We’ve held the Third All-Ukrainian Conference of Hospital Educators and Teachers!

It has finally happened! The hospital teachers of the Superheroes School gathered in person for the traditional annual conference for the first time

On 10–11 August in Kyiv, the Third All-Ukrainian Conference of Hospital Educators and Teachers «Treatment and Rehabilitation as a Time of Educational Opportunities» took place. This is the main event of the year for the entire Superheroes School team. Until now, our conferences had been held online, but this year colleagues from 11 educational centres finally saw one another not on a screen, but in the warm atmosphere of like-minded people who share the same passion for their work. This opportunity was made possible by the Democracy Grant Programme of the U.S.A. Embassy in Ukraine, and we are boundlessly grateful for it.

Welcoming remarks to the conference participants were delivered by our guests and friends:

– Natalia Moseichuk, presenter on 1+1 Ukraine and the United News marathon, curator of the «Right to Education» project and the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the state institution «Superheroes School»

– Liliia Hrynevych, member of the Supervisory Board of the state institution «Superheroes School», former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;

– Volodymyr Zhovnir, Director General of the National Children’s Specialised Hospital «Okhmatdyt» of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine;

– Oleksii Vlasov, Director General of the Municipal Enterprise «Regional Medical Centre for Family Health» of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council;

– Vitalii Panok, Director of the Ukrainian Scientific and Methodological Centre for Practical Psychology and Social Work of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor;

– Rejgin Stokes, Acting Cultural Attaché of the U.S.A. Embassy in Ukraine.

The thread running through all their words was the importance of education, especially in a time of transformation of the education system. Every teacher today is a hero of the educational front, who does not abandon their children and continues to teach without pausing for war. Every hospital teacher is not merely an educator, but also a friend, mentor and adviser to young patients.

In addition to the valuable connections formed between colleagues, partners and friends of the Superheroes School, the conference was productive in terms of the exchange of valuable experience among hospital teachers working in healthcare facilities, and the expansion of their skills and competencies for working with children. The special speakers this year were Kateryna Krutii, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor at the Department of Preschool Education at Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University named after M. Kotsiubynskyi; Valentyna Novosad, Chief Specialist of the Preschool Education Division of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; and Olha Fliarkovska, Head of the Department of Psychological Support and Social-Pedagogical Work at the state research institution «Institute for the Modernisation of Educational Content».

We set ourselves the goal – and achieved it – of providing emotional support to colleagues to work for children and remain resourced. By coming together, we seek to promote the formation of a community of hospital teachers and to deepen cooperation with the medical staff of hospitals. We also seek to promote the expansion of the Superheroes School educational centre network in hospitals, and to that end invited colleagues from regional departments and offices of education and science, and educational institutions, to demonstrate the benefits of running a school in a hospital and to establish cooperation.

Yevheniia Smirnova, founder and ideological inspiration of the Superheroes School and current Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, also joined the gathering. As a true guardian of the idea and its values, Yevheniia addressed each conference participant individually and took an active part in the strategic planning session on questions of the development and scaling of the Superheroes School network and the conditions for creating even higher-quality educational services for every child who finds themselves undergoing treatment and who is especially in need of support and motivation to recover and to learn.

Yevheniia Smirnova, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine and founder of the Superheroes School: «I am extraordinarily glad that the teachers working in hospitals were able to meet offline in Kyiv and share the best practices and developments they implement in their work every day. I attended the Third All-Ukrainian Conference of Hospital Teachers already in my capacity as Deputy Minister of Education and Science – as the person responsible for the work of the Superheroes School at the highest level. I am glad that this event became a platform for the exchange of experience and live communication among specialists from different corners of Ukraine – the unbreakable Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Lviv, Zhytomyr and Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi and Boiarka. The way the Superheroes School teachers work could serve as an example for many educational institutions. After all, you cannot force a child to learn – especially in a hospital – you can only make them fall in love with learning and the world of knowledge. And that is something hospital teachers do well, and to which all educators should aspire, regardless of whether they work in a hospital, a kindergarten or a school. In class, a child must find something that will interest them for life. Hospital teachers have already learned how to make children fall in love with learning – I believe this is within the reach of many».

Liudmyla Sokur, Head of the Board of the NGO «Small Heart with Art»: «For the third year in a row, we organise and hold the conference of hospital teachers. The first two were held online, giving everyone who wished to take part the opportunity to do so. Those gatherings provided knowledge, but did not fill people emotionally. Covid, the war – they constantly adjust our plans, but nothing cancels our desire to bring together people who burn with the idea of ensuring that children in hospitals have access to quality education. For me this was a challenge – to bring everyone together – but I am grateful to the secretariat team of the state institution ‘Superheroes School’ for their help. Exchanging experience, taking counsel and communicating, feeling the sense of like-minded company and support, gaining an enormous surge of energy – these are the main things each person was able to take away from the conference».

Oleksii Vlasov, Director General of the Municipal Enterprise «Regional Medical Centre for Family Health» of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council: «Our institution joined this unique initiative three years ago – the Superheroes School opened its doors at the Regional Medical Centre for Family Health in autumn 2020 and has maintained its work through everything: the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale invasion did not become an obstacle to knowledge for our little ones. The Superheroes School teachers, under the leadership of Natalia Oliinyk, fully resumed their work a few months after the beginning of the full-scale invasion. I am struck by the dedication and patriotism of our educators and teachers – they are ready to make the world of our children better, and to turn treatment and learning into one single exciting process, where pills and drips are simply a temporary procedure but by no means an obstacle to gaining new knowledge».

We thank all colleagues who joined the Third All-Ukrainian Conference of Hospital Teachers for the experience and emotions you shared, and our friends and partners for their faith, trust and support throughout the formation and development of the Superheroes School – from a public organisation project to a state institution.

Special thanks go to the Democracy Grant Programme of the Embassy of the USA in Ukraine, whose funding made it possible for this event to become a reality from our dreams.

Photographer: Heorhii Kriuchenko