Teaching During War in Ukraine: Service-Learning as a Tool for Facilitating Student Learning and Engagement During Times of Uncertainty and Crisis

Abstract

As the past 3 years have illustrated, crisis and uncertainty are part of the fabric of our lives. In our roles as management educators, the importance of helping our students develop skills to navigate these challenges has never been greater. In this interview article, we talk with Dean Sophia Opatska, the Founding Dean of the Business School and Vice-Rector for Strategic Development of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. Dean Opatska reflects upon navigating the initial trauma of war by expeditiously redesigning her international business course to incorporate a service-learning project for the first time. She shares about her aim of creating desperately needed stability, focus, contribution, and connection for her students during the early days, weeks, and months of the war in Ukraine. We consider Dean Opatska’s reflections and contextualize them in terms of examples drawn from the extant literature of other faculty who have used service-learning in times of crisis and uncertainty. We offer suggestions for future research and comments regarding the importance of creating connection, facilitating open lines of communication, and remaining flexible when using service-learning during a time of crisis. Finally, we conclude with a call for management educators to move beyond awareness toward a place of preparedness, togetherness, and action.

Challenges for Universities to Online Technologies Implementation in the Conditions of War in Ukraine

“…It is no doubt, that we should "move beyond awareness toward a place of preparedness, togetherness, and action. To move forward together, taking action that will positively impact both fields of management education and those around us who have experienced trauma and need our support" [16].…”

“…The key education challenges described by authors with online technologies include the impact of war on university teachers and potential solutions to these challenges are outlined to address the current situation effectively: "the impact of the war on the teachers … the key challenges and outline possible solutions to present challenges" [15]. Amid the challenges in education, it is vital to prioritize equipping students with skills to navigate these difficulties and to establish stability, focus, contribution, and connection for them during the initial phases of the war in Ukraine: "the importance of helping our students develop skills to navigate these challenges … creating desperately needed stability, focus, contribution, and connection for students during the early days, weeks, and months of the war in Ukraine" [16].…”

Online Teaching and Learning, Extracurricular Activities at the University in Wartime

“…The active work was continued in the main areas of the University -teaching, learning (Kenworthy & Opatska, 2023), project activities, active cooperation with foreign partners, scientific -online conferences were held (Kostikova, 2022b), academic journals were issued online, and electronic monographs were published too.…”