1. CAPACITY BUILDING TRAININGS in LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION PROJECT
Ukraine 2017
UNICEF
Øyvind Wistrøm

2. Purpose of the project
The purpose of the project was to assist KG teachers and parents in developing «life skills» so as to cope with the increased problems due to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine related to the KGs and children.
With «life skills» we mean techniques, knowledge and pedagogical skills which help children and staff in KGs and the childrens’ parents to cope with stress and crisis-related problems caused by the conflict. But these problems are not necessarily only caused by the conflict, but might be quite «normal».

3. The consultancy task: (1)
Assess training needs of kindergarten personnel in early childhood education (ECD) through focus group discussions,
Assess training needs of parent’s associations in “life skills” and social cohesion through focus group discussions.

4. The consultancy task: (2)
Identification of partner(s) for the subsequent trainings, through discussions with selected NGOs/Institutions.
Assess field testing of partners’ ToT training for KG 1) teachers and 2) parents, and
Eventually review Training of Trainers’ training programs and materials,

5. The consultancy task: (3)
Assist in planning and roll-out of training activities for KG teachers and parent associations.
All in all for KG teachers and 65 parents associations.

6. I therefore visited a number of KGs and discussed with KG teachers

7. And «talked» to children..

8. And met with parents…

9. And had some fun

10. Some impressions and reflections
These impressions and reflections are based on my experiences as a foreigner with a different cultural and pedagogical background

11. Impressions and Reflections (1):
Highly educated KG teachers and staff, and a systematic in-service training of KG teachers
Very dedicated staff
Many qualified NGOs and institutions working to improve the situation in the KGs.

12. Impressions and Reflections (2):
Difficult working conditions in KGs due to low salaries, limited resources and difficult situation and special challenges due to the conflict.
The conflict add problems to an already difficult situation due to Ukraine’s history and socio- economic situation

13. Impressions and Reflections (3):
The overall educational system is still very much affected by the former “Soviet” system and culture, and therefore still quite “authoritarian”.
Kindergartens are on the crossroad of this former “authoritarian” system and the so-called more modern child-centered (and not teacher- centered) pedagogical view.

14. Impressions and Reflections (4):
Pedagogical changes, developments and new initiatives are often implemented «top-down».
Staff is often reluctant to start new «pedagogical» projects or changes when they do not have the support of «higher institutions» or authorities.

15. Impressions and Reflections (5):
There is very little cooperation and discussion between the KGs and parents about the children:
Parents may visit KGs when there is an exhibition or celebration as a «guest».
Parents believe that «the KGs knows best what the children need and shall do» when they are in the KGs.
Parents think they have no right to interfere in KGs’ businesses.
KGs have few possibilities or formal ways to discuss with the parents about a child’s «problems».

16. Conclusions:
The pedagogy needs more focus on and training in «child centered and child friendly education».
Staff needs more possibilities or training in «colleague or peer advicing», so that they will be more «aware» of their own competencies, and themselves might implement new initiatives or changes or improve their local skills.
For the KGs and the parents to «understand» the children better, the KGs and the parents will have to cooperate (that is talk together) more.

17. Implications for the selection of implementing partners:
Step by Step shall – by building on the skills and competencies of the KG teachers - focus on the idea of «child-centered» pedagogy when they train techniques and topics in their Training of Trainers.
The project will include the idea of etablishing «light-house KGs» which could inspire and supervise other KGs
Kiev-Mohyla Academy focus their training package for Parents’ Associations on both emotions and «communication», thereby training the parents in discussing with the KGs.
The experiences from the implementations of these skills and topics will be highlighted by the various actors during this conference.

18. What is Supervision or «Colleague advicing»
Is not monitoring (checking off a template)
It is when two persons jointly and on equal terms (both parties accept and honor each others competencies) reflect on experiences, based on a joint purpose or goal and a reflective method of how to achieve that goal.
The aim is not «correct practicing», but reflected practicing; an practicum which is tested against theoretical and practical purposes and reasoning, in addition to ethical considerations.

19. Supervision or Colleague advicing is therefore:
A qualitative method: assisting and advising the acting partner (in this project the KG teacher) in planning activities (both purpose, methods, activity plans and outcome), discuss challenges and difficulties related to implementation of activities, discuss the implementation (also while being implemented if necessary), assist the teacher in discussing and evaluating the outcomes of the activities, clarify and discuss lessons-learned (both planned outcome and not-planned outcomes and experiences), and discuss next steps meaning how to improve the activities.

20. Supervision cont.
Supervision or «colleague advicing» is not easily done and is opposed to the «authoritarian» or «top-down» culture; it takes a lot of discussions, reflections and sometimes conflicts, and is an ongoing process based on how much resources being put into it, but which continously develops the professional skills.

21. When supervising a KG (or a colleague) when the purpose is to help the KG in improving itself, you have to help the KG in discussing various questions and in implementing the activities, by asking questions like:
Why do we do this: Identifying the purpose of the activities
Who are we focusing on: defining the target group
What to do: Describing the action plan
What results are we hoping for: Identifying the planned outcome
Did we succeed: Evaluating the outcome and planning next step (if wanted).

22. F.ex: The KG choose to focus on “Childrens’ self-esteem and self-concept; how to improve this in our KG?”
Is low self-esteem a “problem” for any of the children in our KG?
Why or what makes us think this is a “problem” and for which children (names).
What do these children need from the KG teachers? (f.ex. more attention, more hugs, more positive feedback, other friends, or “to be more alone”, to be seen for its pro-social activities (being good to others) or any other activities?)
How and who shall do this? (f.ex. should Olha focus her attention more on Peter an give him positive feedback every time he does something good. And what do we mean with “good”?)
Do we need to address other factors/reasons outside the KG (parents, traumas, contact psychologist) for his behavior?
For how long do we plan to implement this (what activity by whom, how often, when, how?)
How to observe changes; (smiles, dedication to teachers, cooperation with other children, expressing happiness (how?)).
What to do next with this child, or should we turn our attention to other children?

23. And so: what are the experiences? What did we learn?