The quality of children’s education today decides who we pass over to our state tomorrow. Thus, the quality of preschool education is a national priority. In order to change the situation of preschool education in Ukraine for the better, a special project “Using innovative technologies for the preparation of teachers in preschool educational establishments” was elaborated and introduced; it was developed with the support of the program MATRA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. This project, which took a few years to implement, was undertaken by the Fontys University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands), the All-Ukrainian foundation “Step by Step,” and Ukrainian pedagogues.
“We initiated our project at a moment when it turned out that there are a lot of problems in the Ukrainian system of preschool education,” says Ton Schouten, expert of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences, “only during 2001-03 a thousand kindergartens were closed, and half of those which remained couldn’t work because of lack of financing. The study conducted by UNICEF showed that 20 percent of Ukrainian children who live in the countryside don’t get educational services relevant to their age. And a very small amount of parents can master the skills necessary for the development and nurturing of children.”
“It is possible to change the situation by means of improving the existing programs of kindergarten teachers preparation, introducing innovative courses, and elaborating necessary manuals with new scientific-methodological approaches,” - concludes Schouten in Kyiv at the international scientific conference “Innovations in Preschool Education.”
“In order to study the subject thoroughly, we visited many Ukrainian educational establishments, universities and extension institutes for teachers. And, of course, we became familiarized with the work of the Ukrainian educational system. Then in Holland, on the basis of what we learned, Ton started working on a manual on management questions, and I dealt with another area – innovations in preschool education,” supplements the words of her colleague Ria Smeiers, expert of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences.
So what new ideas do the Dutch have to offer?
The activity of a manager-educator and his efficacy depends on him – scholars stress. Therefore self-knowledge and self-development of the manager are subordinated to his professional motivation, vision of future tasks, self-appraisal, and personal image. Another educational-methodological manual Using Innovative Technologies for the Preparation of Teachers for Preschool Educational Establishments offers European educational technologies for teaching and child development. These are lectures, practical classes, practical examples, children observation blanks and indicators of child development, advice for children with development problems, role games, etc.
The most appealing innovative practice of this handbook, in the opinion of pedagogues, is a comprehensive didactic material for the social-emotional development of children – the “Box of feelings,” elaborated by Belgian professors. This box contains different pictures: a happy child, a sad child, etc. They reflect basic human emotions and feelings: happiness, anger, fear, sadness, etc.
Specialists suppose that as soon as children learn to express their emotions by means of pictures and words, not only will they better understand their feelings, but they also will feel inner peace and balance. This will make them open to others. Using this methodology is very important for children with social-emotional problems.
The suggested findings were approved in the Central Institute for Postgraduate Pedagogical Education at the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine and in Kyiv, Poltava and the South-Ukrainian Institutes for Postgraduate Education of Pedagogical Personnel.
During their trip to the Netherlands this year, Ukrainian educators had a wonderful opportunity to get familiarized with the Dutch system of education. In particular they were interested in preschool education and the system of pedagogues’ preparation and retraining at the Fontys University.
What new ideas will be used by our pedagogues?
“In our work we constantly look for better and more efficient ways to provide educational services,” says Natalia Diatlenko, the head of the chair of methodology and psychology for preschool and primary education of the Hrinchenko Kyiv City Pedagogical University. “The suggested methodologies are very useful because they do not simply address everybody the same way, but focus on an individual approach to each child and take into account their needs. This humane position is currently very important and topical for Ukraine. It’s no secret that we have serious negative consequences from our previous ways of education. Some children still feel uncomfortable in preschool institutions and schools.”
Creating an “environment for development” is interesting, though not new. Yet in the previous conditions this wasn’t fully realized. That’s a pity, because children develop better when they interact with the surrounding world. We will also focus on monitoring the children’s progress. Practice with children, directed at developing their emotions and feelings, is interesting for us as well. Because emotional development is an important constituent of personal development. This is the whole work system on development of the emotional sphere of a child, I mean the “Box of feelings.”
“For this academic year over 2,500 Kyiv preschool teachers took courses at our chair of advanced training. In order to share the gained experience, we also hold seminars, trainings, round tables, etc.,” outlined the educational achievements Diatlenko.
Executive director of the All-Ukrainian foundation “Step by Step” Yulia Nayda says that in 27 Ukrainian institutes of postgraduate education instruction on the represented methodologies was held. The manuals were uploaded to websites, and distributed on discs. The foundation also cooperates with the Ministry of Education and leading teacher training universities and postgraduate education institutes. This is a kind of guarantee that the entire system of postgraduate education will be able to apply the current findings in the practice of retraining and raising qualifications for pedagogical personnel.
