HREC Education in Ukraine: Lesson on Human Rights and the Holodomor Being Used by Students and in Professional Development Workshops for Educators

As part of HREC Education’s ongoing three-way 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶 partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Ukraine and HREC in Ukraine, Director 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗞𝘂𝗿𝘆𝗹𝗶𝘄’𝘀 latest lesson,𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣’𝙨 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧 is being taught by educators in Ukrainian classrooms. One educator in Uman recently posted her reflection about teaching it in her classroom with a few photos:

“Together with students of the 10th grade, in the history lesson, they continued to consider examples of human rights violations through the prism of the Holodomor phenomenon of 1932-1933, and were acquainted with the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide and its Punishment. They drew an analogy with current events. We are learning to prevent the genocide of the Ukrainian people. We are sincerely grateful to Liudmyla Hrynevych [HREC in Ukraine] in promoting the lesson and its publication, and to V. Kuryliw for developing the methodology and selecting the resources for it.”

–Daria Olkhovetska, teacher and historian

HREC Education also continues to work towards the professional development of high school educators in Ukraine as part of the 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶 partnership. Recently, Valentina Kuryliw’s 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣’𝙨 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧 was used as part of a hands-on seminar-workshop at the Sokal Centre for the Professional Development of Educators. The following was recently posted by the Centre’s education Consultant:

“Sokal Centre for the Professional Development of Educators (SCPDE)

On April 30, a seminar-workshop was held for teachers of history and law at the Institution of General Secondary Education of Degrees I-III (GSED I-III) Sokal Lyceum No. 3 (Sokal City Council of Lviv Oblast). The speaker was Mykhailo Zavadka, a history teacher of Seredkevytskyi (GSED I-III), Yavorivsk City Council; he is a finalist of the “Investigate and Distinguish: Infomedia Literacy” Project. During the seminar-practicum, the following issues were considered: manipulations in the mass media and their impact on society; human rights and the Holodomor: teaching history in the 21st century; the possibilities for teachers of history to cooperate with international organizations, the basics of jurisprudence and civic education.

Teachers of educational institutions were active participants in the seminar. They learned how to select relevant information, check its veracity; distinguish facts from judgements, and work with visual material. Mykhailo Zavadka presented the methodological development of director Valentina Kuryliw‘s lesson The Historian’s Craft Lesson on Human Rights and the Holodomor: teaching history in the 21st century. Educators created a project and considered innovative approaches to teaching students using different types of historical primary sources and interactive technologies. Each participant received a copy of Kuryliw’s lesson book as a gift.

Thanks to educator Mykhailo Zavadka for an interesting and instructive seminar; to all participants – for their active participation in the seminar; the institution’s administration – for help in organizing the event.

Lyuba Plyukhin, Consultant, SCPDE”