Authors

Austin Garey¹;  ¹ Kennan Institute, United States

Discussion

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, many schools have closed, many have been bombed, and many have moved indefinitely to online classrooms. The Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science reports that 3,798 educational institutions have been damaged and 365 completely destroyed. Ukrainian education administrators have been working to set up synchronous and asynchronous learning platforms for students who have been displaced, lost access to their school buildings, or lost their teachers. In response to these radically changed teaching conditions, the Ministry of Education and the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences have organised conferences, published materials, and issued recommendations designed to support teachers. This paper compares shifting priorities in the educational sciences between the two years before Russia’s full-scale invasion and two years after. It analyses publications from the National Academy of Pedagogical Science of Ukraine, articles written by Ukrainian scholars in SCOPUS-indexed journals, and media accounts to assess how pedagogy leaders represent educational reform. Content analysis reveals larger trends in pedagogical concerns, while discourse analysis illustrates shifts in the presumed values underlying educational reforms. Educational theorists now focus particular attention on resilience training, patriotic education, and a “pedagogy of freedom.” This research demonstrates that Ukraine-based educational sciences have moved from theoretical concerns to practical ones. Beyond the figures of damaged and destroyed schools, tracking priorities of those in the field of pedagogy points up how war has changed educational practice in Ukraine. But despite unspeakable damage to the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, Ukrainian educators are building a pedagogy built on hope: they are planning for the nation’s future, designing interventions to support students and teachers who may face violence for years to come.