On 31 July - 01 August, the second conference-workshop «Management in education: forming of a virtuous (integrity) personality» took place in Chernivtsi. The participants of this event were policy makers, managers in the field of education, teachers and public representatives.
The organizers of the conference were the NGO «Mohyla Strategic Agency» together with the State Education Quality Service of Ukraine, the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, the Chernivtsi City Council, the Department of Education and the Center for Professional Development of Pedagogical Workers of the Chernivtsi City Council in cooperation with the Chernivtsi Yurii Fedkovych National University.
The second conference-workshop was a logical continuation of the conference-workshop conducted in April this year. As well as during the first event, the participants' attention was focused on the topic of a virtuous (integrity) personality. This time, the focus of the two-day event was more directed at the concept of virtues, socio-emotional skills, cultivating them in children, how the educational process at school could contribute to this and what challenges stood in the way.
The co-founder of the NGO «Mohyla Strategic Agency» and the dean of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, Oleksandr Savruk, raised the following questions in his reflections during the update of the results of the first conference-workshop:
- How does the school work with virtues, values and socio-emotional skills for fostering the holistic (integrity) development of students?
- Do modern Ukrainian schools understand the critical importance of instilling virtues in students for their holistic (integrity) development? Do the current state educational standards reflect that?
These reflections continued already in the panel discussions, of which there were two this time.
The participants of the first panel discussion on the topic «How education can form values and virtues inherent in a virtuous (integrity) personality» included: Liliya Hrynevych, Vice-Rector of Kharkiv V. Karazin National University, former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Serhii Koleboshin, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation; Hanna Novosad, co-founder of CF «SaveEd», former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Roman Shiyan, Deputy Director of the Reform Support Team of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; Serhii Kvit, President of the National University «Kyiv-Mohyla Academy», former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.
The second panel discussion was devoted to the topic «The role of academic integrity in the formation of a virtuous (integrity) personality». It was attended by: Andrii Butenko, Head of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education; Tetiana Vakulenko, Director of the Ukrainian Center for Evaluation of the Quality of Education; Serhii Kvit, President of the National University «Kyiv-Mohyla Academy», former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Ruslan Biloskurskiy, Rector of the Chernivtsi Yurii Fedkovych National University.
Both discussions were moderated by Ruslan Hurak, Head of the State Education Quality Service of Ukraine.
Also, while working in groups, the participants were divided into 7 separate groups that worked on various aspects of the implementation of virtues and socio-emotional skills in educational institutions.
The second day of the conference-workshop was focused on the cases of the invited speakers.
Iryna Tkachuk, Head of the Department of Education of Chernivtsi, shared the experience of transition of all educational institutions of the city to financial autonomy and how the managerial culture of educational managers changed in connection with this shift.
Serhii Kvit, President of the National University «Kyiv-Mohyla Academy», spoke about the phenomenon of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and shared the university's experience in building a virtuous (integrity) academic environment by noting: «All the work of the university is about integrity».
Liudmyla Tsymbal, Director of Kyiv School No. 281, spoke about how managers could create an environment in educational institutions that would contribute to the growth of a virtuous (integrity) personality and emphasized that: «Integrity should become a person's lifestyle, and not only educational institutions should work on this, but also business».
In her turn, Nataliia Korol, Head of «Silpo»’s department of staff training and development, informed the participants about how her organization worked with schoolchildren, students and adults to develop a culture of integrity.
The event took place within the framework of the House of Integrity Project implemented by RMTeam International with the support of «U-LEAD with Europe».