Creation of a Safe Educational Environment for Ukrainian Youth During War Conditions

Abstract

The migration processes in Ukraine have become especially intense in recent years. On the one hand, they are a serious challenge for the education of young people, but, on the other hand, they represent an opportunity for their development, although they require legal support and regulation.

For quite some time now, thousands of Ukrainian children and youth have had to pursue their education abroad while hostilities continue in Ukraine. The duration of the war is decisive not only for the number of Ukrainian youths abroad, but also for their ability to plan their future life. Starting life in a new country and finding one’s way in a new society can be a very difficult process. Young people face new risks and challenges. They are in dire need of educational opportunities. Many people have to learn a language, identify an educational qualification, or undergo educational retraining. Some of them still need psychological help and cannot adapt and find themselves and their place in a new country, but they cannot return home, where active fighting continues.

The purpose of this article is to study the main psychological reactions to life-threatening situations that can affect the psychological well-being of children and youth under martial law in order to develop recommendations for overcoming stress in the process of adaptation to new conditions of existence in a new country and integration into a new educational environment.

The methodology is based on the fundamental methodological principles of the systems approach and includes the use of a complex of general scientific (comparison, classification, generalization, systematization) and empirical (observation, search, conversation, description, analysis) methods. The integrative BASIC Ph model for stress management and increasing resilience after severe stress, developed by the Israeli Scientist M. Lahad, was used as the framework through which we sought to identify appropriate stress coping resources. Various procedures were proposed too: searching for meanings, drawing, creating collages, free writing, interaction in a group as in a "safe environment", playing with sand, breathing “4-7-8”.

As part of our research, the following results were achieved. The views of scientists regarding problematic issues that arise for Ukrainians as they seek to integrate into the system of a new country are summarized. The basic psychological reactions of a person to life-threatening situations are considered. The study summarizes the refugees’ feelings of concern about their own situation and the fate of those remaining in Ukraine during the war. Recommendations, which include the use of the integrative BASIC Ph model, are proposed as means to address problem situations during training sessions with pupils and students. In so doing, we seek to ensure the effective educational integration of Ukrainian youth.

The conclusions suggest that in order to restore and preserve the psychological state of Ukrainian youth who have gone abroad, it is necessary to understand and determine a person’s psychological reactions to life-threatening situations in the current conditions of martial law in Ukraine for the timely application of appropriate measures and techniques to overcome them, depending on the specific situation that has arisen.