Providing Quality Education to School-Age Children in Times of War in Ukraine: A Netnographic Analysis

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to clarify strategic directions aimed at adapting the system of general secondary education to new conditions of teaching and learning and minimising educational losses both in times of war and in the post-war period in Ukraine, on the one hand, and presenting and communicating our specific study to an international audience through describing main activities within each strategic direction identified, on the other hand. The authors employed a netnographic approach for collecting information posted on the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine’s official website on the topic of providing quality education to school-age children in war in Ukraine between February 24 and June 30, 2022. The data concerning providing quality education to school-age children in times of war in Ukraine were collected for more than four months, from February 24, 2022 to June 30, 2022. The authors selected 294 news posts that met the selection criteria for further analysis out of 824 news posts available on the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine website during the chosen period. Their analysis and summarisation enabled us to clarify eight main strategic directions, namely, official statements by the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, External Independent Assessment, support of the international community for providing educational opportunities to school-age children outside Ukraine, organising education in times of war, work with teachers in times of war, providing technical support to organising education, out-ofschool education, physical and sports education.

Inclusion of Ukrainian Сhildren with Special Educational Needs (from among displaced people) in the Czech Republic

“…At the beginning of the 21 st century, successful attempts to generalise the experience of humanitarian and educational intervention in the lives of forcibly displaced people because of war appear in world science (Pugh et al, 2012;OECD, 2016;Bonin, 2017;Cerna, 2019;Orendain & Djalante, 2020). The search for ways to organise a safe, educational process and provide socio-psychological support to its participants in martial law conditions attracted researchers' attention (Nilholm, 2021;Malykhin et al, 2022) and others. The results of studying various aspects of educational and social inclusion of pupils and students with special educational needs (hereinafter: SEN) are presented in works (Ainscow, 2020;Telna et al, 2021;Zaborniak-Sobczak, 2022).…”

Anxiety Among School-Age Children in War-Affected Areas in Ukraine and Ways to Reduce It: Parents’ Views

“…Research conducted by O. Malykhin, N. Aristova, & J. Bondarchuk (2022) shows that as a result of hostilities in Ukraine stress may affect more groups of children: "… (1) school-age children who stayed at home in the same living conditions which they had before the war started; (2) internally displaced school-age children; (3) refuge-or asylum-seeking children; (4) forcibly displaced children;…”

Educators’ Feedback on Website “Overcoming Stress and Anxiety Together: Teachers – Schoolchildren – Parents”

“…Most tragically, hostilities have already had and continue having a detrimental effect on both educational opportunities and mental health of 5.7 million Ukrainian children of different school ages (United Nations Children 's Fund, 2022). It means that providing quality education and psychological support to Ukrainian schoolchildren who are inside and outside of Ukraine are among remaining pressing needs to be addressed in the shortest possible time (Malykhin, Aristova, & Bondarchuk, 2022).…”