On May 30, the VIII International Scientific Conference “Child and Childhood in the Crisis Context of War” was held under the Honorary Patronage of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University Rector, prof. Dr. hub. Ryszard Czekalski and the Scientific Patronage of the Committee of Pedagogical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Olena Budnyk, Director of the Center for Innovative Educational Technologies “PNU EcoSystem”, presented the report “Ukrainian Children of War (2022-2023): An Educational Case”, highlighting the current challenges of providing pedagogical support to children in getting an education in the conditions of war. “Every child deserves a happy childhood full of love and protection. However, the Russian occupiers have stolen childhood from Ukrainian children who are being killed, physically injured, tortured, mentally traumatized, losing their parents, etc. These traumas of war can remain in children’s souls for a lifetime, leaving deep wounds in the psyche. […]. Therefore, the problem of children of war who are at risk of crisis – both those who have left for other countries and those who have remained in their homeland – is extremely urgent,” said Professor. In addition, the speaker emphasized the educational experience gained by Ukrainian educational institutions during martial law to maximize the coverage of all students with educational services and also introduced the results of an experimental study on the topic.
The speeches and discussions also touched upon the issues of war and other crises in a child’s life from a philosophical and axiological perspective, protection of children’s rights during the war, providing psychological support to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, the problem of inclusiveness, personalism, etc.