Program Director of the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation Yaryna Yasynevych and Educational Projects Coordinator Natalia Omelchuk joined the discussion of modern approaches to teaching, preserving Ukrainian identity, and updating learning materials for schools of Ukrainian studies.
In her speech, Yaryna Yasynevych emphasized the role of Ukrainian teachers abroad in preserving children’s national identity and shaping their sense of belonging to the Ukrainian community.
“Today, new technologies and communication opportunities give us a historic chance to remain one people despite borders and oceans. It depends on us how well we can seize this chance. And it depends to a large extent on Ukrainian teachers around the world how well our children succeed in this. After all, it is not only about knowing the language and history, but also about shaping a Ukrainian identity and a sense of belonging to the shared future of Ukraine,” said Yaryna Yasynevych.
The Foundation’s Educational Projects Coordinator Natalia Omelchuk presented the program’s methodology, its implementation mechanism and the results of its first year.
“It is important to us that Ukrainian history abroad does not remain just pages of a textbook, but becomes part of a child’s personal experience. Through family memories, personal testimonies and ordinary objects, we can talk about complex historical events in a language children understand. This way, they not only learn more about Ukraine’s past, but also discover their own connection to it. The first year of the program showed how important it is to support teachers and give them practical tools for this work,” said Natalia Omelchuk.
The program “Koreni ta Kryla: A History That Unites” is designed to support teachers of Ukrainian diaspora schools and educational centers, help them diversify the teaching of Ukrainian history and culture, and find ways to engage children growing up outside Ukraine.
Natalia Omelchuk based the program on the experience of her own educational project “Memories in Boxes.” Its methodology involves studying history through personal testimonies, family memories and objects that preserve the memory of the past.
Among the program’s central tools is the “teacher’s box” with historical artifacts that encourage children to explore the past, ask questions and discover history through concrete objects.
Each child also receives a “student’s box” with a workbook, an atlas, practical assignments and a notebook for notes and sketches. Over time, it can become a personal collection of memories and objects connected to Ukraine.
In its first year, the program reached Ukrainian educational centers in the Czech Republic and Denmark, and teachers from Sweden, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia joined it. Teacher training, the exchange of experience and the use of new methodologies help diversify the teaching of Ukrainian history and find ways to engage children outside Ukraine.
Participation in the All-American Teachers’ Conference gave the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation an opportunity to present this experience to the teaching community and join the professional discussion on how Ukrainian schools abroad can respond to modern educational challenges and maintain children’s connection with the Ukrainian language, history and culture.
