TEACHERS’ RESILIENCE IN EUROPE AND UKRAINE – CONSIDERING MAIN ASPECTS

Abstract

The teaching profession has always been associated with high levels of stress, requiring educators to develop competencies that enable them to cope with various stressors in their professional lives. In particular, teachers need to be resilient and stress-resistant. Today, the war in Ukraine presents exceptionally challenging conditions for teachers. Continuous stress, uncertainty, and threats to life and health significantly drain their emotional and psychological resources. In such circumstances, maintaining resilience and effectiveness is crucial for ensuring a high-quality educational process. Therefore, the issue of psychological resilience among teachers in the context of war is critical, as they play a pivotal role in shaping future generations, yet their psychological well-being may be at risk. Preserving the mental health of teachers, who are prone to burnout and high levels of stress, is of utmost importance. There is an increasing need to explore and develop resilience as a key component of promoting the psychological well-being of educators, particularly in the context of military conflict. Learning from the experiences of European countries regarding teacher resilience becomes essential in this regard. This article aims to define the concept of teacher resilience and examine the factors and opportunities for fostering resilience among teachers in both Europe and Ukraine. The article defines resilience as the ability of an individual to endure challenging life circumstances and find resources to recover from traumatic or stressful events. It highlights that European resilience policies have primarily focused on strengthening the EU’s capacity to withstand and recover from various challenges and crises, spanning areas such as economic, social, environmental, and security resilience. Several initiatives, including ENhancing Teacher REsilience in Europe (ENTREE), the Teacher Resilience Toolkit, and the Digital Needs Analysis for Teachers Tool (DNATT), have been launched in Europe to enhance teachers’ resilience. These projects aim to design, develop, and test a resilience toolkit for school teachers, providing strategies to prevent and manage burnout, as well as to promote mental health and well-being. Additionally, these initiatives identify the digital training needs of educators and develop high-quality video learning materials for teachers. Professional development opportunities are seen as a way to foster a sense of community and connection among teachers, thereby creating a supportive work environment. The article also outlines several programs and initiatives implemented in Ukraine, inspired by European efforts, to enhance teachers' resilience. These include: The Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026, All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program “Are You OK?”, a new professional development program for educators called “Building Resilience in Educational Institutions”, a training course “First Psychological Assistance to Participants of the Educational Process During and After Military Operations”.