On March 17th, Olena Budnyk, the director of the “PNU EcoSystem” Center, took part in an international symposium focusing on the presentation of the collaborative monograph “Between Spirituality and Dyspnea – on Deep and Full Breath. A Festschrift dedicated to Reverend Doctor Tadeusz Czakański” (edited by Mariola T. Kozubek, Marek Rembierz, and Raul Silva). The symposium was held at University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland) in a mixed format. Participants from Slovakia, Uruguay, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, and various other countries joined the event.
During her presentation, Professor Olena Budnyk expressed gratitude for the honor of contributing as one of the co-authors of this book and outlined certain aspects highlighted in the article “Education: How Does the Spiritual Face of a Teacher Look Like in the Modern World?”. She emphasized the necessity of scholarly reflection on the spiritual evolution of individuals, the increased focus of the international community on (non)spiritual phenomena (especially amid armed conflicts and wars), and introduced her unique perspective on the role of a teacher in the modern spiritual/(non)spiritual world.
One of the contributors to this book is Associate Professor Kateryna Fomin from the Center. In the section “Pedagogical Dialogue as a Foundation for the Spiritual and Intellectual Growth of Students,” various styles of pedagogical dialogue are outlined, alongside the unique considerations involved in dialogic teaching for students belonging to socially vulnerable groups, such as Ukrainian youth affected by war trauma. Furthermore, the necessity of creating a developmental educational environment for effective pedagogical dialogue is emphasized.