Symposium in Ukraine on Using Visuals in Teaching the Holodomor

TORONTO, 17 June 2018 | On 5 June 2018, Valentina Kuryliw, Director of Education, HREC, was one of 3 speakers on the education panel of the symposium “Visuals of the Holodomor Epoch” in Kyiv, Ukraine organized by the Director of HREC In Ukraine Liudmila Hrynevych. The purpose of this panel was to provide recommendations for educators on how to best utilize visual resources for teaching the Holodomor in schools and for preparing materials on it. More than 30 historians, researchers, institutional directors and educators shared resources ranging from photos, film, posters, and statistical graphs and the latest methodologies and perceptual thinking with regard to visual representations of the Holodomor.

One of the expectations of “The New Ukrainian School” document authored by Minister of Education Liliia Hrynevych, is to provide students with an interactive, student-centered approach to developing critical thinking skills. In that line of thinking, Kuryliw’s presentation, “Teaching Students at the Secondary Level Using Visuals,” given via Skype, was based on her 35 years of teaching experience. As she stated, “In my teaching, I utilize a variety of primary resources for students to analyze in groups, such as photographs, films and visual art. Students then synthesize and analyze the information and interactively create their own narrative of the event. In doing this, one issue I raised that needs to be addressed is the authenticity of photographs that teachers utilize of the Holodomor period. Recent scholarship has corrected the dates of earlier photographs thought to be from the 1932-1933 Holodomor, which in fact are not. That situation led to the Holodomor not being taken seriously because of improperly authenticated images. It is very important to ensure that the memory of the victims of the Holodomor not be denied due to improper use of photographs.”

Poster for the Symposium “Using Visuals in Teaching the Holodomor”

Another issue raised by Valentina Kuryliw was the importance of preparing students for dealing with horrific photographs of death by starvation. In her presentation, she said, “Students need to be prepared for the psychological trauma they may feel in looking at these images and learning details about the event. Discussing this with students beforehand, and letting parents know it will happen, helps to prepare students psychologically for dealing with any feelings that may arise. Especially since in Ukraine today, there are students from the Donetsk area who are eyewitnesses to the horrors of war and death, which have affected them and their families. It is also important to note that just because a topic is difficult to deal with, does not mean that it should not be taught. Photographs should be carefully selected by the teacher and be age-appropriate; some photographs should not be shown. Younger students benefit by dealing with things through a story format using characters and animals in stories where they can relate to what is happening in an age-appropriate way.”

The valuable work being done by HREC Canada and HREC In Ukraine, with Ukraine’s Ministry of Education, will help to sensitize educators to the necessity of dealing with this topic and give teachers some ideas on how to approach the teaching of horrific topics such as the Holodomor, the Holocaust and other genocides.