chaika and cello accompaniment of Olena Nevmerzhytska.
The results of the conference showed that despite difficult conditions, new challenges, the humanities maintain a high level, develop and are able to improve the quality of education!
Shevtsova Kateryna,
head of the media laboratory of the department of journalism and language communication
