On 17 June, the team of the PNU EcoSystem Centre organized a presentation of the English-language collective monograph “The Space of Inclusive Education: Voices from Ukraine and Beyond” (edited by Olena Budnyk and Serhiy Sydoriv), which was recently published by the well-known BRILL Publishing House. The event brought together inclusion researchers – authors from Ukraine, Poland, the USA, and the UK, some of whom joined the discussion online.
In his speech, the Rector of the University, Professor Igor Tsependa, emphasized the status of an international scientific publication and the importance of researching the problems of inclusive education for Ukrainian educational institutions and training specialists in the context of modernizing higher pedagogical education. He noted: “This is the layer that we want to share with our European and American colleagues, so English-language publications are invaluable in terms of disseminating the ideas and thoughts that are being discussed in the Ukrainian educational space today…”.
The moderators of the event, Professor Olena Budnyk, and Senior Lecturer Serhiy Sydoriv shared their first experience of working with BRILL, highlighted some aspects of international cooperation on inclusion, the introduction of pedagogical innovations in Ukrainian schools, the impact of the russian-Ukrainian war on Ukrainian inclusive education and the challenges of working with children with special needs, etc. The Centre’s experts – Professor Inna Chervinska, Associate Professors Kateryna Fomin and Tetiana Blyzniuk – shared their reflections on presenting various aspects of creating an inclusive educational environment: establishing cooperation between teachers of children with disabilities and their parents, building tolerance and a personality-oriented paradigm of education in an inclusive classroom, teaching students with special needs in the process of developing their communication competence, etc. Among the foreign authors who participated online were Kelly Ann Merchant, Clayton E. Keller from the United States, and Stephanie Fitzgerald from the United Kingdom. The discussion of the book was also attended by Professor Halyna Mykhailyshyn, Director of the Centre for Educational Innovation of Ivano-Frankivsk City Council Maria Pochynok, Director of the University Library Associate Professor Roman Dzumedzey, University graduate Natalia Shahan, and student Marta Sydoriv, among others.
The BRILL publishing house website says: “Known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine, presently being in the center of international concerns and hopes, shows new dimensions of dignity and determination for which it may be called the school of the world. This collection of texts on the inclusion of persons with special educational needs and disabilities from international and Ukrainian scholars was mostly written before the biggest war in Europe since WWII. This volume is the first book for the English reading public on Ukraine’s view on inclusive education. It is always useful to start from the background and witness the future development” (https://brill.com/display/title/69456)/
For more information:
Contributors are: Olena Budnyk, Sergiy Sydoriv, Natalia Andriichuk, Tetyana Blyznyuk, Inna Chervinska, Olga Derkachova, Iryna Dubkovetska, Stephanie Fitzgerald, Kateryna Fomin, Clayton E. Keller, Karolina Kołodziejczak, Mykhaylo Kotyk, Donald F. Lavin, Jr., Zoriana Leniv, Nataliia Matveieva, Kelly Ann Merchant, Mykhailo Palahniuk, Katarzyna Smoter, Armineh Soorenian, Lidia Sydoriv, Olha Telna, Oksana Tytun, Hryhorii Vasianovych and Anna Ziętek.
For more details on the book and how to purchase it, please visit the Brill Publishing House website: https://brill.com/display/title/69456