BRAVE

Supporting Ukraine’s efforts to mainstream inclusive education at all levels of education in the country.

Together with Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University (BGKMU), we’ll develop a 5 ETCS study unit on inclusion. It’ll be integrated into the master’s degree-level special needs education curriculum.

The 5 ECTS unit will serve as updating in-service training for teachers who already work as teachers but do not possess the skills in inclusion. They are already entitled to implement inclusion due to the national strategies. The course also serves as one option in the repertoire, as teachers are obliged to update their skills every 3-5 years according to the educational staff plan of Ukraine.

Additionally, we are going to produce a joint academic research paper based on the process and its outcomes. The content, material, digitalization, and delivery arrangements of 5 ETCS study units will be crafted by BGKMU. This is to ensure that the deliverables fit to the Ukrainian context of the education sector’s reform, recovery plan, and the impact of the ongoing war.

Our role is to facilitate the process by organizing mobility activities, and capacity building for BGKMU staff in the form of Training of Trainers (ToT). While acting as a project manager we also arrange webinars. Through this alliance, we both seek to enhance educational practices, foster cross-cultural learning experiences, and find ways for educators to serve diverse student populations better.

Implementation

We will achieve the results through academic mobility from Ukraine to Finland, a series of webinars and planning sessions in between. All planning will be based on needs assessment and analysis for evidence base. We will start with a one-week benchmarking visit to Finland. The visit contains an introduction to inclusive education in Finland and Europe, field visits and planning of a teachers’ needs assessment.

After the visit, BGKMU will conduct the teachers’ needs assessment in Ukraine and we’ll continue to work together online. During the 2nd benchmarking trip the ToT will take place and we will plan the contents for the study unit. Our work will be finalized online for material elaboration and digital formulation of the course. In addition we integrate the study unit into the master’s degree education, and plan for the mechanism for recognition of prior learning.

After the project, we will continue to seek funding for the next phase of piloting the course. The project serves as a seed project for a larger change towards inclusive education provision in Ukraine.