The teacher is the main person in the New Ukrainian School. This was emphasized by Deputy Minister of Education Pavlo Khobzei in an interview with Hromadskyi, answering the question of schools' readiness for the launch of the "New Ukrainian School" reform.
"For me, the main factor is where the teachers are trained. After all, the teacher is the main person in the "New Ukrainian School". I've always said: if the teacher doesn't change, there won't be a New Ukrainian School either," said the deputy minister.
According to him, the first grade teachers were trained in all regions.
"We have been introducing mentoring since October — teachers, coaches who trained teachers will be able to visit the school and see how much the teacher has understood the essence of this school. Because the general forms — rearrangement of desks or morning meetings on the mat — should also be there, but the main changes are the teacher's attitude towards the children. It is a partnership, an invisible leadership, when children develop through activity, not obedience, when they express their own opinions, and when the teacher guides the child correctly. I think they will. Perhaps not all teachers are from September 1, because it is not so easy to change the approaches that have been used for 20 years of your teaching," Hobzei emphasized.
He also reminded that before launching the "New Ukrainian School" reform, the Ministry of Education piloted it in 100 schools in all regions of Ukraine.
"The pilot convinced us that we are on the right track. I want to clarify that pilot schools are not average schools. We selected the best schools, the best teachers. So, it will not be so easy in all schools. Difficulties also arose in the pilot schools. But the support was much greater, because there were 100 of them, and now we have 16 thousand. Capabilities both at the level of the region and at the level of the ministry are, of course, not endless," said the deputy minister.
He said that the main advantages of this experiment are that children want to go to school, they are not discouraged from learning and they are relaxed.
"There is such an example. I will not name the region, I was there this month. I go to the teacher. I say, well, are you ready for September 1, for the "New Ukrainian School"? And she answers with sadness: I like when there is silence, when there is order, when everyone listens, everyone sits straight. And she understands that all this will not happen anymore. But a person is used to it. In this seeming chaos in which everything happens, children show themselves. It is important for us that children express themselves. It is clear that the teacher should guide, but not oppress, not demand repetitions and all these boring things, especially when it comes to 6-year-old children," emphasized Deputy Minister of Education Pavlo Khobzei.
